Racism Theme in No Sugar

Throughout Australian history a racist attitude towards Aboriginals has been a significant issue. The instant the early settlers arrived on our shores and colonised, the Aboriginals have been fighting for the survival of their culture. The Aboriginals have been oppressed and dominated to bring them in line with an idealistic European society. Racism, as practiced against Aborigines, has been defined as the ‘conscious or unconscious belief in the superiority of persons from European ancestry, which entitles all white peoples to a position of dominance or privilege determined by racial origin'. This theme of racism has been put forward by Jack Davis in his stage play, No Sugar, the story of an Aboriginal family's fight for survival during the Great Depression. Jack Davis uses a white medium to present Aboriginal views as a revisionist text. He has used what has been termed "jarring witness" as one who questions and disrupts the versions of others. In this case the Aboriginals present their version of the past which seriously undermines accepted accounts of the official past proposed by white Australians. In communicating the racist and unfriendly attitudes of the leading white ideology, Davis constructs characters, which are continuously under fire and in opposition to the oppressing dominant white society. Davis utilises his characters to confront the audience and take them out of their comfort zone, showing them the reality of Aboriginal treatment.Throughout the Great Depression discrimination and racism were both major issues relating to Aboriginals. Jimmy Munday, one of the more outspoken characters in No Sugar is characterised as the activist and lone Aboriginal voice that is constantly challenging dominant white principles. Jimmy is a character shown to constantly rebel against the prejudiced attitude towards Aboriginals. When the officials plan to relocate the Government Well Aboriginals, it reveals the racism in white authority, as the town wants to be devoid of all things Aboriginal, for the sole purpose of a politician winning an election. Realising he is relatively powerless against the oppressing white society Jimmy continues to treat the white authority with hatred, voicing the discrimination he feels: "You reckon blackfellas are bloody mugs. Whole town knows why we're goin. ‘Coz Wetjalas in this town don't want us' ere, don't want our kids at the school, with their kids, and old Jimmy Mitchell's tight' coz they reckon Bert ‘Awke's gonna give him a hidin' in the election."This illustrates the hatred towards Aboriginals throughout white society, through Jimmy actively resisting major white ideas from his position. It also shows the strong prejudiced and racist attitude towards Aboriginals.The technique in which the sets theatrical space are manipulated show the racism and limitations put on the Aborigines by the white authorities. The Aboriginals occupy centre stage and the white authorities, in the form of the Department of Aborigines and the Northam Police Station are pushed to the outskirts of the stage itself. Traditional Aboriginal society was self-sufficient, stable and well adjusted to a great range of climates. Being dispossessed of their lands, the source of their self-sufficiency and stability, caused poverty, health problems and exploitation which lead to alcoholism which racist colonisers cited as indicators of inferiority. Theatrical space is manipulated in an attempt to undo the oppressive nature of the white society and highlight the Aborigines relationship with the land. White societies see land as belonging to the person; for the Aborigines, the people belong to the land. This dispossession of land and oppressive nature of white society have made it seem that the Aboriginals are constantly out of place and this is symbolic of their place in Australia since colonisation