Michael then read a set of questions from a sheet of paper. They were things like:

• True or False: Aboriginal people can be good at things other than arts and sport.

• True or False: Aboriginal people receive special treatment, financial benefits and free cars from the government.

• True or False: Aboriginal people drink more alcohol than non-Aboriginal Australians.

I could feel my heart racing as I wrote down the questions. Michael was referring to statements that I knew to be absolute stereotypes, and I didn’t really want to hear them repeated by my classmates.

Finally, Michael stopped reading through the list of questions. ‘Let’s start with the first question. Ethan, what do you think? Can Aboriginal people be good at things other than art and sport?’

Ethan shifted around nervously in his seat, his big legs stretched out before him. ‘Well, there’s lots of Aboriginal people that are good at arts and sport, but maybe not all sports. Like, there’s not many Aboriginal swimmers or cricketers. And one of Dad’s friends is a doctor and she’s Aboriginal. So she must be really good at science and stuff.’

Michael asked Matilda the same question. She just said, ‘Aren’t black people better at sports because of their genes?’

Even though her response was offensive, I realised that she wasn’t trying to be offensive – she was just regurgitating what a lot of people said and believed.

Michael looked at me as if he was asking if I wanted to respond. I gave the slightest shake of my head, so he said, ‘No human on this planet has genes that are unique to one culture. And even within a family, some people will be good at sports and some won’t be. However, while Aboriginal and other Indigenous and colonised people around the world have been restricted from participating in education and entering careers, there have been less restrictions in sport and art. So, some Aboriginal people have concentrated their energies on these things and have been able to be acknowledged for their accomplishments.’

Nice answer, Michael, I thought, scanning the faces of my classmates to see if there was going to be any retaliation. Everyone was chill, especially as the air conditioning had really cooled our classroom down.

Michael requested people’s responses to the third question. ‘Do Aboriginal people drink more alcohol than non-Aboriginal Australians?’

I braced myself.

‘Jamie, do you want to answer?’ Michael prompted.

Jamie shook his head, looking nervous. I got paranoid and wondered if it was because he really thought it was true and just didn’t want to offend me.

‘They can’t drink any more than my dad during harvest,’ Ethan said.

‘My dad, too,’ Caroline added. Everyone started to laugh.

‘What’s harvest?’ I asked, clueless.

‘Grape harvest,’ Hayley answered. ‘It happens February through to April.’

Right. I remembered all of the vineyards scattered around the outskirts of the town. There were even vines at the town’s public high school.

‘Let’s be serious,’ Michael said.

‘Well, it seems like a lot of the time when we see Aboriginal people, a lot of them are drinking,’ Ashley said.