"I'm not racist, but..."
The opening line to many a conversation, often overheard by children, as the speaker goes on to say something that is indeed extremely racist. If you asked said speaker, "Are some races superior/inferior?" they would reply in the negative but continue on with their jokes, slurs, etc anyway.
Education is the key, and as en educator I work hard to instill appropriate values in the children I teach. It's always depressing when you've just finished explaining something along these lines, and a child raises their hand and says, "But my father says all (insert race here) are (insert insult here)."
Not sure what the answer to that is.

Hullo, Michael.

As an unrepentent racist, I see little wrong with racism at all, other than it can be construed as bad manners. I would agree that the taunting of coloured sports people can be considered poor behaviour, but only within the context that coloured people can behave to the standards set by white and Asian people.

Since coloured people seem to have an issue with self control, and since they are very disproportionaely represented in violent criminal behaviour and long term welfare dependency, I think that it is only normal that the usual victims of their poor behaviour, and lack of self sufficiency, often look down on them, and hold them in contempt.

You seem to be advocating the usual anti racist message that everything that ever went wrong with coloured people is all the fault of white people. If this is indeed your position, could I respectfully point out to you, that your worldview is just as racist as mine is?

It is self evident, my dear Michael, that all people of every type prefer to live amongst people that they consider their kith and kin. People that they trust and feel safe with. They don't like it when people of another stripe invade their territory, and their notions of tolerence towards the new arrivals is conditional on the sort of behaviour exhibitted by the new arrivals. That may be racism, but it is also a cultural universal.

See? We are all the same, in a way.

I admired the way Adam conducted himself.
In the post match media conference, he went out of his way not to blame the girl.
The girls mother seemed to think it was seriously over-hyped. This is where the real problems lay.
Children aren't born racist! In fact if children of various races grow up together, the colour of their skin is never ever relevant, just the content of their character.
Children learn what they live, and take all the queues from those they live with; namely their parents!
Adam went out of his way not to blame the girl.
However, the mother seemed unable to connect the dots, and see that she and or her other half are the problem here.
An appropriate response would be the banning, for say one year, of the entire family, from any major sport venue.
This would impress on the entire family that their stone age attitude simply wasn't acceptable, neither is trying to excuse it.
When the ban is eventually removed, any repeat offence should incur a lifetime ban.
Coincidently, this sort of BS is hardly ever observed in the military, among front-line troops.
Soldiers, are just the other blokes one learns to rely on and respect.
And given the various duties and operations locations, we clearly need more brown skins in the ranks!
Rhrosty.

On lookers when you read LEGO post please be reminded that LEGO is a Black Disabled Lesbian Jew.
Back to the Post, there are two great things about the event on the weekend.
Firstly that is was an event, that fact that most right minded people were upset should just how far we have come, but sadly it’s not quite fare enough yet.
Secondly the class of the man that is Adam Goodes.

This post however seeks to corrupt that greatness of the event on the weekend and push a strawman for religious purposes.

What a disjointed article, starts off by admonishing racism, fantastic, but finishes by blaming racism on the fact of evolution and our ancestry. Denying facts doesn't stop bigotry, only education will.

If we could only understand that 'race' is a social construct and has no biological or scientific basis. Majak Daw, Adam Goodes, Dane Swan, my white skinned, red haired freckled daughter, the 13 yo old Collingwood fan, their genetic differences are not based on race, we are quite an homogeneous species.

Ancestrally, we are all from Africa, we are all evolved African apes, this is not just a theory, but genetic fact. People who use the term 'ape' or 'monkey' to denigrate a person of colour are using words that have nasty historical connotations to hurt and cause offence. This is disgraceful, and has nothing to do with our common ancestry and evolutionary past. Given the fact that genetically we are so closely related racism becomes nothing but uneducated ignorance.

We are all related, all cousins, we all have a common ancestry. Teach our kids this, educate them about the fact that we are one big family then racism and bigotry will have no where to hide.

If Adam Goodes wishes to not be called an ape then he should shave off his beard and get a haircut.

David

Michael – you raise a very good point. Those who believe evolutionary theory to be correct would appear to be stuck between a rock and a hard place on this.

If evolutionists want to claim that there are no significant differences between the different groups/races of people in the world then they have to effectively claim that they believe in some sort of a secular miracle.

How otherwise could it possibly happen that widely separated groups, over long periods of time, have happened, by random mutations, to have evolved to be essentially exactly the same? Why couldn’t it be true that one group of people is closer to our purported ape-like ancestor than another?

Even more problematic for the Darwinian though; if evolutionary theory is correct there is no objective basis for claiming that racism is wrong anyway. In a universe that came into existence unintentionally and that has no meaning or purpose, “morality” is just a construct and has no intrinsic force.

Yes, this girl needs educating but teaching her about evolution won’t help.

