Cut Johns some slack for being a typical Aussie bloke
Roar Guru By Steve Kaless, 16 Jun 2010 Steve Kaless is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Andrew Johns, NRL, NSW Blues, Queensland Maroons, Rugby League, State Of Origin, Timana Tahu
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Australian Rugby League player Andrew Johns, right, is handed off by Leeds Rhinos' Danny Ward. AP Photo/Paul Ellis
So, onto Origin Two: an already awesome Queensland team against a NSW side which looked like a better unit before it completely collapsed into a farce. Can they recover? Unlikely. Would it have made a difference? Probably not.
There is something distinctly depressing about sitting down to write a match preview and the issue staring at you is the ugly face of racism.
I know the State of Origin often brings about battle heavy language, but a race war? Fair dinkum.
Who is organising these Blues training camps? BP?
These camps seem to be a string of disasters ever since we turfed them out of the pubs and made them visit schools. Maybe we should blame the school kids.
Thankfully we can all agree that what Andrew Johns said was wrong. We may differ in whether we agree with what Timana Tahu did, but I applaud his actions.
If he was that offended with what Johns said, then I say, well done for making a stand and bringing the issue to a head. Tahu did what so many of us haven’t done in Australian society.
I don’t think Andrew Johns is a racist.
I also don’t think he’s likely to have his MENSA membership approved anytime soon. I’m going to give Johns the benefit of the doubt and say that I feel he was probably try to get a group of men fired up, and thought dropping a few expletives would do the trick.
The last thing he probably thought was that he’d end up down a winger from the session.
What I find a bit weird about the whole thing is that, from my understanding, Tahu and Johns are great mates. They won a premiership together in 2000, and when Johns commentates on Parramatta games, it is usually doubles as a sitting of the Timana Tahu appreciation society.
I’m a little stunned that if Johns was a serial dropper of the racist remarks, this wouldn’t have come to a head earlier – that Tahu wouldn’t have made his grievances known and perhaps even confronted Johns at some stage, seeing they have known each other for over a decade.
I’m not suggesting that Tahu’s actions weren’t sincere, or that he should have dealt with it privately. But rather that it’s part of the equation for me that doesn’t make sense.
Perhaps it’s a sign of the importance of the issue that almost instantly Johns and Tahu were referring to each other like they were complete strangers.
At least the wind came quickly out of the sails of Anthony Mundine’s call for an Origin boycott, with Tahu then saying he was hoping to return for game three.
Some people will probably assume I’m defending Andrew Johns because he comes from the rugby league camp and in their simplistic minds my job is to wave the rugby league flag and blindly support the code against others on this site.
Those people are wrong.
I’m forgiving Andrew Johns because he is an Australian male and there are many males in Australia that will say something within their group in an attempt of humour, to bignote themselves, or to make a point that they’d be horrified if it was broadcast to a nation.
Johns clearly should have known better, but as his record suggests, he is not a fast learner in that regard.
I have a colleague (whom I’m confident won’t be reading this) who expressed Grade A outrage at Johns, yet from the same office chair weeks earlier, had declared that he would never pick Souths or the Warriors again because they were full of “Abo’s and Coconuts”.
He wouldn’t call himself a racist. Maybe he’s just a c***.
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June 16th 2010 @ 1:24am
mcxd said | June 16th 2010 @ 1:24am | Report comment
haha like your last line steve.. btw the guy in the pic looks like Chris latham. I was a bit confused seeing Latho palming off Johns.
June 16th 2010 @ 8:38am
Paul J said | June 16th 2010 @ 8:38am | Report comment
Steve
I enjoy a lot of your posts but I disagree completely with you on this one – this is your opinion only.
Any racist comment by anyone at anytime is completely unacceptable.
Your colleagues comment was indefensible.
June 16th 2010 @ 10:25am
Hayden said | June 16th 2010 @ 10:25am | Report comment
Quite right Paul J. We all like to think of ourselves as not racists, but at heart our attitudes speak otherwise. Unfortunately, it is so much easier to define another person’s differences when their skin colour is darker or lighter than our own. Alas, human nature is such that once we have have been in the melting pot long enough to all have the same skin colour, we’ll start to focus on eye colour, or hair, or some such.
