Few would disagree that the world has gone mad.
Sport should be as it always was a refuge, a place where you could escape the politics and the stresses of everyday life. It was a release.
Sadly now with the political messaging sport fans find that they cannot escape the at times frustrating, nonsensical world that we live in today.
Sport has supposedly always been inclusive. By that anyone from any nationality, religion or sexual orientation is welcome to come and play at any club. Yet the fact is as many have found out they are not always welcome. This does not have to relate to the colour of your skin, there will be many times where there is prejudice against others of the same skin tone but for other reasons relating to religion, school or many other factors.
There is no doubt that the charges made against the Matildas captain Sam Kerr last week by London’s Metropolitan Police are not to be taken lightly. However, the whole situation has divided opinion.
One to publicly criticise the Australian captain was former international Craig Foster. Nothing new there as here is a man who loves a soapbox.
Foster has since backtracked on his comments writing ““Like many, I mistakenly thought that comments that referenced any colour and were discriminatory, demeaning or hostile were a form of racism. I apologise to Sam for that mistake. He went on to state, “As many experts and leading anti-racism groups have pointed out, interpersonal comments can be offensive, abusive or inappropriate, however, racism can only be perpetrated against a marginalised person or group, which anti-racism frameworks are specifically designed to protect.”
He then went on to quote the Diversity Council of Australia’s definition of racism as being when someone “with race-based societal power discriminates, excludes or disadvantages a racially based person because of their race, colour or descent.”
Honestly? Whoever is on the Diversity Council of Australia should step aside, as by simply having that view they clearly fail to understand the meaning of Diversity. They are in fact discriminating against those they perceive as being a race-based societal power. They are themselves refusing to accept all.
This is the world gone mad. People over complicating a very simple, albeit uncomfortable and disturbing situation.
The dictionary definition of Racism is as follows:
noun
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized
Note the words “typically one that is a minority or marginalized.” This does not mean as some claim, that because you are white and often not marginalised you cannot be racially abused.
Surely it comes down to context, how something that could be deemed racist is said? Was it shouted in a person’s face or was it a throw-away comment as they walked away? Both can be interpreted very differently.
So if a white-skinned person in a country in which white-people are perceived as being the societal power is surrounded by a group of people who happen not to be the same skin colour, and is abused because of the colour of their skin, is this not racist?
Surely this is prejudice, discrimination and antagonism, targeting an ethnic group of the community? An ethnic group is essentially “a group of people who share a similar culture (beliefs, values, and behaviours), language, religion, ancestry, or other characteristic that is often handed down from one generation to the next.” In other words that can apply to any group of people in our communities.
Making out that racism cannot be perpetrated against a white person is treading a very dangerous line. As suddenly the promotion of this line of thought is going to open a can of worms. In a sporting contest when passions are known to rise, sometimes people say things that they shouldn’t. As we all know racist abuse on the field of play has for a long time been unacceptable, and players have been appropriately punished. Now it would appear that if a white player is abused that is OK as it cannot be racist. Even if that white person may be a white West Indian, or from any number of countries where pale skin is more common. This is going to be an abusing player’s defence.
What is a referee or umpire to do? Send off a white player for using such language, but all non-white players can say what they like?
Of course another problem with the world today is that many decisions come down to how an individual identifies themselves. There are as touched on, many who would pass as having white skin, they may be of mixed race. While appearing to be white many may well identify as being Black, Asian, Latino or Indian So how do you handle a situation where a person who appears to be white but does not identify as being white is being abused?
There are many people in the world who do not feel marginalised. Although one can only assume that this group is growing day by day. According to Foster’s cock-eyed view of racism they cannot be racially abused, as apparently you have to feel marginalised for it to be racism. He said “racism can only be perpetrated against a marginalised person or group.”
Mr Foster went on to state “While the UK is evidently different, in Australia, definitions of racism were not designed to protect me as a white, Anglo, Australian male nor a white police officer who has even greater legal and racial power. That’s because I cannot experience racism in Australia. My right to speak is not questioned, I am in the cultural, racial and linguistic majority, aren’t attacked for my name, colour, headdress or religion, as many are, and am made to feel that I have a right to belong which is why like many of you I am deeply committed to making sure that no other Australian faces personal, institutional or systematic racism.”
Well Mr Foster let us take you back to your days on SBS’s “The World Game” where week-in-week-out you absolutely trashed English football. Your anti British stance, a country where your career set you up financially, was noted by many who had migrated to Australia, and yes, who found it to be racist. Incidentally not all who felt that way were white.
Racism is in Australia. It is perpetrated against many sections of the community often by people who do not even realise they are being racist. Talk to white-skinned migrants to Australia and many will tell you stories of being turned away from jobs because their voice gave away their previous nationality. Maybe because they didn’t view themselves as marginalised prior to this happening it was not racism, but surely after this has happened once it is racism?
The Australian Human Rights Commission actually states “Migrants and refugees also regularly experience racism, in particular those who have recently arrived.” It is important to note that they do not claim that only non-white migrants suffer, although one would expect that non-white migrants are likely to suffer more. In fact they confirm this when they state that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders suffer the most, and that “migrants and refugees who have recently arrived in Australia — especially those whose skin colour, speech or dress is different than we’re used to — are more likely to be targets of racism. However, there is another very important short sentence which reads “anyone can experience racist behaviour.”
The Racial Hatred Act which was passed in Australia in 1995 states:
“The Act covers public acts which are:
done, in whole or in part, because of the race, colour, or national or ethnic origin of a person or group AND
reasonably likely in all the circumstances to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate that person or group.”
This is Australian Law, where does it state that racism cannot be perpetrated against someone with white skin? It doesn’t. So sporting organisations and others in society would be best advised to use the law to set their own standards.
At the end of the day racism is a form of bullying. Like bullying it is a form of gaining power. The context of what is said and how it is said is crucial. It does not matter what colour your skin is, it is the individual who is being abused who is left to define the context of their oppressor.
Trying to define something such as this is truly dangerous. Each situation needs to be judged independently. The fact is none of us, no matter the colour of anyone’s skin should be abusing anyone because of their racial or ethnic group. We should be educating people as to our varied cultural differences to build up understanding, not trying to do the very thing that certain groups are tasked to stop, and that is marginalising any section of the community.
Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” is one of the great books that tried to tackle racism. The following is a conversation between Atticus and Scout early in the book,
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—”
“Sir?”
“—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
For many of us we will never be able to understand how much some have suffered, but it is important that we try. It is far more important than trying to differentiate between people and their race. Once again it is worth remembering that it is the individual who will interpret and define the words of their oppressor.
(The headline to this piece is also taken from To Kill a Mockingbird and is said by Scout and shows her innocence viewing her world as one in which people are able to respect one another despite racial and socioeconomic differences. How nice that would be!)
