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Re: Racial abuse..........
Men and women of colour originally used to be referred to as being simian to justify such worthwhile economic activities as slavery and colonialism. The argument went along the lines that people of colour were less evolved than people of northern European ancestry, therefore justifying excesses against them. As with many such things, calling a person of colour an 'ape' has since seeped into mainstream culture and to this day suggests that such people are less evolved than a 'white' person. If you wish to inform yourself and challenge some of the inherent biases being highlighted on this thread, then as an example google 'ape cartoons' and slavery and see what comes up. As Goodesy said, it is a process of education after all. Even better, go and complete a history degree (as I have) and investigate colonialism, American history, Australian history, South American history, the history of racial stereo typing et al. Then you might understand why calling someone of indigenous heritage an 'ape' is likely to lead to them feeling despair especially when this occurs at the start of the indigenous round of the AFL.
Specifically, by calling Adam Goodes an ape, this young girl was reminding him that while he might have played a good game of footy, he is still ethnically tied to a subjugated and historically powerless group of Australians who to this day have lower standards of living, are over represented in prisons, are under represented in the mainstream Australian workforce and other such damning statistics. This has mainly been due to inherent discrimination at all levels of Australian society even though this is improving at a glacial pace.
It is a great joy for some of us to see this movement amongst young indigenous Australian Rules footballers who are proud of their heritage and who have the confidence to stand up to racism. I applaud them in this endeavour and hope that they keep 'naming and shaming' the ignorant bigots out there. By doing so, they are empowering themselves and also disentangling themselves from the awful blight of racial profiling.
The most appalling aspect of this sorry saga, apart from this awful thread, is that it was a 13 year old who equated 'ape' with 'indigenous', presumably from over hearing her parents, grandparents or whoever the source may be. A shocking state of affairs in this day and age. By the way, I agree that she is an innocent and that the fault lies with her family or peer group. But hopefully it will lead to other children being made aware of why Adam Goodes felt such hurt at being called an 'ape'.
Men and women of colour originally used to be referred to as being simian to justify such worthwhile economic activities as slavery and colonialism. The argument went along the lines that people of colour were less evolved than people of northern European ancestry, therefore justifying excesses against them. As with many such things, calling a person of colour an 'ape' has since seeped into mainstream culture and to this day suggests that such people are less evolved than a 'white' person. If you wish to inform yourself and challenge some of the inherent biases being highlighted on this thread, then as an example google 'ape cartoons' and slavery and see what comes up. As Goodesy said, it is a process of education after all. Even better, go and complete a history degree (as I have) and investigate colonialism, American history, Australian history, South American history, the history of racial stereo typing et al. Then you might understand why calling someone of indigenous heritage an 'ape' is likely to lead to them feeling despair especially when this occurs at the start of the indigenous round of the AFL.
Specifically, by calling Adam Goodes an ape, this young girl was reminding him that while he might have played a good game of footy, he is still ethnically tied to a subjugated and historically powerless group of Australians who to this day have lower standards of living, are over represented in prisons, are under represented in the mainstream Australian workforce and other such damning statistics. This has mainly been due to inherent discrimination at all levels of Australian society even though this is improving at a glacial pace.
It is a great joy for some of us to see this movement amongst young indigenous Australian Rules footballers who are proud of their heritage and who have the confidence to stand up to racism. I applaud them in this endeavour and hope that they keep 'naming and shaming' the ignorant bigots out there. By doing so, they are empowering themselves and also disentangling themselves from the awful blight of racial profiling.
The most appalling aspect of this sorry saga, apart from this awful thread, is that it was a 13 year old who equated 'ape' with 'indigenous', presumably from over hearing her parents, grandparents or whoever the source may be. A shocking state of affairs in this day and age. By the way, I agree that she is an innocent and that the fault lies with her family or peer group. But hopefully it will lead to other children being made aware of why Adam Goodes felt such hurt at being called an 'ape'.