June 16th 2010 @ 10:32pm
Lorry said | June 16th 2010 @ 10:32pm | Report comment
Actually Hayden, that is not correct. Some nationalities/countries are far less racist than others.
Although I haven’t been there, I believe New Zealand has far better race relations than Australia.
Let’s not forget that Indigenous people didn’t get the right to vote until 1967, years and years after they got that right in other similar colonial countries.
Also I spent 6 months living and working in Brazil. It is truly a ‘melting pot’. The situation in Brazil is complicated as there’s alot of institutionalised poverty / historical racism which they need to address (and the current government is the first to do so) BUT you will not hear white Brazilians label poorer, black Brazilians by their colour/ethnicity.
Australia could learn alot from (some) others…..
June 16th 2010 @ 11:13am
Steve Kaless said | June 16th 2010 @ 11:13am | Report comment
Paul J,
I agree Johns comment was unacceptable, re: “we can all agree that what Andrew Johns said was wrong.”
I also agree that my colleagues comments re indefensible, his inability to pick a winner is no excuse such vile comments, hence my last line.
I’m not sure what we disagree on.
June 16th 2010 @ 11:58am
Keith said | June 16th 2010 @ 11:58am | Report comment
I think I can help here:
Paul J thinks it’s never acceptable to spout bigotry.
You’re not too much of a fan of people spouting bigotry either. But you also think it’s a bit more acceptable, and certainly forgivable as long as the bigotry occurs in small groups and is: an attempt at humour, to bignote or “to make a point”.
Thank goodness Johns ticked some of those boxes. Might have found what he said offensive otherwise.
June 16th 2010 @ 12:59pm
Steve Kaless said | June 16th 2010 @ 12:59pm | Report comment
Just a point of difference Keith, I think you are confusing me with Andrew Johns. He thought it was acceptable to use racist comments in that way, but found out it clearly wasn’t.
I have said that what Johns said was wrong, but we are kidding ourselves if we think he is the only one. That doesn’t make it right, but it means that hopefully Johns isn’t the only one learning lessons from this.
June 16th 2010 @ 3:33pm
Michael C said | June 16th 2010 @ 3:33pm | Report comment
alas – - as other high profile folk have discovered in Australia – - if you play a code of football – - then ‘typical’ behaviour is NOT acceptable.
Rightly or wrongly,
we seem to need to hold a back pocket or fly half or 5/8th up to higher levels of scrutiny than our politicians, lawyers, doctors and tv/music entertainers etc.
So, Johns is a bit of a scapegoat??……perhaps.
June 17th 2010 @ 6:10am
Keith said | June 17th 2010 @ 6:10am | Report comment
I’m not confusing you with Johns. I think Johns is an idiot, you’re just a guy trying to make sense of this all.
What I am trying to do is pick out the point of difference between your position (forgiving Johns because his bigotry was spouted in certain circumstances )and the position of someone who finds Johns’ behaviour unacceptable in all circumstances.
I think it’s a useful distinction to make because there are a lot of people who share your ideas about rascism being more acceptable/ forgivable in certain cicumstances, and in this article you actually stated some of those circumstances.
In your article you said:
“I’m forgiving Andrew Johns because he is an Australian male and there are many males in Australia that will say something within their group in an attempt of humour, to bignote themselves, or to make a point”
The fact that you’re forgiving him suggests you find the circumstances around his bigotry made it more acceptable than in certain other circumstances.
That’s the point of difference between you and Paul J who appears to find bigotry equally unacceptable under any circumstances.
June 16th 2010 @ 2:55pm
mudskipper said | June 16th 2010 @ 2:55pm | Report comment
You needed to add the adjective “dumb” to your last line; Steve… then I think you’ve summed him up… Tahu wouldn’t be hearing that rubbish in the Wallabies camp.
June 16th 2010 @ 4:25pm
Gerry Faehrmann said | June 16th 2010 @ 4:25pm | Report comment
Hear, hear, Paul J!
