2 days ago
Indigenous Australian's incendiary message to the nation: 'You're not white'
An Indigenous Australian has said that anyone who calls themselves white is a disgrace to their families.
Gurridyula, from Waddananggu in Central Queensland, sparked a race debate when he responded to a comment from TikTok user who called themselves a 'white fella' on May 2.
In his response Gurridyula said people cannot be white, which he called a shade, and that anybody who does so has simply forgot where they came from.
Gurridyula said he would never call himself black because that does not define him.
Instead he calls himself a Mari, which refers to Aboriginals from Central and South Queensland.
The whole debate kicked off after one user attempted to welcome Gurridyula to 'my country', Australia, as a white person.
'Sorry don't mind me, I'm just out here looking for your country,' Gurridyula said.
'You know, the white fella one, because I don't see it around here.'
Gurridyula said anyone who defines themselves as a colour does not understand who they are or where they come from.
'There is no white fella there is no white. White is a shade, there is no black,' he said.
'You're not white, you disrespect your forefathers by calling yourself a shade.
'You call yourself a shade because you want to give up your ancestors because you left the home of your father's father's to come here for an economic benefit.
'Stop calling yourself white, white is not a race, it is not an ethnicity.'
Social media users were divided on Gurridyula's take on race and many pushed back on his claims that so-called white people had abandoned their ancestors.
'I respect what you say [but] my great great grandmother was forced to come here at 14 years as a convict. She had no choice,' one woman wrote.
'We call ourselves Aussies, not white, not black, just humans born in Australia with the same right as you to live here. It's not my land or your land, it's earth, stop being so material,' another said.
Others questioned Gurridyula's logic behind claiming that white Australians are not Australians.
'Born in Australia so I am Australian. This my home same as you,' one wrote.
'I'm just a human I dunno where I come from,' a second added.
'The only border is space. Melanin in the skin occurs based on where previous ancestors evolved in relation to the equator. It is an evolutionary trait, not a shade. All lands were once connected as one. Nobody own s***,' a third said.
Gurridyula clarified his stance in the comment section of his TikTok where he said he was not trying to make people feel any less Australian based on their skin colour.
Instead he said it was the 'narcissists' who tried claiming the land as their own that he has a problem with.
'If you fight to protect nature from destruction then you're always welcome at my fire brother,' Gurridyula said.
'There's no problem with people calling this place home, it's when they narcissistically want me to bow to those people.'
