Stephen Hagan has done Toowoomba, and indeed Australia, a great service in not only ridding the public space of the word "#igger" but also in showing all of us how horribly narrow, conservative, vindictive and mean spirited so many people, including the Sports Trust members and our old Mayor really are.

(To emphasise how offensive people, outside Toowoomba, find the word... I was told by the OLO 'offensive words' checker to remove the 'profanity' from my post, hence the hash mark there).

Our local newspaper has gone out of it's way to vilify Mr Hagan, specifically asking readers to send in their thoughts on him and then publishing a stream of idiot invective for at least 18 straight days.

The journalists and the editor of this horrible rag, The Chronicle, make a habit of this form of journalism, low rent, cheap, tabloid, ignorant, and maybe that is because the readership requires that form of journalism? Who knows?

This sign only came down because Minsiter Judy Spence insisted it did. This is most unusual for her. Normally this Minister is backing her Police force as they set about their frequent rampages against black and white alike all over Qld, but this was a welcome move.

The question is, why didn't Beattie remove the sign years ago when he had an opportunity and why didn't our ever 'social justice' spruiking Premier, Anna Bligh, do it as soon as she took over from our ex-meeja tart Beattie?

I am sure people elsewhere in the world, beyond these bluestone walls of Fortress Groom, who have read about our infamous sign wonder what we are all going on about, but this sign is an open wound here, with ES Brown supporters totally unable to understand that Hagan and his supporters have no issue with ESB as a person, it's just that the world, apart from within our little Fortress Groom here, has developed new sensibilities and grown up a little.

Good on you Stephen Hagan, and shame on you Toowoomba Chronicle and all of the Sports Trust.

Steven has participated in Democracy, and achieved a result.

It might not be to everyone's liking..but that's democracy.

I can't wait to rename the Stadium "WayTruthLlife" stadium :)

Not really, but that's life isn't it? If you can get the numbers and the clout.. you get the result you want.

It never stays still... always dynamic.. one year up..the next down.
Back to the fight.

Well Stephen
It is good to know you have won your battle and "N....r" Brown fades into the past. However since you wanted a lazy $10,000 to ameliorate your hurt and suffering and to to stop John McDonald from inciting racial hatred, I am wondering how much you are seeking from Dairy Farmers Australia so that your hurt and suffering can be similarly eased by removing C..n Cheese from our supermarkets.
Given the widespread distribution of C..n Cheese across Australia I realize that Dairy Farmers are indeed inciting racial hatred and giving rise to hurt and suffering on a much larger scale than did the Toowoomba Rugby League.
All the best in your continuing campaign.

So why not seek to rid a few more names while you're at it you toss!

Blacks Beach, Black Stump, White Patch, Coloured Sands, the list goes on.

It realy hurts to know that our education funding has been wasted on someone who is hell bent on wanting to change the world just becasue they take offence of a name that has been around for years and offends very few.

So what's next. Coffe 'with or without milk' as we dare not say white or black hey!

Get a life mate!

Rehctub,
Most people in Australia would find the word n#gger and it's generally accepted meaning unpleasant and racist and would not like to see it up in lights even if it was about a sporting legend.

I heard an interesting story about a 95 year old woman of means last weekend .

She recently commented about the programs on TV .

"There's a lot of n#ggers on the TV lately ".

The world thankfully does move on .

Unfortunately it obviously moves very slowly for some, and not for just our older generations.

rehctub,

"So why not seek to rid a few more names while you're at it you toss! Blacks Beach, Black Stump, White Patch, Coloured Sands, the list goes on."

You show, however, that we still need 'redneck'.

Dear 'rectum'... have a look at how a seven year old see the world:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=m1GmWKPXXqE

Meanwhile many aboriginal children are still being abused, women are being belted blue (pardon the racism) and crime rates among aboriginals is horrendously high. But congratulations Stephen you have made a political point and scored a bit of cash by appealing to quasi Government organizations with some sort of agenda.

I would suggest that it is not activism that we need but compassion and common sense. You need to see that you might have won this battle but unless real issues are addressed by aboriginal people you will never win the war.

Runner ,
You are dreaming and probably wishfull thinking if you think living conditions for Aboriginal people will improve dramaticlly without Black and White activism .

History shows us this .

Just look at the war on Slavery .

