Here we have an Indigenous man who's dragged himself
out of poverty through force of character and a level of
sporting talent that has earned him two Brownlow Medals.
A man who now appears to be so distressed by the football
crowd's ugly behaviour directed at him, that he has taken
himself out of the arena, possibly for good.

Tony Wright writing in The Age, Saturday, August 1, 2015,
reminds us that Adam Goodes has played 365 games. No
one can call him inexperienced in judging the mood of a
crowd, or of being a coward.

Wright says that "Anyone who has been anywhere near the
growing mob that has been abusing Goodes in a manner
reserved for no other player, could tell that it more
than "smacks of racism."

Some people have offered the arguments that Goodes should
apologise to a 13 year-old girl for calling her out for
calling him an "ape" in the first place.

In fact, Wright reminds us that "Goodes immediately after
the incident, made clear his moral compass wasn't askew - he
called for the girl to be supported. His point was that a
part of society had let her down.

The NSW Premier has declared of Goodes treatment that
"some may argue that the line between good-natured and
malicious heckling can be fuzzy." Adding, "but there is
nothing fuzzy about this. The line has been crossed."

I agree. Being hounded every time Goodes went near a
football is the crux of this sorry story.

However there is no doubt that the AFL clubs have been
impressive in placing Goodes' welfare as a key priority.

They have called for the games' leaders to adopt a
national platform to set parameters against the most
racist talkback callers. Not to mention the rednecked
commentators who have rewritten history regarding
Goodes and the young girl at the MCG Collingwood game back
in 2013 or claim Goodes is booed because of the way he
plays.

Caroline Wilson tells us that
"Goodes is booed largely
because he has chosen to take a stand."

Much to some people's discomfort.

Foxy, Goodes is being booed because he's perceived to be gutless and to have tickets on himself, there are supposedly over 70 indigenous AFL players and he's the only one who gets this treatment. Indigenous players like Michael Long and Nicky Winmar are respected for their "stand" for their people but it's debatable just who Adam Goodes people are, he's a fallen working class hero who seemingly has ideas above his station.

Not because he has taken a stand, Foxy, but because he has taken the wrong stand.
He has made himself ridiculous with his nonsensical accusation of racism against the schoolgirl.
She said she did not know that it was racist, and did not intend it to be.
Of course it is not racist, except by a politically correct standard, which is, of course, invalid upon any sensible consideration.
Goodes ridiculous war dance is far more offensive. He is receiving no more than he deserves for his stupidity.

Leo,
Yes and you can add to that, Non Sydney Swans fans get the advantage of putting Goodes off his game, which is the whole point of sledging by players and making rude remarks by spectators.

Advantage for other teams. They only really care that their team wins.

Syd Hickman's article arises important issues related to the relationship between controversy about Adam Goodes and the requirement to improve the position of Australians with indigenous ancestry. He implies that labelling ordinary Australians 'bad' racists and advocating constitutional reform on the basis of 'good racism' does not help.

Some reasons to endorse Hickman's general theme are outline on my web-site at http://cpds.apana.org.au/Teams/Articles/aboriginal_advancement.htm#Hickman

While I believe that there is an element of racism in the booing of Goodes, I believe that it is certainly not the only factor. That there are many other aboriginal players that are not booed, would indicate that AG's case is special.

My experience of crowds is that they are often far from rational, and I guess that in this case a large portion of the crowd has obviously taken offense to the treatment of the 13 yr old girl, even though largely Goodes had no part in the over reaction of the stadium securit