A DECADE ago Kevin Whyman would daub his body in white paint, tie a red bandanna around his head and dance and play his didgeridoo for the community to mark Australia Day.
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But next Friday you won’t find him entertaining crowds on the public holiday with music and stories of his Aboriginal heritage.
“I’ve moved from doing a lot of performances on Australia Day, because it’s a day of mourning for my people,” Mr Whyman, 43, said.
“My intention in the days when I did do stuff was to educate people about Aboriginal culture.”
But Mr Whyman says it has become intolerable for him to perform on Australia Day in light of the impact of colonisation on Aborigines.
“It’s not a day for a barbecue and a beer, it’s a day like Anzac Day, let’s hold our heads down and give one minute’s silence to the people that were murdered,” he said.
A member of the Paakantji clan of far western NSW, Mr Whyman was born at Wilcannia and moved to East Albury with his family when he was toddler as part of a government relocation program.
When he began at Albury North Public School there were pupils from only two Aboriginal families.
By the time he was a teenager, Mr Whyman said he had been subject to many slurs.
“Growing up I experienced a lot of racial discrimination in certain areas in Albury,” he said.
“(Things such as) being called coon and you little black slave.
“I’ve been told I’m like a black animal and ‘you deserve to die just like your ancestors’ and ‘this is our country we killed you’.”
Mr Whymark said he coped with the abuse by turning to sport.
“I took up rugby league and boxing to let my frustration out,” he said.
“I thought if only they knew what the Aboriginal community was all about.
“It’s not just being black and looking for pity, it’s about asking who we are and why we are so spiritually and culturally adapted to our country.”
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Mr Whyman is a father of four children with two sons, with non-Indigenous mothers living in Albury, who he says he encourages to stand their ground and not be judged on skin colour.
He believes racism has not changed greatly from the 1980s but believes the nation’s embrace of gay marriage through a postal vote last year could be a pointer to Australia Day changing.
“I believe Australia will one day change the date,” Mr Whyman said.
“It’s possible, when you see little changes like that (gay marriage), it’s coming together that’s what it’s all about.
“Nobody is going to celebrate something that is bad, they’re celebrating the deaths of individuals.”