All the tut tuts and "common sense" in the world produced nothing .

Aboriginal People will have to address violence and other issues - one of which is the undertone of racism that is apparent and imbedded in the lines of some contributors to On Line Opinion.

I can remember ex RSL president Bruce Ruxton criticising Charles Perkins for having a "flash" house, while he was doing his best for his Aboriginal People with his activism.

Dear 'rectum'... have a look at how a seven year old see the world:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=m1GmWKPXXqE
Posted by The Blue Cross, Monday, 20 October 2008 10:34:32 PM

Hardly call a negro american an aboriginal hey! I hope you didn't stay up all night looking for this clip!

So why not have kraft change the colour of vegimite or let's ban black paint, in fact, why not ban black as a colour all together hey!

You fools just have to much time on your hands. It's just a pitty that my tax dollars are funding the education for these fools so they can later shaft us.

The answer to the problems is simple. Take away the grog, make them work for a living like the rest, SORRY, most of us. Meanwhile I will just accept the fact that my son can be bashed by a group of them as they know there is nothing that can be done about it. The ploice are powerless when it comes to certain portions of the population.

Also, I thought the official appology was going to solve all the problems. So what went wrong hey?

kartiya jim

You are right and I was being a bit hard on Stephen. The frustrating thing is that making a big deal over something that most aboriginals could not care less about does little for the cause of the people. I personally am pleased to see any person (black or white) to have a 'flash' house provided they have got it by legitimate means.

I object to the term 'redneck'. It is racially prejudicial. Let's have a court case about it and tie up more judicial and government time.
Instead of banning the terms (they are part of our history after all, like it or not) why not educate so that these terms ultimately die a natural death. After all how many people give their sons (or daughters) 'Biggles' books to read these days?

The problem with taking offence to a word, rather than to the context the word is used in, means that you will always find something offensive to complain about - do we ban use of the term whitefella if I take offence at someone drawing attention to the colour of my skin, or do we support red-heads that hate the name Blue, or what about englishmen who find the term Pom offensive? When a word is used to celebrate a person or an event or other great happening, it should be viewed as such - a celebration. We should not always be jumping to the lowest common denominator. Use of words to denigrate people should never be condoned (such as use of the word redneck in this thread). In this case I agree with Jacqui - education is the key. We should all fight to ensure that cheap shots are not taken at anyone, and explain to our kids where necessary about historical usage and why its no longer considered acceptable. However I take offense at a campaign to stop a celebration of a person by his commonly known name. Does this mean I can sue Stephen Hagan for emotional distress caused by his inappropriate condemnation of a local footy hero?

No Country Gal.... it means that all of those people who are pretending that the 'N' word (since we are unable to write it on this OLO site because the editors/publishers clearly find it offensive)is just, 'the name of shoe polish' or 'just what paint used to be called' or that ES Brown's nickname was 'nothing to do with racism' are kidding themselves and are barking up the wrong tree.

Try walking through Redfern and shouting 'Hi #igger!' to your auld Indigenous pal on the other side of the street and see whether the others on the footpath are able to discern 'the context' in which it is said.

'#igger' has never been used as a term of endearment.

It IS a term of abuse, with a long history behind it and a very particualr political meaning.

No body expects to be called a '#unt' in public, which is just as offensive and carries an enormous amount of political baggage with it too.

If 'there's nothing in a word', why do WTO rounds fail as the 'right form of words' cannot be agreed upon?

Why did journalists and others pounce on Alexander Downer for his 'innocent joke' about 'the finks that batter'?

Didn't people SEE THE CONTEXT and know it was ONLY A JOKE?

I think not.

And so it is here in Fortress Groom.

The real problem lies in the Qld culture of anti 'book learning' as it's known here, and the celebration of sporting individuals as if they were God, or at least 'gods'.

This numbs the brain and prevents any thoughtful approach to anything.

It's worth watching Stephen Hagan's film...and seeing the white councillor up in North Qld who did sponsor a name change to a creek, and why she changed her mind about a lifelong familiarity with the old name, similar to the Rockhamton Black Gin Creek skirmish others are geting in to now.

Surely if people in the deep Deep North can 'get it' others from around the wide-brown-land could have a go too?

The fascinating thing is the context, of course.

