Sports & Fitness Adam Goodes

Haven't been on here as much as the somersoft but unless I am missing something there does not appear to be any discussion over the Adam Goodes fiasco which would of probably run up around 10 pages on somersoft.

What is going on?

 

I've seen this all over the news but I tend to gloss over anything non financial related. What's the gist of it?

 

Australian of the year, not aboriginal of the year..
His actions are divisive, not uniting..

 

He got booed by the crowd at an away game, just like every other opposition player faces.

He claims its racist and took it to the media and as usual, media sensationalises everything.

He's long been the biggest sook in Australia.

 

Oh that's what I gathered too from the snippets I've seen. But I assume it was something more substantial due to how much coverage it's getting.

 

I think that a lot of people are sick to death of being labelled racist. In many quarters it is being stated that many white people are racist and do not even know it.......I find that unbelievable...

 

My observation of the issue is that there is one dominant politically and socially accepted perspective. If one holds an alternative view, they are deemed to be racist. This quashes the opportunity for discussion and ultimately resolution.

 

Well said Owlet,pretty well sums it up......

 

There are two misconceptions surrounding this story:

1. There is a difference between actions and qualities of people; doing a racist act does not mean a person is racist, because the act can be devoid of racist intention. e.g. When Bert Newton called Muhammad Ali "boy". He had no idea what the connotations of that language was, but it was still a racist act to use that language.
   
   
2. Being labelled a "racist" doesn't mean you're akin to a member of the KKK, or necessarily in any way morally defective. We're all racist to some extent; we live, and were raised, in a racist world.

Bearing these two factors in mind, when somebody calls an action "racist", we should view it as an opportunity to learn, rather than reacting with defensiveness. In the context of Australia, a racist act is one that serves to further marginalise somebody who's already a member of a marginalised group. Intentions are irrelevant.

The booing of Adam Goodes is unequivocally racist. That doesn't say anything much at all about the people booing. It does say that the booing should stop.



http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/07/intentions-dont-really-matter/

 

Hmmm how is that unbelievable? Of course most racists don't know that they're being racist. It's like many years ago when women didn't have the vote and equal rights. Did people know they were being sexist? Of course not, they thought it was normal and acceptable at the time.

Most widespread discrimination perpetrated by any dominant group isn't done in a deliberately harmful way. It takes an external perspective to point out what they're doing is unfair.

People very rarely blame themselves or feel guilty about anything, and this includes the majority of convicted criminals. They think they're good people, doing normal things.

I would just say this about Adam Goodes - anyone who has a problem with him and doesn't think race has anything to do with the whole issue, I would invite you to write your argument down, and show it to your kids / grandkids in 30 years. My guess is that they probably won't be proud of you.

 

No its not. And it's people who think like that who are part of the problem.
We boo Adam Goodes because he's a good player from the opposition team. Lance Franklin, Josh Kennedy, Gary Ablett, Hayden Ballantyne all get the same. Has nothing at all to do with race and never has. Goodes is just a sook and should cop suspension for bringing the game into disrepute.

 

Did you read the bit about intentions not mattering?

 

Did you read the bit about him being an opposition player in sport and his race/colour/sexuality/gender/religion not making an ounce of difference?

 

It may not make any difference to the people booing. It makes a huge amount of difference to the recipient.

 

So when a non-aboriginal player gets booed by the opposition fans what are they to think then? That it must be because they're male or gay or christian or poor or short?

 

Who else is booed to the same extent as Goodes?

If they were gay, and felt it was homophobic, then it's homophobic.

I'm not aware that men, Christians, poor people, or short people are oppressed minorities.

 

@D.T. Maybe you should read Stan Grants' article in The Guardian or listen to this https://soundcloud.com/702abcsydney/stan-grant-explains-how-it-feels-to-be-indigenous-in-australia. It is NOT about booing a player.

 

All the women have stopped booing him for the fear of being called sexist

 

Every opposition player does. Its part and parcel of playing top level competition. Has zero to do with racism and everything to do with him being a good player on the other side.

 

If you're claiming that Goodes isn't booed any more than any other player, I'll have to take your word for it because I don't watch AFL. But I've not seen this claim made by even the staunchest defenders of the booing. Everything I've read - and some footage I've seen - suggests that he's booed very, very much more than other players.