The sooner the racist comments stop the better! I bet Steve would not have liked his parents stolen from his family! These comments are not taken lightly by our indigenous brothers…Why? Because they suffered terribly.
We all need to be more sensitive, that’s all I can say! Oh, and sorry on behalf of all of us that care!
June 16th 2010 @ 1:43am
Billo said | June 16th 2010 @ 1:43am | Report comment
If Johns really is a serial user of racist language, I also wonder why Tahu seemed to get along with him so well until last week.
June 16th 2010 @ 2:13am
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 2:13am | Report comment
So how many of these racist comments would you tolerate before you start calling Johns a racist, Billo? Gimme a number so I know to start counting the next time I meet a “typical Aussie bloke”
June 16th 2010 @ 3:29pm
JVGO said | June 16th 2010 @ 3:29pm | Report comment
Being accusatory and classifying people as racists and non racists is simply divisive and not the most constructive way to go. It was that behaviour back and forth that divided the country and sent it down the path of Hansonism.
Hopefully we can move beyond this.
AJ’s actions were unacceptable by this society’s standards. Everyone it seems including Johns accepts this and as long as he recognises that, is seen to pay a price and reforms his behaviour he should be considered rehabiltated. Divisive attitudes have been shown to be of no benefit to anyone.
June 16th 2010 @ 3:59pm
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 3:59pm | Report comment
“Being accusatory and classifying people as racists and non racists is simply divisive and not the most constructive way to go.”
I think you’ll find that “get that black c**t” is FAR more divisive that anything anyone’s said here in this forum
How do we move on from this, JVGO? I say we move on from this by condemning what Johns said as racist (which would infer that he is a racist, although this is not the point).
All I hear from you is that we should just slap Johns on the hand, and then carry on with life as if nothing happened – easy to do, perhaps, but certainly less contructive that calling for his head (which, by the way, is not what I’m after either)
June 16th 2010 @ 5:04pm
JVGO said | June 16th 2010 @ 5:04pm | Report comment
I think Les we can agree that AJ should at least appear to be punished, which I think would mean being stood down from both nine commentary and origin coaching at least. What do you feel would set an appropriate example? You seem most concerned that he be categorised ‘racist’ which as I say I don’t feel is necessarily the most productive thing.
June 16th 2010 @ 5:28pm
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 5:28pm | Report comment
JVGO
How would we classify Johns’ remarks? RACIST
What are racists usually known for? MAKING RACIST REMARKS
1 + 1 DOES equal 2
As I mentioned before, my gripe has little to do with persecuting Johns, but more to do with
1) the general idea that making racist remarks is okay.
2) the ease with which people (including Steve Kaless) are ready to forgive Johns for making those remarks
Eventhough I’m ambivalent to the eventual outcome for Johns per se, I think that labelling Johns as a racist is crucial to geting the message across that you WILL pay for having racist attitudes or making racist remarks
Yes, I realise that you too are strongly opposed to such racist remarks. So let’s let everybody know that those who make racist remarks are racists.
June 16th 2010 @ 4:34pm
apaway said | June 16th 2010 @ 4:34pm | Report comment
Billo, I think because it’s probably a lot harder to confront a friend about an issue like this than it would be to berate a casual acquaintance or a stranger.
I have no sympathy for Andrew Johns. His chance card has run out. But as I have posted on another article, shouldn’t Craig Bellamy have done something about this? Isn’t he the boss?
June 16th 2010 @ 2:01am
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 2:01am | Report comment
I suppose you’d also classify getting drunk after a footy match and then sexually harrasing women at bars as “boys being boys” eh? That’d be a great article for you to write next!
Your colleague’s comment is racist, and it astounds me you don’t think he/she is one. I wonder what on earth one would need to do/say to be proven a racist in your book, Mr Kaless??! Perhaps saying the exact same words but with a white bed sheet as one’s garment instead of a rugby jersey?
However, I AM impressed with your blogging capabilities, since you would be the first cave man I’ve ever known to use a computer.