A black man calling another black man #igger is a term of solidarity, of mateship, even sometimes of endearment.

A white man calling a black man #igger is an insult, pure and simple.

A little old lady observing that there are a lot of #iggers on TV is a form of time-travel. She had no inkling that she was giving offence, the word had a very simple meaning for her.

In the context of the "#igger" Brown Stadium, I'd strongly suggest that we are closer to the third example than either of the other two, and that deciding to call it something else is akin to applying Savlon to an outbreak of buboes.

A mere gesture.

And one that, while providing the delusion that the problem is being addressed, actually does nothing to cure the plague itself. And the delusion is itself dangerous, since it draws attention away from looking for a genuine cure.

To underline the futility of this pretence at do-goodery, my post was initially chastised for "profanity", when merely performing copy-and-paste on the topic itself.

I'd suggest that such verbal prurience adds to, rather than alleviates the problem.

Blue Cross, the point here is that the stand was named after someone who was white, for crying out loud. If I call someone a _igger, I fully expect to be set on for it. If someone has a nick-name _igger (or anything else), I might find it somewhat distasteful until it was explained to me, but we are talking about a person rather than a label. You appear not to be able to distinguish between the two. To call someone a _unt is the same as calling someone a _igger - the link is the word "a". If someone has the nickname _unt, much as I might raise an eyebrow, there's no point in getting offended by it (in fact its a name for something, but tends to be used as a denigrating term - its the method of usage that I have a problem with).

The name of a creek may be an entirely different kettle of fish, depending on why it was named. I know of a large rock outcrop called Gin's Leap, where an aboriginal woman committed suicide (not sure why). Its named after a specific person, but using a label which was intended to be derogatory. So if Mr Hagan decided to take that on, then I'd support it. Its all about context.

Dear Blue Cross
1. "'#igger' has never been used as a term of endearment."
Wrong. It was the name of Wing Commander Guy Gibson's dog.
It certainly wasn't an abusive epithet when attached to E S Brown.
2. "It IS a term of abuse, with a long history behind it and a very particualr political meaning."
The term "N....r" never applied to aborigines in Australia up to the sixties. The abusive terms before then were boong, burri and abo. "N....r" and "C..n" are more recent arrivals in keeping with the Australian infatuation with American slang and abusive language.
3. Calling a murri, kurri, kanak, a ""N....r" today would rightly be regarded as extremely offensive and, depending on the circumstances dangerous. But the name of the Stand was not the Stephen "N....r" Hagan stand. No person was being abused.
4."Black Gin Creek". Are you saying now that the term "gin" for an aboriginal woman irrespective of context is also offensive? Gin is derived from a Murri word meaning woman or wife. It later obtained its derogatory meaning from the predatory practice of Europeans cohabitating with “gins” and/or the practice of “gins” cohabitating with Europeans in an effort to survive. Both practices violated the moral codes of both cultures. Certainly now if you called somebody a gin it would be deemed offensive.
5."The real problem lies in the Qld culture of anti 'book learning'"
I would be interested in how you arrived at this view and how you can defend it.

Dear 'Blairbear'

The 'book learning' position is well known in Qld. They don't like it. Although education started well here in 1875, it was all over by 1910.

And as the years progressed, it became even worse. Do read Phil Cullen's gem, 'Back to Drastics', a worthy little tome.

Perhaps this typical Qld moral crusader sums it up rather well:

"The Gold Coast Bulletin reported Rona Joyner, an alliance spokesperson, as saying 'Children don’t go to school to learn to think. They go to learn to read and write and spell correctly.'

"When the aims of public schooling are not made explicit, such extreme minority views can prevail with divisive consequences" (EQ 'Purposes of Education 3 Final Report).

Prevail they have, and there is still very much a fear of 'book learning', particularly within Education Queensland where the Minister is more concerned with filling schools with Hillsong programmes, Pentacostal unqulaified school chaplains, and complete nutters who volunteer to deliver religious indoctrination as if the fate of the (flat)world depended on it.

Our latest Qld school results demonstrate the lack of skills, funding, and value put on education here.

'Book learning'... no good on the farm is it?

