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Liz Cambage is copping flak for calling out racism: that's just wrong

22nd February, 2016
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22nd February, 2016
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Liz Cambage should have been supported. She should have been applauded for having the nerve to publicly call out a teammate for racism.

Instead, she was mocked and ridiculed by a group of keyboard warriors with no knowledge of what they were talking about.

Let’s backtrack. On Sunday night, Opals forward Alice Kunek posted on Instagram a picture of her dressed as Kanye West, her face painted black.

Cambage, who is of Nigerian descent, immediately let her feelings be known, tweeting “blackface is disgusting, I honestly have no words.”

Cue the backlash.

Cambage was almost instantly inundated with a host of tweets and messages ranging from the deliberately ignorant (“Since when is dressing up considered racist?”) to the downright offensive (“You need to grow the f*** up and get over the fact your [sic] black”).

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For those wondering why Kunek’s outfit was so offensive, even the most cursory Google search will reveal that blackface was used in the past on stage and screen to perpetuate racist stereotypes. It was used to include black characters without having to cast a black actor.

In short, blackface is closely tied to the history of black subjugation.

Kunek did apologise, and deleted the offending Instagram post. And there were plenty of Twitter users who stood by Cambage, including Australian musician Briggs.

But the vitriol directed at the Opals star is worrying for a sporting public, and indeed a nation, which still has a problem with racism.

The episode was eerily reminiscent of the treatment given to Adam Goodes after he pointed out a 13-year-old girl to security for calling him an ape.

That it’s often middle-aged white men accusing Cambage and Goodes of overreacting is nothing short of confusing. Why would any white man in Australia think he has the right to tell Cambage or Goodes that something isn’t racist?

Here’s a fact. If Liz Cambage (or any other athlete for that matter) says she finds something offensive, then it’s offensive. You don’t get to tell someone they aren’t allowed to take offence from something they’ve seen or heard – that decision lies with the person taking offence and that person alone.

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And until that attitude is accepted and embraced by fans across the country, Australian sport will continue to have a problem with racism.

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