June 16th 2010 @ 10:36am
Fisher Price said | June 16th 2010 @ 10:36am | Report comment
Hear hear.
June 16th 2010 @ 11:22am
Steve Kaless said | June 16th 2010 @ 11:22am | Report comment
Les,
I’d suggest you re-read the article.
I agree my colleagues comments were racist. However my point was that THEY wouldn’t see themselves as one. Hence the phrase “HE wouldn’t call himself a racist.”". Which is the point of the article, we can judge others as racist quite quickly but seem to struggle to do the same ourselves.
Perhaps you can answer your own question, does a racist comment make someone a racist or just a fool?
For example, would Andrew Johns not select Greg Inglis if he was eligible for NSW of course not, but he clearly has not thought about the implications of his language which is incredibly important and something we should all take from this episode.
June 16th 2010 @ 1:37pm
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 1:37pm | Report comment
“we can judge others as racist quite quickly but seem to struggle to do the same ourselves”….. so with THAT defence, then I can break into your home and thrash the place, but if I don’t see that as “breaking and entering”, then I haven’t committed a crime? Flawless logic
“Does a racist comment make someone a racist” – YES IT DOES !!!
I recognise the fact that you have thought this kind of language inappropriate, so why is it you are defending it by saying that we should all give Johns a break and that it’s one of those things that a typical Aussie bloke says? I’d like to think I’m a typical Aussie bloke, but have NEVER uttered those words!
C’mon mate, you either accept that type of language and attitude or you DON’T accept that them. You can’t say you don’t accept them but then, in the same breath, try to justify why they exist.
June 16th 2010 @ 1:56pm
Steve Kaless said | June 16th 2010 @ 1:56pm | Report comment
Les,
I’m not trying to justify why they exist, I’m saying they do exist and that we need to make sure that people understand that they are unacceptable.
You haven’t used that language, ever heard anyone use it? How often? What was your reaction?
June 16th 2010 @ 2:09pm
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 2:09pm | Report comment
My reaction has always been to challenge, and then denigrate, that type of language and attitude. Too many of us who have experienced racism have kept quiet for far too long, resulting in an internalised form of discrimnation, where the victims themselves start accepting that kind of behaviour from others and the discrimination itself is normal
Yes, I agree that you are not trying to justify Johns’ words, but by saying that it’s actually not all that bad to use those words because he’s just a typical bloke IS an attempt at justification.
Yes, you are right in saying that little will be acheived by just slamming the guy, but we will be taking a huge step backwards in race relations by agreeing with you.
June 16th 2010 @ 2:46pm
Steve Kaless said | June 16th 2010 @ 2:46pm | Report comment
Les,
Final point, again I’m not saying it is not that bad, I’m saying its commonplace. This is a big difference.
I’ve also said that the use of those word was wrong, not “all that bad” as you have said.
Mate, I don’t think we disagree all that much.
June 17th 2010 @ 5:14pm
Ronnie the Eel said | June 17th 2010 @ 5:14pm | Report comment
racists are not usually known for making racist remarks, Les. If this was the worst thing a racist ever did, then there would be no problem with racism. Agan, I will say it is the “actions” of those who have oppressed others or villified them in some way and used skin colour as an excuse to do so that bought racism to the fore in current terminology. Your logic and arguments in this regard are flawed.
June 18th 2010 @ 1:11am
clipper said | June 18th 2010 @ 1:11am | Report comment
But do you think those that have oppressed or vilified others based on skin colour have never used racist remarks? This just not make sense. Maybe Steve is saying is that a lot of us joke and kid around using racist remarks. Many have told a Irish, Jewish, Asian etc anecdote, but how many have said it in front of a Irish, Jewish, Asian etc person – as Johns did – I think this makes quite a big difference. Not that this should be condoned, most would be horrified if it was made public, but if you are in the public eye you should be a lot more cautious with what you say.
June 16th 2010 @ 3:26am
JVGO said | June 16th 2010 @ 3:26am | Report comment
What is interesting in this situation is that RL is so heavily populated by indigenous and polynesian players to a degree way beyond the norm for most areas of everyday life. This means that Johns has had interacial working relationships and friendships for many years seemingly without incident, including with Tahu himself.
