First of all, let me say I am not racist. This is an important point to make right from the start, because too often people fail to specify that they are not racist, and this causes confusion among those who think they might be racist because they never said that they are not.
But let me be clear: I am definitely not racist. In fact I saw an Aboriginal man at Coles just the other day, and I did literally nothing to him. At least I think he was Aboriginal. I didn’t ask him, because I do not see colour.
With that established, let’s talk about Adam Goodes and his – yes, let’s call it what it is – declaration of war on Australia last Friday night.
Never did I think I would live to see the day when a professional Australian Rules footballer would behave unpleasantly in public, but that day arrived last week, and it made me weep for the innocence my country has lost.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for players celebrating their achievements during a game. I remember in my own playing days, my teammates would often follow up a goal by offering a hearty handshake to the scorer.
On some occasions they would even place a firm, manly hand upon the shoulder and say, “Well played”. And I raised no objection then, as I raise no objection now, to such understandable boisterousness in the heat of battle.
But this sort of thing has its limits, and though those limits are sometimes hard to define, a good rule of thumb is: what Adam Goodes did is terrible. Surely that leaves none of us in any doubt as to what acceptable behaviour is – in a nutshell it is not doing what Adam Goodes did.
I mean, a war dance? Surely a war dance is what you do when you are at war. It can only be assumed that Goodes believes himself to be at war. With who? Clearly, with white Australia – the very same white Australia that invented football!
The very same white Australia that lets Adam Goodes play football and doesn’t even make him use a different change room or anything! The very same white Australia that shows such tolerance towards its non-white brethren that even when sorely provoked by deliberate and intentional dancing, it does not arrest the dancer.
Yet how is this tolerance rewarded? By unrepentantly spitting in white Australia’s face.
Let me reiterate here that I am not racist. In fact I went to school with several Asians and talked to them in a calm, non-confrontational way on many occasions.
But let’s be honest: Goodes has form on the provocatively ungrateful front. Remember when he jumped the fence and punched that little girl in the face?
All because she was having a great night out at the footy and he didn’t want her to. A young girl pays her money to sit in the crowd, cheer her team on and label opposition players as primates of her own choice, and somehow Goodes thinks this gives him the right to follow that young girl home and set fire to her garage. Who’s the real racist here?
It’s certainly not me – the man who mows my lawn is from Croatia.
It’s a shame how many in our so-called media are so pathetically beholden to political correctness that they can laud Goodes’s dancing – which was, as we have established, essentially a promise to murder all white people in their beds – as an “expression of indigenous culture”.
How ridiculous! Indigenous people get to express their culture all the time – haven’t these people seen The Sapphires? But there is a time and a place for the expression of indigenous culture, and that time and place is certainly not on the football field during Indigenous Round.
Because Indigenous Round is a time to celebrate what unites us, which is football, and not what divides us, which is Indigenousness. But Goodes is a born divider – look at the way he divides people into “racists” and “non-racists”, completely oblivious to the fact that we are all simply people, and none of us are racist. Particularly not me – my best friend is Persian or something.
But Goodes wants you to believe that not only are people racist, but that some of them live in Australia, which is a transparently idiotic allegation. Would a country with racists in it have allowed Kevin Rudd, a man who by his own admission speaks Chinese, to become prime minister?
The real scandal is the blind eye so many are turning to safety. Would a white man be allowed to threaten others with a spear on national television? “Oh yes yes,” cry the reverse racism apologists, “it was only an imaginary spear.”
Does that make it better? Do you think a person can’t be killed by an imaginary spear? Perhaps you do, but remember, Goodes is an Aborigine, and they have mysterious powers. The power to make people feel guilty who are not racist, for example.
Do we have to wait until a spectator dies from imaginary wounds before we take action? The even grimmer possibility is that this will spark an imaginary arms race.
Goodes brandishes an imaginary spear; Chris Judd draws an imaginary revolver; Joel Selwood drives onto the field in an imaginary tank; Matthew Pavlich imaginary cluster-bombs the entire St Kilda team. Once the imaginary weapon genie is out of the bottle, it’s awfully hard to stuff it back in.
The real question is: do we want to a live in a country of harmony and peace, or do we want to live in a country where people think they are free to dance wherever and whenever they like?
Do we want to live in a country where we refuse to judge others by the colour of their skin, or do we want to live in a country where people keep reminding us of the colour of their skin and making us feel all uncomfortable?
Do we want to live in a country where we accept people of all cultures, or do we want to let people ruin everything by having cultures?
The answer is clear, and I say that as a person who has never been in any way racist – in fact I am fairly sure that my ongoing research on Ancestry.com will soon reveal that I am actually black.
All I want is for everyone – black or white, man or woman, footballer or fan – to come together as one nation and respect every Australian’s right to keep their cultural identity to themselves. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
Alannah
Guest
Firstly just the fact that you specify "aboriginal man at coles", "Asian people that I spoke nicely to", "White Australia" shows how truly racist you are. I am a 'white australian' in your words although I probably just prefer the term australian, and I have no problem with someone publicly sharing their culture and their individualism whilst also celebrating doing well at what they love. Who cares if Adam goodes did a indigenous war dance, just the fact that most people know almost zero about indigenous culture in this country is disgraceful. Because it's part of Australia's history and culture. People like you are what make me embarrassed to call myself australian.
