Adam Goodes documentary sparks national conversation about race in Australia

Waleed Aly has condemned the abuse Adam Goodes suffered over the final three years of his AFL career and challenged every Australian.

Adam Goodes’ documentary in which he addressed routine bullying and racism he faced in Australia while playing in the AFL sparked an outpouring of emotion and support for the former Sydney Swans star.

The Final Quarter aired on Channel 10 on Thursday night and showed the booing and abuse Goodes faced over the last three seasons of his career, eventually driving him into an early retirement.

POLL: Was the Goodes booing racist?

After hosting a special late-night edition of The Project, Waleed Aly penned an opinion piece for The Sydney Morning Herald where he outlined the justification behind people’s booing of Goodes.

“Critics of Goodes loved to point out that there were more than 70 other Indigenous players in the AFL who weren’t getting booed at the time,” Aly wrote.

“That sort of thing is falsely offered as a defence against the charge of racism because it pretends racism can exist only if the prejudice in question applies to every single member of a race; that if something is not exclusively about skin colour, then race is not a factor at all. But that’s almost never how it works.

“More often, racism lives in the double standards that mean someone gets attacked in a way a white person never would, even if they were to behave in the same way.

“Racism doesn’t require a belief that there are no “good” blacks. In fact, it frequently relies on the “good”, precisely because it wants to identify the “bad” ones.”

WALEED’S CHALLENGE TO AUSTRALIA

After leading the discussion, he capped the night off by thanking those involved in making the film and asked a key question about where we go from here as a nation.

“It seems that what began as personal torment for Adam quickly became a national controversy,” he said.

“The question now really is whether it can become a productive national conversation. And the answer to that question rests with each of us.”

Waleed Aly asked whether the documentary can stimulate ‘productive national conversation’ about racism in Australia. Picture: The Project

As part of the debate, he explained why there were no indigenous voices in the media representatives appearing on The Project — who discussed how the press handled the issue at the time.

READ: Eddie’s ‘confronting’ Goodes reality

“I deliberately didn’t have an indigenous voice, because I felt that we needed to reflect the media as it was, and that doesn’t include indigenous voices,” he said.

Journalist for The Australian Chip Le Grand told the show that one of the most “disturbing” aspects of the documentary is that it highlights how “a lot of us don’t seem to even know racism when we see it”.

He also said the AFL’s failure to step in and help Goodes was “such a failure of leadership”.

“They just needed someone to clearly stand up, and it was Gill McLachlan’s time, in that instance, to just say: ‘Look, yes, it is complicated but, clearly, race is a part of this, it’s a big part of this, it’s ugly and it has to stop’,” he said.

REACTION TO THE FINAL QUARTER

After the show #WeStandWithAdam, Adam Goodes and The Final Quarter were all trending on Twitter as Australians vented their raw emotion.

Notable Australian athletes and media figures condemned what Goodes was forced to experience.

Adam Goodes. A great Australian.

— Adam Gilchrist (@gilly381) July 18, 2019

Australia must look like a bunch of racist middle aged white men to anyone watching Adam Goodes The Final Quarter from another country.

Absolutely embarrassing to see how he was treated.

Media has a lot to answer for!#AdamGoodes

— Rob Cornthwaite (@robcornthwaite) July 18, 2019

What an extraordinary example of leadership, grace, restraint & magnificent sportsmanship is #AdamGoodes.#TheFinalQuarter @iandarlingshark

— Lisa Wilkinson (@Lisa_Wilkinson) July 18, 2019

Great that people are standing with Adam Goodes now, but what about 6 years ago? We can't change the past, but we can grow. Mainstream racism is on the rise in Australia right now. In future will you be able to look back to today and be proud of where you stood? #TheFinalQuarter https://t.co/s0KFiFPh6L

— Adam Liaw (@adamliaw) July 18, 2019

I saw the Adam Goodes doco a while back and watching it again now. Still sickening. There's no embellishment, just a catalogue of what happened, when, & who said what. It speaks volumes. And it paints a dismal picture of how we view minorities who dare speak up for their rights.

— Rohan Connolly (@rohan_connolly) July 18, 2019

#TheFinalQuarterFilm has us talking again and that’s all #AdamGoodes wants all of us to do. Let’s hope only good comes of it.

— Tim Gossage 🤓🎙📺 (@TimGossage) July 18, 2019

Brilliance on a field. Absolute genius everywhere else. A game changer. At last. #goodes #AdamGoodes #wishweallhadhiscourage

— Tim Bailey (@dailybailey10) July 18, 2019

Adam Goodes shows us the meaning of leadership, strength, grace and resilience... as a white Australian I feel shame and sadness that such a magnificent man was treated in such a way... #TheFinalQuarterFilm @iandarlingshark

— Jessica Rowe (@JessRowe) July 18, 2019

On Thursday morning on Studio 10, director and award-winning filmmaker, Ian Darling said he wanted “everyone to look at (the documentary) with open eyes and an open heart.”

“Just be prepared to think that maybe we didn’t get it right,” he said. “Literally, every single person I’ve shown it to — from Gill McLachlan at the AFL through to schoolkids — have said ‘Wow, I didn’t understand the extent of the booing’ or ‘I didn’t understand the enormity of the media conversation.’”

Adam Goodes Film is such an eye opener.. shows that we all need to be educated on indigenous culture and it should start in our schooling from a young age! #TheFinalQuarterFilm #RacismStopsWithMe

— Dylan Buckley (@dylan_buckley) July 18, 2019

As you watch #TheFinalQuarter please show your support for Goodesy with posting this image with #WeStandWithAdam.

Let’s use social media to spread ❤️ pic.twitter.com/w0b6RVPkAP

— Sydney Swans (@sydneyswans) July 18, 2019

The thing I admire the most about Adam Goodes is he never once lost his temper no matter how stupid the questions he was asked. He showed more class then everyone else involved. #TheFinalQuarter

— Brett Haynes Review (@BrettReview) July 18, 2019

AFLPA President Patrick Dangerfield led the charge and wanted to note that what Goodes suffered through would be a catalyst for change within the football community and he hoped Australia.

“We, as players, feel incredibly sad for what Goodesy went through,” Dangerfield said.

“What we can do is commit to doing whatever we can to ensure this moment is remembered as a catalyst for change.

“We implore all footy fans to watch the documentary and let it serve as a timely reminder of the devastation that racism inflicts.”

A second documentary about Goodes, The Australian Dream, will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival Opening Gala on August 1.