Tweet reveals how deep the racism against Stan Grant runs

Stan Grant shocked Australia when he announced he’d had “enough” and now a tweet has revealed exactly what he was talking about.

A tweet from ABC’s Virginia Trioli has revealed the true extent of the racism Stan Grant faced in the lead up to his bombshell resignation.

The Q+A host shocked Australia this week when he announced he had chosen to “walk away” from his job at the ABC because of the “racism” he experienced.

Grant’s resignation comes less than a year after being made the permanent host of the network’s current affairs talk show.

Stan Grant is an acclaimed reporter. Picture: ABC

Grant, a Wiradjuri, Gurrawin and Dharawal man, said he was standing down due to the racial abuse – and lack of public support – he received after he criticised the monarchy during the ABC’s coverage of the King’s coronation earlier this month.

“This year, the stakes are higher. There is a referendum on an indigenous Voice to parliament, and I am not alone in feeling judged. This is an Australian judgment of us. Such is politics,” he explained.

“But racism is a crime. Racism is violence. And I have had enough.”

Immediately after Grant’s announcement, support from his colleagues at ABC and media peers came pouring in.

7.30’s Sarah Ferguson tweeted that “the abuse directed at him is disgusting. There are no words adequate to the horror we feel at this. Stan is brilliant and cherished”.

Journalist Tracey Spicer immediately responded and wrote, “This is always the aim of bigots to silence powerful voices”.

Stan Grant is one of Australia’s most well-known journalists. Source: ABC

Virginia Trioli has shared what happened when she offered public support to Stan. Source: ABC

Long-running ABC morning breakfast host Trioli tweeted: “I’m appalled and saddened that Stan Grant, a brilliant broadcaster and thinker, has been forced from the ever-crucial contest of ideas.

“If this country can’t have a civil debate about recognition, racism and the legacy of colonialism then we are lost. I hope he returns soon,” she wrote.

Just 12 hours after her original tweet, Trioli provided an update which revealed the magnitude of the racism Grant was contending with.

“Since tweeting in support of Stan Grant my timeline has flooded with the most awful racist sh** and inflammatory Voice disinformation. Very few of these accounts actually follow me, so what evil Elon also draws this stuff to my account?” she wrote.

Interestingly Trioli’s tweet didn’t silence people.

“Maybe you are living in a bubble,” someone tweeted in response,

“You’re attention seeking, as usual. Stan is gone because he didn’t rate. That’s the bottom line, people stopped watching,” another wrote.

“Welcome to social media …” someone else tweeted.

The response to Trioli’s tweet in support of Grant has seemingly unearthed the harsh reality of what Grant was referring to when he announced he’d “had enough”.

ABC presenter Stan Grant is standing down from duties following the backlash over the Coronation coverage.

ABC’s director of news Justin Stevens released a lengthy statement on the matter.

“Over many months, but particularly in recent days, Stan Grant has been subject to grotesque racist abuse, including threats to his safety,” he wrote. “This has become particularly virulent since he appeared as part of the ABC’s Coronation coverage. It is abhorrent and unacceptable.”

Stevens said Grant was one of a range of panellists who appeared during the Coronation coverage “at the invitation of the ABC”.

“He was not the instigator of the program. He was asked to participate as a Wiradjuri man to discuss his own family’s experience and the role of the monarchy in Australia in the context of Indigenous history,” he said.

“It is part of the ABC’s role to facilitate such important conversations, however confronting and uncomfortable, and to reflect the diversity of perspectives.

“The timing of this important discussion in the lead-up to the event has resulted in a strong response from some viewers. This is regrettable.”

There were more than 1000 complaints about the coverage.

Stevens went on to praise Grant as “one of Australia’s best and most respected journalists and broadcasters”.

“The ABC stands by him and condemns the attacks directed towards him,” he said.

He also made it clear that any racial threats towards Grant would be taking seriously and sent to the police.

“Any complaints, criticism – or vitriol – regarding the coverage should be directed to me, not to him,” he said.

Originally published as Tweet reveals how deep the racism against Stan Grant runs