ADAM GOODES
The hard thing about wanting to post something about the booing of Adam Goodes is knowing where to begin and when to step away. As an issue and an event, it's pretty darn ugly no matter how you look at it. I'm not sure what's worse; the booing itself or the attempts to justify it. Quite why anyone would want to defend or justify one's right to heap abuse onto another person simply because they're playing sport in a public arena is beyond me, but then there are lot of things in life that I find baffling.
If you're reading this and you're like me, you are troubled (and offended) by the booing. We are already on the same page. But if you're struggling to see the booing as racist, I'd urge you to keep reading. You may not like what I have to say or even agree with it, but hopefully, you'll get a better idea of where I and others like me are coming from, and why so many footy payers, coaches, Indigenous people and others in the community have such issue with the booing of Adam Goodes.
As a footy player to watch, there are times I find Goodes a bit annoying. Sometimes he plays for the free kick, and he's not averse to the odd sly trick if he can get away with it. Mind you, the guy's getting on a bit; he's been around for a LONG time. If you're not crafty at his age, you're not a great player. And Goodes IS a great player. Two Brownlows. Two flags. The guy should be revered for what he's achieved in football, not booed for it. There can't be too many dual Brownlow medalists out there afforded anywhere near the same level of disrespect as Goodes, even before one acknowledges race as an issue.
And race IS an issue. Goodes is an Aboriginal man and an Aboriginal leader. In fact, he's not just an Aboriginal leader; he's an Australian leader, as signified by his position as an Australian of the Year. Again, I don't think too many Australians of the Year get booed. Goodes' Indigenous identity is a core part of who he is; it's inseparable from the rest of him. I don't mind people finding him annoying, because everyone has that right; but I am acutely bothered by the vitriol directed towards him, and by the nature of the attempts made in some quarters to justify his treatment.
You cannot separate the treatment of Aboriginal people in this present day and age from the treatment of Aboriginal people in the past. To do so is to misunderstand the nature of history. History is a living, breathing thing that is a part of us, just like culture. The more I've learned about Australian history - and in particular, the treatment of Aboriginal people and culture at the hands of white Australia - the harder I find it to accept. The books are there to read. They are painful to read, too, but reading them isn't even a shadow of what it must have been like to live through such experiences of abuse and degradation. But I'm glad to have read them. I'd rather embrace Australia and its story for what it is and what I hope it will become, rather than cling to some blindly idealised vision of what I'd like it to be.
What does this have to do with Goodes? Goodes is an outspoken critic of the ongoing mistreatment of Aboriginal Australians. He challenges our status quo. He is a cause of discomfort. I can understand that people don't enjoy this, but I wish they could look a bit harder at what Goodes is trying to do; he's trying to instil in all of Australia a respect for Aboriginal people and culture, and a sense of pride and self-respect in many, many disconnected and disenfranchised Indigenous people in Australia. And he wants Aboriginal people to be proud, assertive and strong. Like warriors. In an effort to survive, Aboriginal people have learned to be meek, silent and unassuming. Almost invisible, even. We're used to this. They're used to this. But it's not how it is supposed to be. Aboriginal people have a right to be proud, and a right to stand tall. In truth, I'd be honoured to stand with them.
Now, a person might not boo Goodes with the specific intention of undermining his efforts in this regard, but that is what they are doing just the same. Surely it's not worth compromising all of that because the old bloke played for a cheap free kick, is it?
Is Goodes milking it? I sincerely doubt it, and to suggest otherwise is to slander him in a deeply offensive way. It likens him to the hypothetical 'scorned woman' who falsely shouts rape in retaliation against another. Are we really going to defame a man of Goodes' standing in so shameful a fashion just so we can boo him at the footy with moral impunity? I'd really like to think that as a people, we are better than that.
Goodes calls people on racism. He doesn't spare the young, either, and nor should he. He lives in an age where a 'footy fan' can be ejected from Subiaco Oval for telling Goodes to 'Get back to the zoo'. This alone is bad enough, but it's even worse when that same person doesn't consider his own comments racist! But it gets even worse still, because when the West runs a poll asking members of the public whether they think the comment was racist - and the data is running and 50-50 - you know just how far we've still got to go as a nation. If I were Goodes, in anger and desperation, I'd be throwing real spears.
If Aboriginal people - in a careful and considered manner - tell you that something is hurtful and racist, ignoring them or rejecting their views is both arrogant and unfeeling. As an Aussie of Italian origin, I've experienced a little racism in my time. Standing up to it is HARD. I think I can speak for all when I say that you don't do it lightly. It's too personal and serious for that. To claim racism when none is felt is to cheapen all you hold dear. This is why I believe Goodes, and I believe we all should, too.
Booing at the footy is tolerated, but this doesn't mean it’s good. It's not a tradition worth defaming a man over, never mind a man who is a genuine champion and a tireless advocate of the rights of his people and of decency for all. To think that if it's ok to boo, say, a pest like Hayden Ballantyne, that it then must be exactly the same to boo Goodes, is to miss an awful lot of points. You just can't dismiss the role played by context in so careless a manner. Put another way, it's a bit like using 'gay' as an insult. Between some people it feels harmless. To many, it's hurtful. As such, to use it risks hurting anyone at any time. Why would anyone choose to do that? The fact is, you might want to boo Goodes for legitimate footy reasons, but you cannot do so without adding fuel to a deeply offensive fire. That might be annoying for you, but in the grand scheme of things - particularly a scheme that acknowledges the shameful treatment of Indigenous Australians - it's a pretty small one. My advice? Let it go.
It's time for us to boo less and feel more. We owe it to Goodes. We owe it to each other. It's time to set a better example.