“The racism and sexism controversy in rugby league is a window into the soul of Australian society”.

What rubbish! A few isolated instances of racism do not say anything at all about Australian society. It is only self-hating socialist/liberals who espouse such nonsense.

This one also claims (not argues, as he seems to think he does; he has no arguments) that “…Australia is founded on two forms of racism - racism against the original inhabitants and racism against non-whites coming to the country.”

More garbage. Of course there is racism against aborigines from some Australians, as there is against other non-whites. There is also some racism against whites from aborigines and other non-whites (among the thousand of non-whites here because of our NON-DISCRIMINATORY immigration policies) that Passant would never recognise. But to say that there is a “…crimson thread of racism that runs through our body politic and major sections of society even today” is unhinged and clearly displays Passant’s mouth-foaming self-loathing and anti-white Australian attitude. Let’s hope he is wrong in believing that he is a “role model for children”. The last thing Australia needs is children taking on the views of extremists of any kind.

It’s a great pity about racism (and there obviously is some) in sport, whether it is white against black, or vice versa – which the likes of Passant will never mention. But Passant, a known critic of anything white and Australian, is using one incident in one sporting discipline to paint a non-existent “crimson thread of racism” through everything Australian.

This article presents a disgraceful attitude from an extreme socialist.

John Passant wrote: "Third, such racist and sexist words are common place among large sections of the working class. They represent the degeneration of capitalist society. They are an expression of powerlessness and alienation."

Passant in his condemantion of capitalist racism ignores the racism of the Marxist countries.

Modern industrial societies engender many feelings of powerlessness and alienation. However, these feelings exist regardless of whether the state or the corporation owns the means of production.

There are many examples of racism in Marxist countries. Antisemitism under Stalin and refusal to let Jews emigrate. Hostility to African students in both the Soviet and China. Repression of Uighurs and Tibetans in China. Persecution of Kalmucks in the Soviet. It's a long list.

Racism is ugly and should be fought where it exists.

However, bringing in capitalism where it is not relevant detracts from the struggle against racism.

Leigh, I just love how you illustrate on an almost daily basis the veracity of Passant's claim. Keep it up, no really, please do..

Great to see an islander stand up for an indigenous Australians seeing how much they hate each other on the ground.

Great see quick action on behalf of the club. Aboriginals love their footy and nothing should stop them enjoying the experience.

This article is the bully type, I am judge of all humanity drivel that bores me to to death though. Mal Meninga done ok and is running things, so same old same old drivel.

Good for the Indigenous though. I am pleased, just wish they could pick their own cheer squad.

Although if it is ok to stereotype ENTIRE nations then we must stop immigration from patriarchal countries as sexism is just being sustained and there is never any real improvement. Australia is very much the most sexist nation in the developed world. We should only allow men in from advanced nations so they can make the men we have here already see how it is done.

While we're stereotyping, what of people of both indigenous and islander descent (like Tahu)? Who are they required to hate?

What nonsense. There are a few idiots who call someone a black so and so. That's ALL you get from white Anglos. No institutional racism, no death threats if you bring a black girlfriend home.

IN ALL non-Anglo cultures (even our European bretheren, the Italians and Greeks, are still backwards in this respect - very racist with breeding) this is not possible.

Families disown children who are even friends with white kids. Racism is unspoken and just normal. And if you look to the institutions, well, blacks can't have certain jobs in Arab countries (in Sudan, they are being genocided by racist Arabs).

India has a filthy caste system.

Come on, put it in perspective. Ethnic cleansing?

These are all NON-WESTERN SPECIFIC terms.

Anglo's - by a country mile - are the least racist of all when you look at facts.

Look at our immigration programs, our country has changed it's demographic by 60% in about 50 years, yet no widespread riots, ethnic bashing, rapes of non-Anglo women (other way around - from all the tribal, racist cultures we have stupidly brought to this western paradise).

John I have found (on other subjects) most of what you say is factual, you identify deficiencies well. But you have not got a clue what a racist society is. Have you spent lengths of time in other countries? Obviously not, for if you had you would understand the difference between societal racism and an idiot country bumpkin from a low socio economic background who has the IQ of a piece of coal.

It seems to me you are grand standing, and I take offense at the fact that you denigrate our society so you can grace your ego with altruistic politically correct drivel.
I will quote you the most succinct validation regarding the "quality" of Aussie society.

Benjam1n:>> Look at our immigration programs, our country has changed it's demographic by 60% in about 50 years, yet no widespread riots, ethnic bashing, rapes of non-Anglo women<<

Ben could go onto say,
no political discrimination,
no judicial discrimination,
no social services discrimination (other than positive),
no educational discrimination,
no religious discrimination,
no workplace discrimination,
no mercantile discrimination,

We have laws to protect these rights, but they are hardly ever used except in the workplace when an employee is going his boss.

Dear John
Over the course of my lifetime I have been abused on a number of occasions by folks you would describe as aboriginal. Amongst a number of 'colourful' names flung at me (usually while trying to repair results of substance fueled violence) has been the title "white c#nt"

Now I find this offensive, not the RACIST 'white' part, rather the reference to female genitalia. The C word is, I'm most agree, high on the scale of foul language.

However if it ever happens again you can be sure I will be making enormous hue and cry about the hurtful degrading racist slur - because that is what may attract censure. However since I am "white" and therefore one of the inherently racist majority I can't seriously claim to be the victim of racism!?? ... or so some people would have me believe ...

Maybe some of these crybabies should take a teaspoon of cement and harden up. We all know that the League boys are generally a pretty thick mob with vocabularies that hardly support words bigger than 4 letters. What happens in the locker room, on the practice paddock, anywhere outside the public arena should get sorted there and stay there. On the playing field and at public events one hopes for enough self control to behave like humans for a few hours. Surely not a gargantuan task!

Anyway, in the scheme of things I do not consider the world of Rugby League some sort of microcosm of Australian society. Instead the author of this bit of tripe should try to get out more - mix with a better class of people perhaps .... (Better class of people?? Is that politically correct? Whose feelings might I have irrepairably wounded through that remark? OMG what have I said ..... and that, folks, is how stupid things have become!)

Another matter relevant to the above comments. Here is a message I have just sent off to John on Facebook. It is self-explanatory.....

John - I took the time and trouble to send you and extended critique of your thesis regarding racism and capitalism - which i see is now being recirculated in a slightly different context vis-a-vis rugby, in OLO. It disappeared almost instantly. I assume you deleted it (my comment). My comment on Facebook has, however, disappeared from my own page. Notes that I have commented on your links are all that is left, and to find out what I wrote I have to now look up your page. This alone is enough to underscore my detachment from Facebook - an increasingly useless way of wasting one's time. However, I note that once again the hard-line lefty proclivity to ignore substantive and unanswerable and effective criticism has now morphed into a capacity to simply hit the delete button. I will therefore not be commenting in any way on any further of your writings, and will respond in kind with my own delete button strategy of simply not reading anything more of yours. Sorry about that. But I believe in open debate, and let the truth fall where it falls. Also, in the small matter of sexism in intellectual life, women need to stop reading men who refuse to acknowledge or address effective criticism. I think intellectual sexism is a FAR greater crime against humanity than gutter language on a rugby field.
Yours, etc. Glynne Sutcliffe

John, your article is what I consider to be a superfluous waste of

time.

My reality with aboriginals is that they, in general, hand out as

good as they get and do not need the sort of defence your article

failed in the attempt to give.