It would appear that Johns might not have understood that what was considered appropriate and jocular among teammates and peers is not suitable at the next level of responsibility. He has been rightly called out by Tahu and will be given the opportunity to learn from his mistake I’m sure.
I suspect this is really an argument about racism at the level of protocol and civility, not about racism at the higher level of vilification. If Johns was a racist in that sense I’m sure he would have been called out before.
i
June 16th 2010 @ 3:52am
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 3:52am | Report comment
Oh dear, not another bigot apologist!!
JVGO, I certainly hope you have never been a victim of racism, but I would suggest that there is definitely no such thing as “degrees” of racism. It is what it is.
“get that black c**t !!” – I don’t know if there is any more obvious example of racial “villification”
And regarding your last sentence “If Johns was a racist in that sense I’m sure he would have been called out before”….. well, he’s been called out now!!! Whether he’s done this once or done it a thousand times, what he said was RACIST, which would infer him to BE a RACIST.
I’m basing my judgement on Johns on the evidence at hand. You’re defending him based on the fact that he’s been surrounded by people of darker hue to himself for a number of years and so he MUST be a good guy. Excuse me for questioning your flawless logic, but is there ANY logic to that statement?
June 16th 2010 @ 4:15am
JVGO said | June 16th 2010 @ 4:15am | Report comment
My argument is that what is possibly appropriate among peers is not appropriate when one of those peers moves to a different level of responsibility.
Of course there are levels and degrees of racism. Some acts can be prosecuted in a court of law, some cannot.
I also said Johns has been rightly called out and disciplined.
I also didn’t even say Johns was a good guy. i said he would seem to have had a lot of experience socially and professionally with indigenous and polynesian people and appears to have negotiated it without evidence of racism heretofore.
As a seemingly first incident I would expect him to be given the opportunity to remedy his behaviour, a view with which I believe Tahu himself would agree.
June 16th 2010 @ 4:33am
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 4:33am | Report comment
Pardon my facetiousness, but if there are degrees of racism, then would you say Johns is a teeny bit racist, kinda racist, or very racist?
June 16th 2010 @ 4:54am
JVGO said | June 16th 2010 @ 4:54am | Report comment
I would suggest that Johns would argue that he is not racist and that in a court of law he could possibly call on a whole bunch of indigenous teammates and colleagues, possibly even Tahu himself, to support his character (maybe not, I don’t really know). If that was the case he’d quite likely get off that charge on the evidence I suggest, (if there was actually a crime of being a racist.)
On the other hand on the charge of using innapropriate language in this situation i think he has pretty well already given himself up.
June 16th 2010 @ 2:15pm
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 2:15pm | Report comment
Well JVGO, in the court of public opinion, lets put your hypothetical to the test
Fact #1: Johns said “get that black c**t !! ”
Fact #2: Many Origin players heard him say it
Fact #3: It has caused offence (Tahu walked out)
In your hypothetical, Johns will be calling a whole bunch of Indigenous friends to support his character. None has done so (as far as I know)
Therefore, based on the evidence (and lack of counter evidence), I would deem Johns a racist.
June 16th 2010 @ 3:45pm
JVGO said | June 16th 2010 @ 3:45pm | Report comment
Les, i apologise to an extent as I have only just figured out that Johns hasn’t been stood down from Channel 9 which I think he should have been. I am overseas and unfortunately was vague on that detail and believed he had been punished appropriately.
I would still disagree that Johns’ crime is that of being racist. The only thing he can really be punished for is making inappropriate unacceptable comments. In that way society’s standards can be upheld without dividing the citizens into vague uprovable intrinsic categories of racists and non racists. this sort of divisive conduct has been proven to be of no benefit to anyone.
June 16th 2010 @ 4:31am
James said | June 16th 2010 @ 4:31am | Report comment
I’m predicting 200 comments by midnight.
June 16th 2010 @ 5:01am
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 5:01am | Report comment
All you bigot apologists keep saying that such racial slur is unacceptable. Even Kurt Gidley said: “It is definitely not acceptable to make a racial slur.”
