When will Eddie's gaffes subside?

Christophe Lemaitre ran sub 10 a couple of times.

I live near the suburb of Moorooka in Brisbane which has a strong African population. When I see the African boys playing soccer at Moorooka State School which adjoins the Moorooka AFC I wish they were at the footy club. Does that make me racist?

Furthermore on this - I'm an Essendon supporter and see Eddie as an outstanding role model and leader for not just the Collingwood Footy Club but the community as a whole. The Goodesy thing was awful, no excuse for that, but a few other things have been really seized upon by people unfairly - I don't think these types of opportunistic, perhaps ridiculous, attacks on his cultural sensitivity are anywhere near fair considering what he's done for the game as a whole. Can we can acknowledge that Africans are genetically stronger and faster than white people and move on with the rest of our lives? I hope so.

The comment from this week by itself is probably an example of discrimination of caucasians, suggesting we can never run as fast as africans. This is a fact of life - africans genetically have faster and stronger strength switches in their body, you could ask any biologist. Have a nap I reckon, Benjamin.

I wrote the article and just wanted to say thanks for the comments everyone, it is appreciated that you took the time to read the article (even if you hated it). I thought I would clarify a few things: 1) Why I find the comment 'culturally inappropriate'? It is a positive stereotype. Evidence has found that positive stereotypes predominantly have negative impacts. The reason it has negative impacts is because it depersonalises a person and also creates the perception that the person who made the positive stereotype is racist .i.e. If the person uses positive stereotypes they are presumed to be more likely to use a negative stereotype. Here are some articles on the topic: - http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2015/07/20/424640508/the-negative-in-positive-stereotypes - https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201302/the-pain-positive-stereotypes Sorry that I made the assumption that people would understand why it's culturally inappropriate. 2) The aim of the article? I was trying to encourage Eddie and Collingwood to be leaders on cultural and gender equality, highlighting that Eddie's history of gaffes create a negative perception about Eddie and the club. 3) I am not trying to gun for Eddie - I thought I made this clear by saying that I do not want him fired and that Collingwood FC and say that he may require some cultural sensitivity training. When I first heard the comments I was shocked that Eddie had not learnt his lesson from his previous comments, which was the reason I wrote the article. I was trying to infer: Eddie made a culturally insensitive comment > Eddie has a history of making similar comments > Maybe Eddie needs some cultural sensitivity training > wouldn't it be nice if Collingwood was a leader on these issues to help change the perception of Eddie and CFC? I am guessing that If I have to explain this the article did not do what it was supposed to. 4) I am not Caroline Wilson (nor have ever met her) ;) I am just a lifelong Collingwood fan that saw an opportunity to improve the club he supports. Thanks again for reading and commenting on the article!

Can't see how anyone could be offended by the comment. In sprints, Africans wipe the floor with people from other continents. Their physiology gives them an advantage. Eddie's line is a compliment. Crap article and much ado about nothing. But keep your ear on him Mr Biro. With Eddie, you'll soon have something that's worth turning your blowtorch towards.

Thanks Harry. Yes I could not see a profile either. I thought it was my smudged up glasses

I don't see a problem with McGuire's comments. They don't really add much to the debate, but I don't see anything wrong with suggesting African descended kids are more likely to be competitive at athletic events.

Sorry to disappoint but this article is not my handy work, it doesn't call for anyone to be fired. In fact, the article specifically says that it does not want Eddie's head for this incident. You can be sure it wasn't written by me. ;)

Good grief - why do we bother - I cant stand McGuire but if one cant have a discussion about the background of good athletes which may get some racists to look at positives for black people - then we really have lost the plot. This article is 20 years too late - the 90's was the decade to take offence. According to this clown we cant discuss anything - is it any wonder despite being a madman Trump is getting support from disaffected Yanks.

The professional offence takers . Pointless article -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.

You will have to ask Benjamin Biro, but unfortunately you cant find anything about him as he has no profile ! Perhaps it is Caro, perhaps it is someone else, who knows !.

We're actually pretty proud of the falafel comment, it shows people in Melbourne don't understand Western Sydney and never will.

Yes. When the article first come up I had the feeling that it might have been about nothing and yet it was a good opportunity to mention his past comments, in the hope that readers will go along for the ride. Sure, his past comments could have been a bit more sensitive but I don't see anything wrong with what he said here. What was the intention of this article?

Its far from the worst comment he has made but he probably shouldnt have said it with his track record. you can't just train up any African born kid to be a Olympic runner. Yes most champion sprinters are black, but does not mean all black people are potential champion sprinters.

Aluminium concentrates are another theory in the West Indies- you will have to google it. Facts are though if that is the case about weaker slaves dying, then the European blood that all these slaves posessed makes little sense, no white man to my knowledge has run under 10 seconds for 100 metres. African americans descended from slavery on average carry 24% European genomes, the West indies is probably similar.

It's 100% true. It's no coincidence that the best distance runners are East African and the best sprinters are from countries that have strong West African slave stock. I think Eddie is an obnoxious bigot and misogynist, but he's 100% correct on this one.

No

I don't disagree re: the West Africa heritage. One proposition is that the cross Atlantic slave trade was so brutal that many with lower concentrations of these types of muscles died in transit, resulting in a population in the Caribbean as it is. I'd have to leave the veracity of this proposition to people who study the matter. Societal changes are indeed the largest factor though it should be noted that Sierra Leone went into civil war in the early 90's whereas the runners in the Caribbean have been amongst the medals since the 60's.

Yes I agree , politically indulgent article underlining a idealistic and utopian view of the world . Let me pen an article on reverse racism and see if it gets through the moderators and editors . Africans are fast runners , Whites more intellectually industrious - is that racist or fact , look at history for the correct answer .