Robbo says Adam Goodes is being cut to the core by ‘racial steam-rolling’ from across the fence
LAST year it was the Collingwood president, last Friday it was an Essendon member, on Monday it was a bunch of cyber rednecks.
Mark Robinson
Don't miss out on the headlines from Mark Robinson. Followed categories will be added to My News.
LAST year it was the Collingwood president, last Friday it was an Essendon member, on Monday it was a bunch of cyber rednecks.
Welcome to the world of Adam Goodes, the Australian of the Year.
Eddie McGuire spoke in jest when he linked Goodes to King Kong.
The Essendon member, who rightly lost his club membership yesterday, spewed his pathetic taunts from over the fence, in front of children and parents, and showed himself to be a weak-minded person.
And the online trolls?
Cowards they are. Brain dead and uneducated and non-understanding.
BOMBERS BAN RACIST FAN FOR GOODES SLUR
They took to Facebook on Monday to vote on their most hated player and some of them called Goodes a monkey, an ape and a black dog.
This was incredibly disturbing for former Essendon player Dean Rioli, who was caught up in the online vitriol.
No matter the intention of the comments, Goodes doesn’t deserve this racial steam-rolling.
Neither does Melbourne’s Neville Jetta, who was the subject of race hate from a Bulldogs supporter at the MCG a fortnight ago.
It might be most the simplest of questions, but: Why does this happen?
What prompts a man or woman at an AFL game to fly with such hate at a person who is only playing a game of footy?
Why log in and type such sadistic commentary?
And why do they think it is acceptable?
“I can’t understand why people go those lengths, those low levels,’’ Rioli said yesterday.
The former Bombers player believes the racism towards Goodes is worse since Goodes was announced Australian of the Year.
In other words, a portion of Australians weren’t ready for Goodes — and their response is abuse.
“He’s achieved an awesome thing, he didn’t make the decision to call himself the Australian of the Year and he’s paying for it,’’ Rioli said.
“He’s got more publicity and now everyone’s got a comment on him, whether it’s good or bad.
“I’ve never seen the real racist attention he’s gotten since he’s become the Australian of the Year.
“That’s un-Australian, really, to call him the types of names you’re reading online.
“Racism in the sport pops up now and then, but I thought it was OK for a while, but in the last 12 months, and especially with social media, it pops up way to often and unnecessarily.
“I just can’t understand it. These people write these things when they know it’s wrong.’’
The Goodes backlash since the AOTY announcement is prevalent.
He’s been robust in his opinions and critical of previous governments and their behaviour and attitudes.
What did they expect from Goodes? To appear at supermarket openings and stand at the end of group photographs. No, Goodes has become a political animal. A questioner and an accuser. And Rioli says he’s paying the price.
The abuse of Goodes online and at the footy is not only unacceptable, it is shameful. After all it’s 2014, not 1975.
“It’s a minority,’’ Rioli said. “It’s not for worth wasting your time on, but at the end of the day it is, because it’s public, it’s out there and they’re writing these comments for people to see and read.
“It’s got to be nipped in the bud and they need to be educated about why.
“Like, the word Abo, that pops up a lot. One thing I learnt living in Melbourne is that a lot of non-indigenous people don’t know that’s a racist word.
“To an Aboriginal person it’s like the American negroes being called the n-word. That’s how much it cuts an Aboriginal person.’’
Goodes is being cut to the core.
Think about it. King Kong. A monkey. An ape. A black dog ... what sort of society are we living in?
UGLY CROWD BEHAVIOUR WAS DISCUSSED ON THE LATEST SUPERFOOTY PODCAST. LISTEN BELOW OR CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES
‘In games we give up’: Flag hero savages Dons as board war looms
‘We are no longer feared, we’re certainly not respected’ – Essendon premiership player Paul Weston has had enough. He tells MARK ROBINSON exclusively about his plan for change.
‘We’ve got champions who are zombies’: Mitchell’s plea for help
Last Monday, at just 58, Barry Mitchell was lying in Epworth Hospital wondering if the game he loves had almost killed him again. This is his confronting story the footy world needs to hear.