Racism in Australian Football League
Matt O’Malley
(Question) Evaluate the place of racism in the AFL and its ongoing impact?
Thesis statement
Racism is buried into Australian culture and is ever present in the Australian football league (AFL) it has not only impacted and changed the game yet also changed the culture and attitudes towards players and racism as a whole in Australian society towards indigenous Australians and other minorities.
Introduction
Racism in sport and the greater society has a dark past in Australian history and racism has and will be in the foreseeable future be cemented in sport and till current date racism is ever present in many Australian sporting codes, and because of this it has not only changed the way
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That we leave unanswered, although Australian sport remains one of the only avenues for indigenous athletes to speak out about their hardships and experiences.
Australia as a nation itself has had a sad history of universal discrimination towards those of a minority. The discrimination is embedded with a national legislation up to the 1970s when the racial discrimination act was established and was embodied by the white Australia policy.
My main focus point into the link between racism and sport is through key events and players that made a significant change or difference. A well-known indigenous sportsman by the name of Adam Goodes is a good figure to look to as he has had a successful career in AFL for his rare talent and his strong views on aboriginal issues around
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It is when players refuse to accept such abuse and take a stand against it that the issue becomes emphasised and the players are critisied.
In all this we look to politics at the time and the correlation between the too, AFL became the first major Australian sporting code to outlaw, yes ban on field racial sledging in 1955 which made national headline. Although there is still to this day and the foreseeable future continues to have shameful incidents of racial abuse by fans towards aboriginal AFL players. The booing and abuse received suggests that the abuse may have become so widespread across all codes that it is out of hand.
As I previously touched on in 1993 AFL player Nicky Winmar stood infront of opposition spectators who had been hurling racist abuse at him. In this moment, he lifted his jersey and pointed to his dark skin, shouting “I’m black and I’m proud to be black”
Up to that point in time aboriginal AFL players had endured racial abuse on the field from spectators and other players widespread. Winmars and many alike stand to capture an iconic moment in history that symbolised for them the start of a new
In the novel Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese, a young Ojibway boy named Saul struggles with racism through his everyday life. One day he finds the sport hockey and falls in love with it. Unfortunately, as he progresses, his environment becomes more and more toxic and racist towards him. This novel identifies/serves as a warning about racism taking over sports. Saul becomes so good at hockey that he makes it to a semi-pro team, but while on this team he faces racism quite often.
Not only do these things have a bad influence on AFL but also it has a bad influence on Australia as a whole. What are people around the world going to think about us if they see the videos or see the news? They are going to think that we a huge racist country, that has no respect and no one will want to come here.
Adam Goodes is an Indigenous Australian famous for being a player for the Sydney Swans team in the Australian Football League (AFL). Being a well-known AFL player and also winning Australian of the year for his charity work with indigenous youth, Adam Goodes can be considered as a high profile Indigenous person. Throughout his career, he has used his status as a platform to address racial discrimination towards indigenous peoples within Australia, as he himself has received public discriminatory racial slurs. Through sport and community work – Adam Goodes has transformed indigenous culture, by challenging its race relations and empowering the next generation of Indigenous role models. Indigenous Australians continue to have an ongoing resistance to the processes of colonisation and also of emphasizing an indigenous presence within Australia.
“Sports Logos an Insult to Aboriginals” is an essay explaining how professional sports teams use Indian symbols. Aboriginals find it very offensive when sports teams adopt their cultural icons. The writer uses examples such as Cleveland Indians, Washington Redskins and Washington Redskins to portray an image of how these icons have been use. Augustine states that the use of these religious symbols or spiritual leaders as sports logos is offensive. Also, this leads to children to be victims of racism. It can be argued that people feel Aboriginal people should be honoured that these imagery of Indians is being used. Augustine argues back that no honour lies
Stan Grant’s speech ‘Racism and the Australian Dream’ (2015) effectively reminds the Australian population of the racism and harsh inequalities indigenous Australians have faced in the past and still face today. In reminding us of this reality, Grant engages us to discover issues of civic participation in Aboriginal people and in doing so perpetuates a need for social change. More?
Native Americans symbols and culture exemplify the things that we admire in our athletes strength, endurance and courage. However ,the way that we use these symbols can be offensive and hurtful to the very people that we want to honor. In this paper , I will discussed how teams are mocking and being disrespectful to the Native American culture.