BUT is this really that unacceptable in the NSW origin camp? Apparently quite a few of the players heard Johns saying “get that black c**t”, but no one (not even Johns) thought anything of it UNTIL Tahu walked out of camp. So how genuine is it when they say “It is definitely not acceptable to make a racial slur”
C’mon people. If you do really think that it is unacceptable, then lets demonstrate how UNACCEPTABLE it is by universally condemning what Johns said, rather than trying to defend the indefensible.
June 16th 2010 @ 5:03am
Akazie said | June 16th 2010 @ 5:03am | Report comment
You’re having fun eh Les, I wonder if it’s because of the football code he played?
June 18th 2010 @ 9:54am
clipper said | June 18th 2010 @ 9:54am | Report comment
I don’t think that’s a fair comment. It just seems RL fans will forgive their ‘heroes’ anything. Bryden Klein – an Australian Tennis player got banned for 6 months for uttering the same words against his South African opponent. The action was quick and to the point. The NRL should’ve made a similar statement quickly and decisively.
June 16th 2010 @ 5:59am
JVGO said | June 16th 2010 @ 5:59am | Report comment
I seem to be the only one you are arguing with Les and I haven’t said what John’s said is acceptable. Quite the contrary.
But what you are arguing is that we should therefore tag John’s as a racist bigot, and now you are inferring that the NSWRL has an overriding racist culture.
RL has a hugely disproportionate representation of indigenous and Polynesian players in its ranks. The 1987 GF both captains and nearly half the players were indigenous origin. There have been many indigenous captains of the Kangaroos from Meninga and Daley through to Thurston.
It would appear to me that RL has a long standing inclusive and tolerant culture and that in this environment (as it is the first reported incident) AJ seems to have conducted himself largely in a reasonable manner during his career.
It doesn’t excuse the fact Johns made inappropriate comments but I guess as to the larger claims it just depends if you want to apply the benefit of the doubt or not, and also in that case why not?
June 16th 2010 @ 2:21pm
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 2:21pm | Report comment
JVGO,
I’ve never accused RL of having a racist culture, nor will I ever. It would be a cop out to do so and be counter productive.
I’ve always maintained that the individual has to take the blame (no matter which code of football), and THAT IS WHY WE CANNOT ACCEPT WHAT JOHNS HAS DONE ON ANY LEVEL
By saying that he isn’t a racist is maintaning that what he said isn’t racist. Is what he said racist? YES. Is Johns a racist, based on what he said? YES. It should NEVER be tolerated
June 16th 2010 @ 4:02pm
JVGO said | June 16th 2010 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
My point of view is that labeling people as racists and non racists is simply not productive. i believe that sort of accusatory finger pointing behavior was instrumental in creating the divisions of Hansonism and is actually counterproductive. I would argue that it is better to hold people to a consensus standard of behaviour, something which AJ has obviously failed to reach.
Thankfully there seems finally to be a new code of behaviour emerging which we might all agree on. In one sense I think this is what Steve is trying to get at, that there is in fact one code of behaviour replacing another and people can find themselves acting in either one depending on the circumstances. And sometimes like AJ they just get hopelessly confused.
June 17th 2010 @ 5:25pm
Ronnie the Eel said | June 17th 2010 @ 5:25pm | Report comment
Do you want him to be hung, drawn and quartered, Les? All this talk about unacceptability, etc., is soft and nothing will come of it. He stepped down from his coaching role and apologised. End of story. Stop giving birth about a storm in a teacup….
June 16th 2010 @ 8:28am
Paul J said | June 16th 2010 @ 8:28am | Report comment
Les
He said to Beau Scott who is marking Inglis to “shut that black …. down”.
He has apologised unreservedly for this remark.
Everyone in the rugby league community has condemned it.
One stupid remark is not iron clad evidence that he is a racist, is it proof that he needs to be responsible and considerate with his comments so that he does not insult anyone, of any race.
June 16th 2010 @ 11:10am
Gibbo said | June 16th 2010 @ 11:10am | Report comment
what’s this “he is a racist” or “he isnt a racist” bologne?
the facts are what he did WAS racist, and what he did IS racist.
