Opinion | This moment was bigger than sport, writes Stan Grant. This was about history; about healing; about reconciliation.
Yet in that crowd I felt alone. It is hard at moments like that, when we are all supposed to be proudly Australian; it is hard to feel Australian at all.
I so wanted to feel what others that night were feeling. I wanted to cheer for Australia. I always want to but something inside feels so empty; so hollow. There is a hole in my soul where my country should be. We had never talked about it. We had no need. It is something we share, Indigenous people: an unspoken bond; the memories of lives on the outside looking in.Cathy's family like my own, had been forced from their land; uprooted; sent to missions and reserves. There were too many who had died too young. Too many others who had been locked up or beaten down.
Now I was here as she was about to enter the stadium for the most important race of her life. There was so much resting on this. The world knew it. International media had reported on the plight of Aboriginal people. It was a stain on our nation.This moment was bigger than sport. This was about history; about healing; about reconciliation.
I wanted Cathy to run for us. I wanted her to run for our families. I wanted her to run for all of our people who had never had a chance. I wanted her to run for all of those who were still outside looking in. Cathy was what we wanted her to be. What we needed her to be. As she took her victory lap, she ran with two flags: the Australian flag with its debt to Britain and the red, black and yellow Aboriginal flag that honours the earth and the sun and the people.
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