yep, it just becomes a battle of whos sensibilities are more important than others. It’s becoming a big issue across the spectrum of things at the moment.
i can highly recommend people watch the Goodes/Stan Grant doco, even if you feel your totally justified in booing him for the acts he did on the field independent of his aboriginally. It will give you a much better insight into why he felt the way he did, and extrapolated it into what he did.
lets face 2 very important facts when it came to Adam Goodes
He got booed more often than any player I can remember
He did some dirty things but was not the dirtiest player i can remember
If Nichols was an indigenous umpire, would we still boo him when waters decided to bulldoze redman?
If we did would that be cause we are racist? Or would it be because we didn’t agree with the decision?
Agree with all of that Ben. He was a great player and from the times I met him, a super nice, humble man.
Personally I never booed him, mainly because I just think it’s a waste of energy, but I did notice the booing more towards the end of his career than at its zenith when he was winning Brownlows. I guess the question is why. I’m interested to know his thoughts (and yours for that matter). Do you believe the Australian of the year award had anything to do with what occurred towards the backend of his career? If that’s the cause of any of this, it’s particularly harsh and unfair given he doesn’t get to choose if he is awarded anything.
If Goodes is worth an Australian of the Year, this man deserves 10.
He’s all class. He’s always been about unity and talking a long walk forward together.
Absolutely love the man. Was very fortunate to meeting him at Windy Hill in the 80’s and he signed a St Mary’s club emblem I had sown into my Bombers jumper.
If you need any motivation to make certain we don’t play like ■■■■ on Saturday night, have a look at this mans statue on let his career sink in.
Get in the sauna ya Kent’s!!
I think the majority of the people were not booing Goodes because of race or on field conduct …they were just being jerks. They saw that it was hurting him and they took pleasure in his suffering.
I think I understand more after reading this thread…Bens story in particular, why he felt racially abused. And I look forward to watching the doco to get more information.
A very good follow article, provides a bit more perspective. The only real surprise about this article is that it showed up on the AFaiL’s own website.
that’s pretty much it. a small portion of it was no doubt racism, you’ll never be completely ■■■■■■■ free in any walk of life.
the other part is, generally people don’t like to be told they are something they don’t believe they are.
racist, sexist etc etc we get it rammed down our throat that we are all these things If we don’t abide by other peoples moral compass on the issue.
an african american guy summed it on in an interview i saw awhile back, where he essentially said racism, sexism all those things have become like a religion to people, you have to follow their strict guidelines and definitions, and if you don’t, you are the biggest evil on the planet.
most of it was about showing they didn’t like him or the situation. again you keep telling people they are racist for booing him, and they dont’ think they are being so, what are people going to do ?
some will fold, most will dig their heels in.
similar to ablett this year, does it make people racist cos they are booing him ? does it make them anti christian ?
what about akermanis, he got boo’d alot for being a flog, is that ok or justified because there’s no hidding behind a specific reason as to why people are bad for doing it ?
I don’t remember but did micheal long ever get boo’d for standing up for his heritage ? nicky winmar ? eddie betts ? any other number of aboriginal players who have done it ?
your point has been lost in alot of this whole debate. it is but human nature to want to use whatever means necessary sometimes to hurt people, not cos they hate blacks, not because they hate woman, but just because they want to treat someone like a ■■■■, and no other reason.
