To write a 'controversial' ANZAC Day status, or not to write a controversial ANZAC Day status... That is the question...
I'm not going to lie, ANZAC Day downright befuddles me. Listening to the car radio, I hear our Prime Minister spouting the usual hyperbole about the "ANZAC spirit" and "remembering the fallen"... And I just don't get it. What is the ANZAC spirit? And who exactly are we remembering? Because we sure don't like talking about our Indigenous soldiers, and we definitely don't like mentioning all them foreigners that we killed. Let's stick to words like "courage" and "honour", because it would be disrespectful to use words like "racism" and "massacre" on a day like today, right?
I'm so confused by it all. I mean, somewhere along the way, our society became okay with the idea that ANZAC Day is beyond critique - it's become too sacred. But here I sit, a young Australian, a member of a generation who's trying piece together an understanding of our nation's past and present identity... and you're saying I can't ask questions? I want know who was fighting who, and why. I want to know if our leaders reflect on those wars with regret, and if they're willing to openly admit the atrocities that some of our ANZACs committed. I want to know how the world sees us, and what the history books of our war-time 'enemies' say about Australia.
And most importantly, I want to know what an honest ANZAC Day would look like. A day that not only includes solemn silences, but the kind of open discourse that welcomes the hard and uncomfortable questions we've been avoiding for far too long. Now that would take courage