Q&A: Adelaide United legend Bruce Djite delivers stirring response regarding racism in sport
Adelaide United boss and former player Bruce Djite delivered a brilliant answer when asked a pertinent question on Q&A on Monday night: Why does racism still exist in Australian sport?
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Adelaide United legend Bruce Djite says he has “no doubt” racism still exists in Australian sport, and stamping it out “starts with education”.
The Reds’ director of football, who is also a past player, made the comments on Monday night’s episode of Q&A, which broadly examined the future of sport in Australia – but focused more specifically on our various sporting codes’ failure to fully eliminate racism.
The panel also featured interim NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo, Richmond Football Club chief executive Brendon Gale, sports broadcaster and journalist Tracey Holmes, Australian netball and AFLW star Sharni Layton.
The same underlying question popped up several times – why, when organisations like the NRL and AFL have consistently said “the right things” about racism, does it still persist?
Mr Djite offered the most compelling answer.
He pointed to a “lack of cultural competence” in the hierarchy of Australia’s sporting codes, which has slowed down the rate of progress.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s about racism. I tell you now, if there was an indigenous person on the AFL Commission, or as AFL CEO, during the time where Adam Goodes was getting racially vilified, it would have had a different reaction,” the former A-League star said.
“The guy might still be actively involved in the sport.
“If there were more women in high powered positions, entrenched in the sporting game, (women’s sport) would have greater media coverage; it would have greater investment.
“Without the people with the context knowledge – you can read all the content, you can be across it all you like, you can read a thousand books – if you haven’t felt it and don’t have that context knowledge, then you don’t get it. It’s impossible.
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“It’s like me trying to understand what it’s like to be a female. I can listen. I can learn. But I can never feel what it’s like.
“I will never have that context knowledge.
“So, while there’s intelligent people, extremely smart people, extremely influential people in the hierarchy, as players, as administrators – if they don’t have the context knowledge, if we don’t entrench these people in the hierarchies of our sports, then change may come.
“But it will come much slower, with many more regrets, than if those people with those lived experience were in those positions.”
The studio audience was smaller than usual, with coronavirus restrictions still in place, but it still reacted with a warm round of applause.
Host Hamish Macdonald later asked Mr Djite why sport administrations had failed to “produce the results” of stamping out racism, despite offering good rhetoric.
“Look, there’s no doubt that racism exists. At times it’s more dormant than others. In this current period, we are in the very divisive phase,” Mr Djite said.
“People are more willing and able to come out and actually say what they’re thinking.
“At other times, where things are more calm, people have the same thoughts but they’re not articulating them. But the racism is still there.
“I think it starts with education. I really do.
“It’s only been the last couple of weeks when this Black Lives Matter movement has really come to Australia.
“And we start talking about Aboriginals and the indigenous and what they’ve been through.
“I think sport is in a particular place where it’s able to improve society, and society cannot be improved if you are not giving a hand up to help the people who have been left behind.
“And it’s time for the platitudes to stop and for action to be taken.
“And for organisations to be judged on the actions they take, not the words that they speak.”
Originally published as Q&A: Adelaide United legend Bruce Djite delivers stirring response regarding racism in sport