June 16th 2010 @ 11:28am
Steve Kaless said | June 16th 2010 @ 11:28am | Report comment
Les,
Everyone has universally condemned Johns, everyone has said what he said was unacceptable.
I’m concerned you are struggling to pick that up. What I am arguing is I have found it odd that people who also make similar comments are able to deem John’s language inappropriate but not see they commit the same act.
Others have said that seeing Johns has spent large amounts of time with players from different backgrounds it’s odd he didn’t learn that such language was inappropriate, which echoes my point about him being a slow learner.
June 16th 2010 @ 1:28pm
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 1:28pm | Report comment
My overwhelming gripe with this whole matter is that everybody in the NSW Orgin camp who heard Johns say those words are saying how unacceptable this is, but yet did nothing about it (except Tahu).
This tells me:
a) The players actually accept that kind of language and attitude OR
b) They don’t accept it but are too afraid to do anything about it. (If this is the case, then who is to say this kind of behaviour hasn’t happened before?)
Steve, which one are they? Are they racists or are they chickensh*t?
June 16th 2010 @ 2:39pm
clipper said | June 16th 2010 @ 2:39pm | Report comment
I’m with you Les – what has happened to these guys – have their managers got to them so they won’t upset Johns and his entourage. The worst thing they could do is sit in silence instead of supporting Tahu, it’s like lets just keep silent and maybe it will go away. They’re the ones that are sooks and need to harden up, not Tahu – it took real guts to do what he did.
June 16th 2010 @ 2:49pm
Steve Kaless said | June 16th 2010 @ 2:49pm | Report comment
I’ve hardly been teed up Johns management.
I said what the bloke did was wrong, I’ve called him stupid and I’ve said that Tahu should be applauded.
???
June 16th 2010 @ 2:54pm
Les said | June 16th 2010 @ 2:54pm | Report comment
fair point
I should’ve opened up those questions to the floor
June 16th 2010 @ 6:08am
oikee said | June 16th 2010 @ 6:08am | Report comment
Steve, great post, and after the water has settled, and we stop letting off steam, i think we all will realise that Johns was a clown and needs to pull his head in, plus he should rehibilatate and try to earn back some respect, not show up to a t/v show with Gus Gould holding his hand this time. Actions speak louder than words.
As you said, this would have come out earlier if he was running around calling people names. I dont like the word myself, not to say i have not used it, but not in the last 5 years. I also get uncomftable when others use this word, or any racist words.
Lets move on, queenslanders.
June 16th 2010 @ 7:14am
James said | June 16th 2010 @ 7:14am | Report comment
Time to stamp out racism out of all sport and society, no excuses. Footy players need to stop being such meatheads. Calling people such names aren’t accepted in other industries, so it should be the same in sport.
June 16th 2010 @ 7:36am
JVGO said | June 16th 2010 @ 7:36am | Report comment
Oh well I guess A Johns and his ‘bigot apologists’ are as good a place to start as any. Lead the way James.
June 16th 2010 @ 7:49am
It's so sad said | June 16th 2010 @ 7:49am | Report comment
Sadly it seems from Johns’ comments and the comments of your colleague that both are just ‘typical Aussie blokes’. Unfortunately that increasingly seems to mean that they are foul-mouthed racists. We need a few less ‘typical Aussie blokes’ and a lot more intelligent Aussie men.
June 16th 2010 @ 7:52am
James said | June 16th 2010 @ 7:52am | Report comment
Seems to me Steve that this is a Nuremberg defense – everyone is doing it is it’s okay. Just because people say racist things in every day life doesn’t make it ok.
June 16th 2010 @ 11:31am
Steve Kaless said | June 16th 2010 @ 11:31am | Report comment
Not really James. I thought I made it clear with “we can all agree that what Johns said was wrong.”
I agree it if lots of people use racist language it doesn’t make it okay, but what it shows is the problem is more complex than just labelling some footballer a racist and then thinking we have solved all the problems of racism in Australia.