Biological and social evolution are different and follow different rules. Adam Goodes' outspoken wisdom and Andrew Demetriou's unstinting support is a pivotal moment for social evolution in Australia, which still has a long way to go as we can see in this forum. AFL football is part of who we uniquely are, indigenous participation in it as in all other Australian life is critical to evolution beyond the stain brought here by the original land grabbers.

Other matters arising:

*Those who conflate biological and social evolution are using a language trick to advance a throwback eugenic agenda which was a mainstay of the Nazi holocaust.

*A racial taunt should not be a police matter beyond the need to deal with a breach of the peace, but it is a legitimate concern for MCG security.

*It was not obvious that the "ape" taunt was intended to be race-specific. Terms like "ape" and "knuckle-dragger" are widely used worldwide independently of race. Could be that the child had stepped inadvertently on a mine. Her subsequent statements have reinforced the abused player's good sense, and it is great that Eddie McGuire told her she was still part of the Collingwood family.

*Michael Viljoen and some readers are using the incident to peddle an attack on science, not on racism.

natural conclusion from the evolution fantasy. while appalling it beats me how a 13 year old naive girl can get so much attention. There are a number of times myself and numerous others have been called white * for not giving aboriginals money for grog. This never makes the news. evolutionist really look dumb when trying to explain this one away. With such a fanciful fairytale evolutionist created a logical base for racism. I have always admired Adam Goodes, but really can't understand how being called and ape could affect a person so much. Maybe if he knew he was created in God's image like every other human he would not be so bruised over something so petty.

Claims that "Ya big ape" is racist?

Dunno. Seems more of a specious argument to me...

Poor Adam. Our big tough footy player hurt by a little girl so then he clicked his fingers and she was taken away to be re-educated. Boo hoo.
Maybe Mr Goody could direct his attention onto some of the countless little children being abused and neglected by 'his people'. What a sook.
What a load of baloney!

Keep politics out of sport, the AFL is now functioning as an enforcement body for state policy and as is clear from the responses to this incessant Anti Racist yammering the values of the political elite are not the values of the wider community which is still above 90% White European.
When people say they are anti Racist what they really mean is that they are anti White, Anti Racist is just a code word for Anti White.

Jay - When people say they are anti Racist what they really mean is that they are anti White, Anti Racist is just a code word for Anti White.

Not wrong Narelle !! I had a situation a while back where I was being discriminated against by illiterate & unintelligible inhabitants of a third world hell-hole. According to the discrimination muppets in this state, discrimination only applies to male / female & straight / queer conflicts (unsaid but obvious, they pander exclusively to the AC-DC set and preferably lesbians). Tried the federal mob and was told there is no such thing as discrimination against white Australians because we are not members of a race. Go figure.

Praxidice, yeah I've just had an hour long debate with my 15 year old daughter(who apparently knows everything) about what is and is not actionable under the charter of human rights and responsiblities.
The test of any form of critique or observation of an identifiable group must always be "does it incite others to hatred".
Neither alleged incident at the Collingwood Sydney game passes that level of scrutiny.

So when I am in the crowd barracking for Collingwood (against the Lions) in Brisbane this weekend...Can I be derogatory towards Queenslanders without being accused of racism? Pretty tough call!!

...With my vast experience at football matches over the years...one thing I've learned...don't take anything too seriously.
As long as the stadium hasn't been "torched" it is all good fun!!

Ahh..This has started something...The memories...The Moree Boomerangs V Warialda at Moree. The antipathy of race relations..(Unspoken of course,)lets keep it polite!

80 Minutes of running riots interspersed with a football match, culminating in a spar between two black girls just on full time, stripped to the waist and blocking the only exit...Racism and football? whats the problem?

citizen

'Poor Adam. Our big tough footy player hurt by a little girl so then he clicked his fingers and she was taken away to be re-educated. Boo hoo. '

What is so sad is that a representive of a people group can have such a victim mentality that the pc police, AFL and indigeneous industry castagate a young girl who should of been reprimanded and then life got on with.

runner - What is so sad is that a representive of a people group can have such a victim mentality that the pc police, AFL and indigeneous industry castagate a young girl who should of been reprimanded and then life got on with

The event illustrates just how pathetic the whole politically correct crap really is. Footbrawlers in general love to flaunt their supposed uber-masculinity, however the fact that one can be reduced to tears by a young girl whose outburst could only ever be construed as slightly racist by the most fanatically one-eyed politically correct drone proves the clown is merely a namby-pamby mummys boy. The player and all who take his side should take a spoonful of concrete and harden up. If this is typical of what constitutes a matter of national importance, its no wonder the country is in the poo that it presently is.

A grown man felt the need to hold up to public ridicule, possible assault and life damaging impairment a potty mouth child. And the great and good breach all child protection protocols and abuse this child in the media whilst the same assiduously protect the Pommy Head Lopper. Surely this child abuse has criminal aspects?