Owen
Guest
Your last line "every Australian’s right to keep their cultural identity to themselves" just about sums it up. You're saying everyone has a right to shut up about who they are. That is not a right, that is STOPPING people from saying who they are. That is oppression. I am fairly certain you have no idea what racism is, so your claim to not be racist is just hot air. For an example of an informed opinion, see this: http://www.pedestrian.tv/news/sport/watch-waleed-aly-absolutely-nail-the-adam-goodes-d/5a715856-12c3-471e-90df-44810d585bc8.htm#st_refDomain=www.facebook.com&st_refQuery=/home.php
Aransan
Guest
Bulldust!
Allison McClymont
Guest
The real racist is definitely Adam Goodes. If he hadn't called out that 13 year old kid for calling him an ape, (all to further his own career) and carried on like the racist he truly is, none of this would have happened.
Lesley
Guest
Is this article a joke?
Stealth Womble
Guest
Wow I am in total disbelief that so many people have taken this article as anything but an attempt at satire! The amount of indignant responses decrying the author as racist lol the offended responses are funnier than the article! Amazing how quick some people are to advertise their incomprehension!
peter
Guest
Umm, Who invented football? Aboriginals played the game Marn Grook and Europeans copied that game and re-named it " Australian Rules Football". I think that you should do a little more research about the AFL and where it originates from. It is very disappointing to have people you talk so much hsteria with no known knowledge or proof of fact to back up these idiodic remarks.
Justin
Guest
the media has made this a racial game.... ' oh what a great indigenous player ......... Is'! (Insert aboriginal name here) I never did recall Peter Bell being mentioned 'what an awesome Korean footy player or 'gees kouts is the best greek player I've seen' Why can't we just refer to them as a 'player', simple as that!
Mark
Guest
I have literally never read a worse price of writing in my entire life. So much so I had to stop midway through as it was making my brain hurt. "I saw an aboriginal man at Coles, so I'm not racist" Are you being serious? You then follow that up with "I don't see colour" oh you don't? So do you remember the white man you saw at Coles? That's what I thought
Maggie
Guest
I am fed up with reading this misrepresentation of the war cry that Adam Goodes used. You claim it was ‘invented only few years ago by some kids’ and has ‘NOTHING to do with his or any other aboriginals history or culture’. They were not just ‘some kids’, they were the Flying Boomerangs, who make up the AFL’s personal development and leadership program for some of the best rising AFL talent in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young men aged 14 -15 years-old. This particular dance was developed leading up to a tour to Papua New Guinea in March 2009 which was the first time it was performed. Knowing that the local teams would have a war dance, the Flying Boomerangs developed one to respond appropriately. But it is totally based on Australian indigenous culture and dance. Dance has always been a very important way in which indigenous Australians pass on their stories, knowledge and culture and express their identity. As part of the development of this dance, the Flying Boomerangs visited an indigenous cultural centre in Cairns and learned some traditional dance moves, which they added to based on their own knowledge from their own individual backgrounds. The dance is now performed by the Flying Boomerangs before each of their matches. The Flying Boomerangs taught the dance to the AFL’s Aboriginal All Stars which is how Adam Goodes came to learn it. Other AFL indigenous players understand the significance of the dance and have supported Goodes – e.g. Michael Johnson (Fremantle) and Shaun Burgoyne and Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn). And finally, for you and all the others who keep referring to the final movement representing throwing a spear – it is actually the action of hurling a boomerang. As you would expect in a dance created from indigenous culture by a team named the Flying Boomerangs. I’ve attached a couple of references – there is plenty more easily available on the internet for those who are interested in facts. http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/cry-from-the-heart-fuels-spirit-in-boomerang-mob-20130524-2k6vw.html http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/1610131508-an-authentic-australian-war-cry/
craigp
Guest
"Indigenous people get to express their culture".......since when has the spear throwing dance been part of aboriginal culture you ask? try invented only few years ago by some kids - goodes saw it and chose to use it on the football field, despite it having NOTHING to do with his or any other aboriginals history or culture - it had no purpose but to antagonise....an 'up yours' to the white 'oppressors' in the crowd! goodes continually pushes an us versus them mentality, sending both his standing and his cause backwards.
buck
Guest
HAHAHAAHAHAHAAHA nooooo this cant be real.
Dopplerman
Guest
Think you'll find the man was playing footy and the young girl abused him .wherby he pointed out her wrong doing ....she like many here should cop it on the chin and grow up .
rob
Guest
https://youtu.be/xeBu735nFYw Take a look
TB
Guest
To be made Australian of the Year because you are a great sportsman and can attack a young supporter is a joke.
Mitcher
Guest
I fear I've completely missed the point of your comment, and maybe you of mine.
Sandra ward
Guest
I got autocorrected. My apologies.
Debz
Guest
Well, you could learn to spell it correctly first....
Debz
Guest
Well said :) it's very confronting to unpack your own cultural identity and work on your own flaws. Recognizing you're own tribal triggers is part of that. I have come to realize that I can be racist and stereotype people and when it happens, I have to reflect on whether my judgement is fair or based on incorrect beliefs about a group, not the individual.
jizzaman
Guest
I'm not a racist either, I just wonder why Ben Pobijijie is inciting violence and hatred against white people and black people. Pobibobi is making people hate each other by making it such all about himself. Shouldn't Pobigiggy be making peace with everyone and making everything calm. Maybe Ben Pogjibije should take out some flower to Adam so that we can all live in peace.