“What white privilege looks like”: How the world has reacted to the Uluru climbing ban
Media outlets around the world have reacted to the permanent closure of public access to Australia’s most iconic landmark, Uluru.
After decades of tourists climbing the enormous rock, rangers have finally put an end to it at 4 pm Friday, after the ban was unanimously voted on in 2017.
A new sign was set up on the base of the rock, letting visitors know that the climb was permanently closed – 34 years after the Anangu people, the traditional custodians of the land, were handed back the title to Uluru.
Starting from today, those who are caught breaking the rules would be issued a fine of $6,300.
But not everyone is happy about the decision, as Australians and others around the world are divided on the history-making decision.
Yesterday, Uluru was inundated with tourists wanting to climb the rock for the very last time, to which a New York Times writer described as “a reminder that a segment of the population remains resistant to some of the decisions Indigenous people make when ownership of land is returned to them.”
“They have absolutely no shame,” wrote one person on Twitter on the flock of climbers.
“This is what white privilege looks like in Australia.”
They have absolutely no shame. This is what white privilege looks like in Australia.
— Princess Buttercup ☠🎗️ (@sckitupbuttercp) 25 October 2019
“The lengthy queue of people waiting for one last crack at violating Indigenous rights before the white government finally puts an end to it is pretty depressing,” wrote another commenter on the publication’s website.
While the ban is “a once-unimaginable act of deference to a marginalised population,” wrote the story’s author Jamie Tarabay, it is “a partly symbolic gesture that does nothing to address the myriad social problems endured by Indigenous Australians.”
Like little ants trail. Not for survival, not climbing up from floods or anything. Paying their way from their earnings to disrespect a sacred site.
— J. Xuan (@HazelONeil16) 25 October 2019
“Many of the Anangu themselves live in a trash-strewn community near the rock that is closed to visitors, a jarring contrast to the exclusive resorts that surround the monolith, where tourists seated at white tablecloths drink sparkling wines and eat canapes as the setting sun turns Uluru a vivid red.”
Certain parts of Uluru are considered so scared that the Anangu people don’t want it to be photographed or even touched, writes Tarabay, although tourists are permitted to “tool around its base on camels or Segways, or take art lessons in its shadow.”