McCackie - A grown man felt the need to hold up to public ridicule, possible assault and life damaging impairment a potty mouth child. And the great and good breach all child protection protocols and abuse this child in the media whilst the same assiduously protect the Pommy Head Lopper. Surely this child abuse has criminal aspects?

You may well be right. Personally I believe both the supposed racism & child 'protection' protocols are utter crap, but in this case one wrong unquestionably deserves another in response. Chucking a few child protection lawsuits around like confetti might just be what the doctor ordered to put the idiots back in their boxes. To be fair to the player, he may not have actually instigated all the ludicrous hoo ha that ensued, certainly nobody I've ever known of indigenous ancestry would be so thin-skinned. I suspect a few of the do-gooder lunatic fringe have been at play here, those clowns seem to have a knack of stirring up trouble then ducking for cover.

Charlton Heston's famous speech on political correctness delivered to the Harvard Law School is well worth listening to. Here it is,

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/charltonhestonculturalwar.htm

Well said, JP. Perhaps Secular Greg believes in secular miracles.

Greg, I am critical of Darwin’s ideas as misguided, Nineteenth Century philosophy that naturally lends itself to promoting racism. This is not to say that everything Darwin said was wrong, or that he was personally aggressive or lacking in sympathy to other people. Nor did ideas of racial superiority originate at this time. Only that justifications for racism increased markedly after the publication and popularity of this book, ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, Darwin C., 1859’.

In criticising Darwin in my article, I didn’t actually offer any positive proposal towards a solution. In this regard I could happily agree with the sentiments in your last paragraph. That is, we could teach our kids that we are one big family. We are all cousins, in that we are all quite closely, genetically related.

The problem is, however, that’s not what Darwin taught. (Darwin knew nothing of genetics. That was Mendel’s department.) Darwin believed that the non-white races were stuck at an early stage in their evolutionary ascent from the apes, having been preserved with those earlier levels of mental and moral development.

That we are all really quite closely genetically related is shown in the example of George ‘Snow’ Wilson and the kidney he donated to his Vietnam War mate, Bill Coolburra. Bill and Snow’s transplant compatibility would be surprising to most people, considering that evolution theory says that their respective ‘races’ were supposedly separated for tens or hundreds of thousands of years. You can get the full story (with a picture) here:
http://creation.com/blood-brothers

This kidney transplant story is an example of scientific fact, not evolution fantasy. It’s the kind of story that can help to unite us.

Michael Viljoen

The pain Adam Goodes felt was not caused by what the 13 yr old girl said. That pain has been inside Adam Goodes for many years. It was triggered by what the girl said but if he was truly comfortable with his own aboriginality it would not have affected him at all. That is not to say that the girl was not possibly trying to trigger his pain and perhaps she should have been dealt with appropriately for that but Goodes must take responsibility for his own feelings. There are many other indigenous people who would not be so affected by what was said because they have looked at the pain they have endured and dealt with it as an adult and not as a child. It no longer affects them.

Dealing with your past is incumbent on all adults and sometimes this requires professional help. The fact that Adam Goodes acted as he did in a very public way and then went on to tell us about his childhood experiences which was totally unnecessary looks very much like a cry for help. It does not help racial tensions when you try to silence everyone in the hope that your personal pain will not be triggered. It does not help society in general when people on the periphery identify with his pain and label him a hero for ‘standing up to racism’. He would be much more of a hero if he faced and dealt with his past. Perhaps then the 13 year old girl would have someone to look up to – if ever she has to confront the traumas of her past such as being paraded before all and sundry as a villain

Nice to see you back on the boards, Dan S de Merengue. I hope life is treating you well in Cameroon.

>>Darwin believed that the non-white races were stuck at an early stage in their evolutionary ascent from the apes, having been preserved with those earlier levels of mental and moral development.<<

Not really, you know. Darwin did point out that there were differences in the various peoples he came across, but at no point did he suggest that they had become "stuck". Had he made such an assertion, it would have been extremely noteworthy, as it contradicted his entire theory of evolutionary processes. So, your suggestion that he believed they had been "preserved with those earlier levels of mental and moral development" is a calumny. Or a fib, if you will. That's like saying that you still look exactly like the photo that was taken of you twenty years ago, simply because that is the only evidence available.

And you are a little overboard with the kidney story, too.

>>evolution theory says that their respective ‘races’ were supposedly separated for tens or hundreds of thousands of years. You can get the full story (with a picture) here:
http://creation.com/blood-brothers<<

Here's a quote from that article:

"Darwin taught that the differences between various people groups were the result of many tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years of separation, in which each group allegedly evolved independently".

That's precisely wrong. Darwin was a monogenist, and was opposed to the prevailing theory of his time, polygenism, which the extract above describes. Monogenism posits a common descent for all humans, delightfully analogous in fact to your own thoughts on Adam and Eve.

So that's two fibs. Aren't you glad I'm still here to keep you on the straight and narrow?