Kevin Says "Sorry"

So, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd did what John Howard couldn't today and, on behalf of the Australian Parliament, officially said "sorry to the "stolen generation" of Aborigines.

I'm not an advocate of collective "sorries" whether the person saying it committed the atrocity or not. But this one is an exception; Rudd is apologizing on behalf of the state, not the people as a whole.

And indeed, there was many instances of injustice and force used against Aborigines during the 20th Century. These acts, though, weren't committed by Australians at large, they were committed by the government, the leaders of whom should have been brought before the court. The only thing with an apology of any sort is that it won't actually do anything to change people's current situations. That can only be done by abolishing racist legislation and anything to do with race in a government, and by sheer personal effort.