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You can be sure if someone says to you something like 'I don't mean to racist, but'...they're about to be the thing. It's a pretty weak excuse anyway like it somehow excuses you from causing harm or offence to someone or a group of people.
Sure, some people are sick of being called out for saying or doing hateful things. Didn't our elders tell us to stand up for ourselves? Or does that only apply when it suits them?
The decision to show allow the showing of the Adam Goodes documentary in schools and registered sports clubs across Australia is a great step towards educating children and later generations about how racism manifests in many different and subtle ways in society. Something it seems most parents unable to grasp.
To be clear, I have never experienced racism, and I never will. It's pretty simple. But knowing that and acting accordingly is just as important as calling it out when you see it.
If you remember, back in 2013, a young girl called Goodes an 'ape' at an AFL game he was playing. Pretty disgusting behaviour from a child and no doubt learned from those she spent time with.
That girl was escorted from the grounds, and rightly so. This marked the beginning of a shameful period in Australian sport.
It's really hard to believe people that say booing an Indigenous player, so much that it drive him to retire, was not racially motivated. Some tried to say that 'no it was because he called that girl out'.
Except that was a full two years before his retirement. It also got worse after he performed an Indigenous war cry after kicking a goal. Coincidence?
Do you believe he deserved any of it? Or are you just afraid to turn a mirror on yourself and your peers and confront the fact that you have racist and hateful inclinations that you're afraid to deal with?
It's telling that even before the film is shown to the public, the AFL has come out and apologised to Goodes for not doing enough to support him.
Last night, Hawthorn Football Club players wore the number 37 on their warm up tops in a show of respect for Adam.
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Self reflection is an important skill to teach our kids and learn ourselves, but it's wasted on people who aren't willing to take a step back and assess their behaviour and decide to change as a person for their own betterment and the world they live in.
