Harry Connick Jnr. may not be the most popular man in Australia this week, but has he been the wake-up call needed to pull a country out of its racist recession?

The stolen generations are often put down as a blemished chapter in Australia's history, but modern statistics, attitudes, and behaviours tend to tell a different story. Has this chapter actually been closed or are we still living it?

The forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families between the period of the 1870s and 1970s was an act of eugenics; the government of the time's attempt to "improve" the quality of the Australian population.

While there were no positive social results to come from this, the historical Aboriginal culture paid the ultimate price.

Aboriginal culture and laws are traditionally passed down from their elders in the form of stories of the dreaming. With many of their generations of children being stolen and raised in a different culture, and educated against their cultural roots, the passing on of traditional Aboriginal culture was unable to occur. This has left big holes in the history of Aboriginal culture.

Many white Australians today do not fully understand or comprehend the scale to which the stolen generations occurred, and the lasting implications of a damaged culture.

Many Australians resonate the words of former Prime Minister John Howard, "Australians of this generation should not be required to accept guilt and blame for past actions and policies".

Documented cases of Aboriginal children being forcibly removed from their families occur as recent as the 1970s.

News.com.au reported last year that "welfare workers in NSW are removing Aboriginal children from their homes in numbers far greater than during the Stolen Generations".

Adelaide Now journalist Tory Shepherd believes that the modern day attitude toward Aboriginal people shows that "none of this is history at all".

This week's second reunion episode of popular Aussie television show "Hey Hey It's Saturday" sparked an uproar of criticism when guest star Harry Connick Jnr. labelled the episode racist and offensive.

While the Aussie crowd cheered and laughed at the segment in question, the Jackson Jive, Harry expressed great disappointment and distaste in the performance, noting that the act would not have been acceptable on American television.

Whether you agree or disagree that the segment in question is racist, this clash of culturally acceptable behaviour highlights the contrast of progression that both these countries have made, with the United States seemingly leaps and bounds ahead of Australia.

With racism, denial, and national acceptance of offensive behaviour seemingly rife, is the so-called blemished chapter of Australia's history actually closed? Or are we living out the unfinished chapter of a racist country?