Yup. Sounds like Australia. Proudly admitting they're racist, and afraid even of a symbolic gesture that has no actual power in the parliament. I'm just embarrassed that it is now official.

After a definite disinformation campaign with a side of racist fear mongering...ffs. I'm embarrassed to be an Australian.

This is a very sad day in Australia’s history. Many of us thought we were a more progressive nation than we are.

Looking over the r/Australia comments on this referendum has been fascinating. Apparently acknowledging indigenous people in the constitution is giving them special privileges and it was a bad idea to launch this because the average Australian had no idea what this campaign was about as if googling it is so fucking hard. Sorry aboriginal people, but you made me have to use Google so you don't get any say now.

tfw all those jokes about Australians being racist is put to a national referendum and turn out to be true.

It's interesting to see the breakdown by electorate. Electorates close to Melbourne and Sydney cbds voted yes. The further out of vic and nsw, the more the no grows.

Qld, wa, NT and SA didn't have the same problem. Blanket no.

Tldr, the progressive part of the country that wants this is city focused. The rest of the country has a long way to go.

A toxic mix of the social heritage of brutal colonialism, domestic racism, and the trolling money from China and Russia.

Marketing, image, and ads are everything with these kinds of things. Seems like the "Yes" campaign fucked that up.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Supporters of the Yes vote had hailed it as an opportunity to accept the outreached hand of First Nations people and to work with them to solve problems in their most remote communities – higher rates of suicide, domestic violence, children in out-of-home care and incarceration.

Constitutional experts, Australians of the Year, eminent retired judges, companies large and small, universities, sporting legends, netballers, footballers, reality stars and Hollywood actors flagged their endorsement.

Aussie music legend John Farnham gifted a song considered to be the unofficial Australian anthem to a Yes advertisement with a stirring message of national unity.

Kevin Argus, a marketing expert from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), told CNN the Yes campaign was a “case study in how not to message change on matters of social importance.”

Argus said only the No campaign had used simple messaging, maximized the reach of personal profiles, and acted decisively to combat challenges to their arguments with clear and repeatable slogans.

Maree Teesson, director of the Matilda Center for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney, told CNN the Voice to Parliament had offered self-determination to Indigenous communities, an ability to have a say over what happens in their lives.

The original article contains 945 words, the summary contains 204 words. Saved 78%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

So, what does a right way to accomodate indigenous groups look like? Has any country accomplished it?

What rights or opportunities are these groups lacking?

Relying on scared white supremacists to not be white supremacists is foolish.

Every news article I see anymore makes me lose a little more faith in humanity. I don’t have much left…