The Stolen Generation

In 1788, the English arrived in Australia to find the Aboriginals there. However, with no government, the British did what they did best back then; they took over and made their own government, forcing the Aboriginals to move from their native lands. Many Aboriginals died of disease. The English then brought in new animals, including sheep. These animals would soon outnumber population. These animals that the English brought in destroyed the Aboriginals' land, rendering them without resources. The actions the English took directly resulted in destruction of Aboriginal land and people.
The stolen generation is the 100,000 or so people that were taken from their families as children simply because they were Aboriginal. The stealing went on from 1909 to the 1960s. Anyone who was a part of the stolen generation was scarred deeply because being taken from all that you know is terrifying and painful. You spend your life wondering who your family is and why you can't be with them. Going into your adult life, you can be affected because you don't know if the same thing will happen to your own kids.
Having been taken from their families as children, members of the stolen generation have much higher depression rates and shorter life spans. These people also lost their native culture, a part of themselves. They didn't have those experiences when they should have, so they lost an important part of their lives. An apology realy needs to be made because this sort of historical event is unacceptable. Just moving on and pretending it never happened will not fly with anyone. This is such a tragedy that this actually went on that we just cannot ignore it and move on. It is certainly not a "let's just not and say we did" situation. That will not do. While an apology will not fix any harm done, it's a start to right the wrong the generations did before us.