It seems as though every successful, prominent Aborigine is the product of a childhood blighted by racism. Media profiles of public Aboriginals routinely summarise the hardships and humiliations suffered by the defenceless younger incarnation of the grizzled campaigner, sleek glamour-puss or dapper Aboriginal statesman in the spotlight. Perhaps, in an era where Aboriginality can be difficult to determine from a person’s appearance, language, daily routines or any other observable characteristics, a sob story and a ‘sense of identity’ is all that can really distinguish the modern, urban Aborigine from the ordinary, garden-variety Australian.