Morons ruining footy's message of inclusiveness

I've heard some pretty poor rationalizations for what was clearly racist behaviour by certain (but not all) AFL crowds. Yours is amongst them. The booing of Goodes was racist. End story. Until people such as yourself can see what the vast majority of people can see, racism will continue to be an issue.

Great post.

Thank you GJ for that post, I was unaware of the HRC appointment.

Probably because Betts doesn't actually act like a sook...?

Nice one GJ. Provocative. Especially like points one and two. Geeze, strong.

Good article. Talking about and debating issues that have a negative impact on our society is not a bad place to help start facilitating change. Racism is a complex issue. My post is simplistic, I understand that. To keep it simple, I am from an Anglo background so I will use terms like "I / we / us". And for the purpose of this post I will refer to indigenous Australians as "him / they / them / their". I understand that the goal of creating inclusiveness in our our society these terms shouldn't be used to differentiate between any of us. I think there are probably 3 main points that I need to cover: Firstly - we do not get to choose when what we say or do is racist or not racist. That is their call. In other words if they tell us that our words or actions are racist, we need to acknowledge that and adjust our actions and behaviours to suit. Secondly - we do not get to choose for them what is an appropriate reaction to our racist behaviours or actions if they have been subjected to racist behaviours or actions. For some people it may be "water off of a ducks back", for others they may be deeply hurt or offended. Again, we don't get to choose what is appropriate. Thirdly - I think a lot of us will question the first 2 points and ask "why". The reason why is because at some level racism is about power. The reality is (in Australia anyway) we have all the power. We have the political power, the economic power and the power of volume or numbers in the population by direct comparison. They make up a very small and often disadvantaged part of our communities. And in many cases they are geographically isolated. Food for thought. And I genuinely hope you do try to nourish your minds. In regard to Adam Goodes I believe what a lot of people don't realise is that he was appointed as the Ambassador for Racism of the Australian Human Rights Commission prior to becoming the Australian of Year. In fact it was his role with the Human Rights Commission that was the catalyst for his nomination for Australian of the Year. Both are roles that you are nominated for, these are not roles that you apply for. Adam Goodes prior to these roles was working with largely disadvantaged indigenous children in Sydney because this was something that was close to his heart. His intentions were always honourable. Adam Goodes - noble, community leader, legend footballer, ambassador, all round good human being.

It is quite fascinating reading the history of Tom Wills and Marngrook... and the beginnings of Australian Football. Personally, I think Tom Wills was inspired by his own observations of Marngrook when developing the style in which AF was to be played. No doubt, though, he would be very disappointed that racism would mar his game in the 21st century.

What I am saying is at that the public booing Adam in that particular game was the case, to answer your question why he was booed in the first place then boburra has pretty much answered that for me. A racial slur is what it is and should never be allowed but to connect booing to racism is a long bow to draw, does that mean the public can only show their disproval to players of their own ethnic background? I don't agree that the publics behaviour towards Adam turned after he reacted to the racial slur, he was already unpopular amongst opposition supporters , much the same as Karl Langdon was always unpopular with other supporters and was booed continually throughout his career.

also..stop blaming the Eagles supporters all the time re racism, the same racism (Goodes or otherwise) happened with Freo, Sydney fans and right across Melbourne teams! We're not evil pariahs, we were just very naughty party-boys once, a long time ago. ((;

Not sure why moderation was required?? Slap them with 10yr bans. At least the AFLHQ has learnt its lesson from the Adam Goodes fiasco and has actually been proactive. This country’s collective failure to bring about reconciliation is nothing short of a tragedy

I'm confused, are you claiming Adam Goodes was booed because the AFL told people not to boo him? What made people start in the first place then? Goodes had been in the AFL for a good decade without being booed, so the excuse that "Goodes is a flog" clearly wasn't the reason why they started. However, coincidentally, the boos DID start around the same time he reacted to a racist slur being thrown his way. Funny that.

Slap these idiots with 10yr bans. At least the AFLHQ has learnt its lesson from the Adam Goodes fiasco and has actually been proactive. This country's collective failure to bring about reconciliation is nothing short of a tragedy.

By "you" do you mean whitey?

I have always thought of Goodes as an excellent player up until he reached his 30 pus years of age. It was after turning 30 that his game changed as did his 'attitude". Now I am not suggesting that it is not right for him to stand up for his convictions, however his general playing persona changed to the point ( as we all saw, in playing / pleading for free kicks sliding etc.) that also changed the viewers perception of the way he played. Yes, there was a hint of racism about the booing he received, but I believe most of it (the booing) came from the fans feeling he was staging for those frees etc, and subsequently booed for those actions, which they the fans have done since the year dot. Of course racism needs to be eliminated ( as much as possible,you will never eradicate it entirely) out of the game and society but it's is not going to happen overnight, fining, suspensions and the like will not stop it. The corrective measures of course comes with education and a lot of that will be with the kids of today carrying forward the no racism mantra.

The current Governor of SA is a Vietnamese 1970's boat arrival.

On the same page, you can't say that no booing of an Aboriginal player is racist. Personally I think if a player does something to deserve being booed (injuring a player, dare I say diving?) then that's well deserved. I'll never forgive Lindsay Thomas for shattering Gary Rohan's leg. But don't think that Goodes falls under that category. For most games in his last season he was booed whenever he got within 10m of the ball. And it wasn't the just the AFL telling the public not to boo him, a massive part of it came from the players from other teams, those people we call role models. I guess only when it suits us, isn't it?

I was also at that West Coast/Sydney game, you mentioned Lewis Jetta being booed but you neglected to say that was after he came from a good 20 metres and dropped his shoulder square in the middle of Elliot Yeos back - to say it was unfair from Lewis is putting it mildly, he gave away a free, it started a fight and I think he got booked and booed - not because of his heritage. His jumper in the fight got torn and this was the resultant media photo shown with the caption he was sticking up for his mate!! Goodes on the other hand was booed as a result of the AFL telling the public not to. Unfortunately Adam has polarised public opinion, many fans did not look like him in the vein many didn't like Rhys-Jones or Akermanis and reject being told how to act. To manipulate any negative feeling towards an indigenous player as racial is incorrect and only serves to negate the process of eliminating racism.

"fining, banning and punishing people does not address the issue…" Then how should the problem be addressed? The idea of permanent culture change starting with children is nice, but children learn a lot of their behaviours through their parents, who hold the racist views and behaviour in the first place. As for the question how would I feel if a family of Aboriginals moved into the apartment next to mine? Answer would be ""I don't know, depends what they are like." Tapestry of life mate, takes all sorts to make a world!

I think we have hidden behind a veneer of political correctness and not addressed the central issues underpinning how as a nation Australia has addressed it's racism... fining, banning and punishing people does not address the issue... we need to go a few layers deeper into the hearts and minds of people... how would you feel if a family of Aborigines moved into the apartment next to yours? How would your parents and friends respond? How about if your boss was aboriginal? How would you feel if the prime minister of Australia was of Vietnamese or Chinese heritage?

I've noticed a strange disconnect between the response of Betts' abuse ("he doesn't deserve that, he's a legend, racism is bad") and Goodes's ("What a sook, flog, etc"). And I don't mean between now and way back then. These comments are happening within minutes of each other. Absolute hypocrisy, really sad to see.