In his article, “Unremembering the Forgotten,” Tim Sherratt explores the importance of data, its accessibility, and by what means it persists. Sherratt targets the political nature of ruling over information, arguing that the prohibition of public access to data is a means by which to control a populous. He challenges the notion of memory “because [he] wants to unsettle what it means to remember,” and believes it necessary “to go beyond the listing of names and the cataloging on files to develop modes of access that are confusing, challenging, inspiring, uncomfortable, and sometimes creepy” (Sherratt). These statements are contextualized using the history of Australian Aboriginals, whose relevance, he argues, has been blotted out by mainstream events that garner more attention. One such instance is when the Australian government invested upwards of half-a-billion dollars to commemorate their participation in World War I but failed to address the intense systematic racism present in ‘White Australia.’ The Australian Government continued its lack of mentioning the relevance of white supremacy in their country all the way until the writing of Sherratt’s article, in which Sherratt data mines much of the hidden information. By preventing the data from being released, the government maintained power over the Aboriginals, essentially controlling their ability to “exist” in the public eye.
I strongly support Sherratt’s views on access. The fact that the only way he obtained the information on Australian Natives was by using was is essentially hacking indicates that system that is inherently broken. If we cannot obtain basic information about someone because a government is hiding it from us, perhaps exempting military personnel or high-ranking officials, then it is undeniable there is an untold agenda being fulfilled. I believe it to be necessary, in some instances, for data to be seized. Doing so WE states, is “powerfully subversive and threatening to the institutions and generally accepted narratives that we have today.” We should feel no shame lopping off the overreaching arms of governments and corporations as they rapidly gain more control over data, whether it be through hacking, protest, or, most importantly, voting.
