Stolen Generation

It is a wonder my head does not hurt.  I have been trying to get my head around an issue that comes up regularly.  It is the stolen generations.  Goggle defines stolen generation as “The phrase Stolen Generation refers to the countless [authors note – I disagree with “countless.”  It was a finite number] number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed from their families under government policy and direction.”
For many it is an emotive issue, and I certainly do not want to cause dissention, but I am hoping that by putting something in writing, I will be able to determine if my views make sense or not.
I hold that it was wrong to do what was done.  Wrong is never right.  It seems the whole process was an attempt to kill a culture.  I have found that it is possible to be well meaning but still wrong.  When Burt Newton called Ali “boy” he meant well but you do not call an African American “boy.” 
To me we never have a mandate to kill a culture.  In all cultures there are good and bad elements.  Bad elements need to be erased no matter the culture they are found in.  We do not need to eliminate the whole to deal with a part.  A mallet is not needed to kill an ant.  No matter what happens actions need to be born of justice without prejudice.  The way a culture may do some things may be different, but different does not mean wrong.
I do think that in our day and age we may be more enlightened, but are not better.  We see things that were allowed and even encouraged in the past, that would not happen now.  Stealing a generation is such a thing.  Having said that, the attempt to annihilate cultures still happens across the world.  Democracies would not promote such a thing, but ideals without power are ineffectual.  A swinging pendulum can swing too far in either direction.
But the stolen generation was allowed to happen, and I am trying to understand why.  The conclusion I come to is the world was viewed differently back then.  There was a perception that a particular action was right.  I only need to look at the way women are treated in some cultures today - but just because it is done, does not make it right.  Looking back on the stolen generations, no matter what justification was used, it was not right.  Some believed they had a mandate to act a certain way, but it was built on a faulty perception.
They say the biggest mistake we can make is to not learn from our past.  I do think the acknowledgement of mistakes and restitution needs to be made, but forgiveness also needs to happen.  Until both happen it will be never ending.
I reckon it is a heart thing.  The reconciliation plan in South Africa at the end of apartheid was a great idea, but it was doomed to failure.  It came from without rather than from within.
To me it is all about human dignity.  All peoples, nations, tribes and tongues have a right to freedom of expression, whether they be conquered or conqueror.  No people group has a right to deny the right of another to exist.  It is my belief we all have strengths that can enrich another culture if we are willing to learn, rather than annihilate.