Roppolo insists, “The real problem with the kind of dysconscous, symbolic, abstract racism that is perpetuated today by sports mascots… is that it enables very real, very concrete, and very conscious acts of violent racism that American Indian people still face in this country and this hemisphere on a daily basis”(228). This demonstrates how the mascot does have a detrimental impact towards Native Americans. People who are subjected to seeing Native Americans through these mascots already have fallacious perceptions of what Native Americans behave like. Due to this, people will start to react accordingly to how they feel the Native Americans are supposed to act due to the distorted stereotypes that are presented to the public. People do not even realize that they are acting this way towards Native Americans, because Roppolo claims that Americans have gotten used to being racist towards Native Americans for so long that it is now invisible, aka dysconscious racism(226). People do not realize that it is ingrained in them, so when they come into contact with a Native American they may perceive the situation different than what actually happened. Roppolo justified this by going on to add, “One young man had his brother nearly beaten to death - his skull cracked open, not just cracked - when several bouncers at a local nightclub had to control his ‘rowdy’
Without a doubt, we look at athletes today and from the past as if they are larger than life individuals. They show their personality through talent no matter what they play; some are better than others, for example some can kick or throw. However, at the end of the day they all have a different voice and a different story. People expect them to turn a blind eye to everyday events because of their status. People think of athletes as celebrities, they say they do not go through the same struggles as everyday people. That statement is far from the truth when it pertains to the issue of racism. Racism has been an unresolved problem for years whether it is in sports or athletes speaking for what they believe. Racism has had a big impact on sports such as Germany hosting the olympics and cheating, N.B.A. owners thinking they rule over their players, and the hidden discrimination that happens in locker rooms. Many times athletes have stood up for what they believed just to be shot down. Nowhere in their contracts does it state that because they are professionals that they must compromise their freedom of speech. Whether it be refusing to meet with the president, speaking out on racial injustices, or not standing for the national anthem, athletes have a strong voice in the fight against discrimination and other traumatic events. The fight for equality in sports and throughout America is a process that includes multiple organizations, the reaction of authority figures, and
“First Nations basketball player excluded from games, native identity questioned” by Tamsyn Burgmann and Gemma Karsten-Smith published in the February 15 Vancouver Sun talks about a mixed race, adopted first nations basketball player who was excluded from games and was later expelled from his team because his aboriginal identity was debatable. The type of discrimination that occurred in this article was racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is when a person is treated less favourably than another person in a similar situation race, colour, or ethnic origin.
Australia’s sporting identity was built upon the back of colonial differentiation, sensationalist media coverage and some early Olympic success at a time when sport at the global level was still the domain of the rich and idle. The prevailing cultural identity suggests Australia still perceives itself as a ‘sports mad’ society, however, a deeper look at the statistics surrounding Australian sport would suggest this identity is not reality and that cultural identity is now drawn from a much broader field including multiculturalism, politics, academic, scientific and artistic endeavour.
They changed the way Aboriginals were viewed by pushing for an end to racism and by creating greater awareness for there communities and culture. They showed white Australians what they are capable of through football and changed peoples perceptions. One of the most famous stands against racism in Australia was made by Nicky Winmar in a 1993 VFL match against Collingwood. After copping racist comments nearly every game from opposition supporters, Winmar decided during this match, enough was enough. He lifted his jumper to the crowd, pointed to the colour of his skin and said, “I’m black and I’m proud to be black… Enough!”. Winmar’s stand against racism didn’t change the game straight away, it took time and support, but his actions during that match formed the confidence in his Aboriginal people that was needed to put an end to
Hockey fans are the root of the racism in hockey. For many decades Canadians have known hockey as being their national sport. There are black Canadians, Asian Canadians, and Aboriginal Canadians. What are the differences between those Canadians citizens but the pigment of their skin? There is racism in hockey it is just not as clear as other forms of racism. Canada is so welcoming and is a very diverse counrty. Hockey fans are so cruel and reluctant for change in their world. The focus of this paper is on the lack of diversity in hockey. What will be examined is the "differences" between black and white people, society 's perception on hockey, Canada 's history with the sport and diversity. The overall question is: is it the sport or is it the people?
Today in America the word Racism is taken to a whole new level. Even in sports, such as the NFL racism prospers. For instance the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. Native Americans are trying to say the NFL is being rude for naming a Team Redskins. The Redskins have had that name since 1933 (Staff). The team had the name of Braves before they adopted the name Redskins. It was changed due to racism purposes. Some people would agree that the whole situation with Redskins is ridiculous because The Major League Baseball series has two teams related to Native Americans, The Atlanta Braves and The Cleveland Indians. The NFL also has more than just Redskins. They have the Kansas City Chiefs. So if they are really worried about
First, the aggressor in this situation is only 15 years old. At 15 years old, the aggressor felt it both necessary and acceptable to violently attack another player. Moreover, the 15 year old victim subjected to the attack was incredibly damaged emotionally from the event. Secondly, the verbiage used is so violent which highlights the significance of racism in minor hockey. The nature of the sport evokes intense and sporadic emotions which encourages the oppressor to express their truest emotions. As a result, one can conclude that racism is deeply rooted within that player’s beliefs, and which is not exclusive to this incident.
The article uses compelling first hand evidence of Adam Goodes quoting on the topic of the article from an optimistic angle to persuade the reader to agree with the article. The images accompanying the article show Goodes looking positive and proud, the second image giving a visual of the article itself. Goodes is further described as being a “legend” and “winning the admiration and respect of people around Australia.” This use of selective language aids the journalist’s point of view on the athlete. This article displays Goodes as being a commendable repient for the Australian of the Year Award for his “anti-racism advocacy and youth work,” both inside and outside his sporting career.