Sam Kerr allegations reveal identity politics’ double standard

The reality is that this situation never needed to be anything more than a low-level reputational matter to be dealt with in a neat and tidy way, writes Gemma Tognini.

I’ll never forget the first time – the only time, actually – I was racially vilified. I almost didn’t recognise it for what it was.

I was chairing a discussion around women in ­politics and someone in a crowded room responded to a view I expressed with a snide and nasty “yes you would think that, you’re ethnic”.

It wasn’t the audible gasp that rippled across the room. It wasn’t the shocked look of the event host whose eyes met mine in a moment of apologetic horror. It was the weirdest sensation in that I first wanted to laugh out loud at the stupidity of the comment, but concurrently was unsure why I felt a bit wobbly. A bit ridiculed and slightly teary. Oddly exposed in the moment.

Suffice to say, it wasn’t something I would ever have considered taking further. My view of that person remains that they’re a prize turkey. A criminal offence? Absolutely not.

I have considerable empathy for Matildas captain and Chelsea superstar Sam Kerr, who finds herself facing criminal charges following allegations she called a London copper a “stupid white bastard”. There’s a lot to unpack around the circumstances of the allegations, the time it took for them to reach Football Australia, that sort of thing. Those are for others to dissect.

What I’ve been wide-eyed and curious to observe is the reaction from those who exist to be offended, who trade on identity politics and the division it breeds, as they desperately try to defend and deflect. This monumental and collective, ‘yeah but it’s different because the copper is white’.

They’re trying to say (wait for it) racism is now contextual. That using a person’s skin colour in an offensive context as has been alleged, can’t possibly be racist if the person on the receiving end is white. I don’t know where they come up with this stuff but it’s a 10 out of 10 for creativity.

My favourite take is the commentator who emotionally observed, Kerr can’t possibly be guilty of racism, she was nice to me when I was pregnant and bought her teammates coffee. Gold-­standard burden of proof right there.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said he didn’t believe calling someone a stupid white bastard is racist and copped a reasonable amount of backlash for ­holding that view.

I’d like to point out firstly, how silly the whole thing is but concurrently, how there is a clear double standard when it comes to identity politics. You set standards, and rules around identity, around race, and the minute they apply to the “wrong” side there they all go, contorting like members of Cirque du Soleil in a bid to explain why it’s not really a thing if you’re white. Or straight. Or Christian. Or Jewish. Or not on the far political left.

It’s a fair question to ask – if a white player was alleged to have said the same thing to a police officer who was a person of colour, would the reaction be the same? Of course it wouldn’t have. We all know that. And before you start talking about a power imbalance, I think a global football megastar on millions of pounds a year has considerably more social and legal capital than your average London copper. If that’s marginalisation, marginalise me ASAP please.

The reality is identity politics is cheap, fragile, flimsy and based on nothing but deep seated insecurity. The other reality is that this situation never needed to be anything more than a low-level reputational matter to be dealt with in a neat and tidy way.

Do I think Kerr is a racist? Nope. Do I think what she’s alleged to have done should be a criminal offence? I absolutely don’t. And neither is Kerr responsible for the nonsense the far and progressive left tries to impose upon the rest of us in relation to identity. But the political left can’t write the rules on identity politics, force them upon us all, then conveniently say they don’t apply when the double standards are revealed in all their ugliness. We’re not stupid; we won’t stand for it.

Can we just stop for a moment and say the whole thing is ridiculous? It will be resolved, one way or another and Kerr will continue to play incredible football and inspire countless young athletes. This is my hope. I also hope this silliness puts a big old hole in the hull of the SS Identity Politics, and helps send it to the bottom of the ocean where it belongs.