What are the stolen generations?
The stolen generations started in 1910 and ended in 1970! That's a long time! So, you're probably wondering, what are the stolen generations anyway? Well in simple form, the white people thought that the aboriginals were the inferior race and they wanted to wipe them out by taking thousand of children away from their families and sending them to live with white people in missions or sometimes foster homes and teaching them Christian values. it's pretty sad but it did happen. Some people even started to think they were turning white!
Why did it happen?
It happened because the white people for some reason had the assumption that the aboriginals/black people were the inferior race and it would be a good thing if they were completely wiped out. They hoped that by splitting families up they might breed the aboriginals out of existence. It was strongly encouraged for a white person not to get married to an aboriginal person. I don't know why they had that assumption because aboriginal people are exactly the same as us white people.
What are the long term effects?
The fact that white people did this whole "Stolen Generations" thing means that up until today there are many aboriginal people that do not know their heritage. (ie: parents, brothers/sisters, where they came from, the exact year they were born, their religions.) It also caused Kevin Rudd to make an official apology in 2008. Apology video here