Having not lived in Toowoomba for several years, I have missed all the developments referred to in Mr Hagan's article - but I am delighted to hear of them. Walking by and having to see the N-word in its prominent position on a frequent basis was one of the worst aspects of living in an otherwise excellent city.
Argument: he was white. Me: so what? It's offensive. If his friendly team nickname had been 'D#ckhead', would people have rushed to give that offensive epithet a permanent place for all to see?
Argument: we need to educate, not just ban. Me: nice try, but imagine a teacher listing all the offensive terms in his/her head and telling kids their cultural history! Some words need to be simply dropped quietly out of the language so they disappear from our thinking. Here is where I probably differ from Mr Hagan re: Coon cheese. I think little kids are more likely to disregard this word as stupid rather than offensive ("Why's he calling me a piece of cheese?") whereas with the N-word, there is no other meaning possible.
Congratulations to Mr Hagan, Minister Spence and all concerned for removing this anachronistic idiocy from its shameful place in an otherwise respectable and often hugely under-rated city.

What a pity some people have so little to occupy their minds .And rather than indulging in deep contemplation of their navel button, look for silly words to slap politically correct terms on .
How about actually doing something worth while, like getting children safe and educated. And youth trained and employed. Too hard? Pity.

Mr Hagan has done everyone a service by asking us all to look into the seemingly little things we take for granted. My own father, born 1883, routinely in the 1960s used the word n#gger in referring to the local people of Papua: he meant them no harm, but it was indeed racist thinking. Anyone who doubts the racist meaning of the term n#gger should look at the citations in the Oxford English Dictionary (the two-volume one). While there, look at nearby words related to n#gger. Then go to the Australian National Dictionary, also published by Oxford, to find some champion citations from the Bulletin and other dinki-di Aussie usages of the word. If this matter is so small, as suggested by some posts, then it will be a small matter to rectify, so lets get on with it.

"The n....r crew is making merry with the Diridgery doo and the eternal ya-ya-ya- ye-ye-ye cry" 1919 Huon Times (Franklin) 24 January 4/3
Are the crew aborigines or are the crew Afro-Americans playing a didgeridoo? Show me some examples of the word n....r applied to murris and kooris prior to the sixties. Nobody doubts the term is offensive now as it was years ago in the USA. That is not the issue.
The issue is whether you want to expunge the word from our past.

As a social experiment, how about relocating the sign to the MCG.. prominently positioned so as to be easily readable by passing traffic in Punt Road.

blairbar: << The issue is whether you want to expunge the word from our past. >>

I rather thought the issue is whether we want to expunge the word (and all that its use entails) from our present.

Good on you, Stephen. I've been following your fight on this issue since I've lived in the Southern Downs region, and it's good to see that your hard work has helped to move the district some way toward full participation in the the 21st century.

We should be all very careful of accepting this mamby pamby rubbish being promulgated via tax payer funded positions occupied by people like Hagan. He might be entitled to his "educated" opinion; but other people in this society are also very aware that racism flows in a range of different directions, not only "white" over "black". Anyone who is arguing such simplicities is playing a dirty game and distorting truth, justice and fairness to all. The name of the stand reamins at issue and as such should be debated. But what should be done when it comes to the way that Aboriginal people (kids and adults) deliberately target poor working class white people to rob bash and plunder in Windale NSW, near Newcastle? The moral high ground is not "owned" by any group, least of all those who direct racist violence against the poor whatever colour. Start talking more intelligently about politics in this country.

Poor Vlad (the impaler?)

Another 'ordinary Aussie' who resents Indigenous people with an education, and probably everyone else who has 'wasted tax monies' on one too.

Who, on these pages or elsewhere, has been supporting street violence?

By anyone, Indigenous or otherwise?

What has street violence in NSW got to do with a clapped out sports stand in regional Qld?

There seems to be a theme on these pages, and in Toowoomba.

If Mr Hagan had no job, he'd be abused for being an idle Aboriginal.

That he has the cheek to be Indigenous and have a job, and a public sector job at that, and have some education, with a couple of degrees in his kit-bag-of-skills, is deeply deeply resented...so it seems.

The comments I've read concerning this clapped out sports stand and Mr Hagan have been simply stunning, blaming him for the condition of NT Indigenous communities, abusing him for having an education, abusing him for daring to open his mouth to speak up.... abusing him for suing various bodies....and now Vlad (the impaler) is abusing him for what happens in NSW.

Absolutely amazing.

There is a lesson here for the vast majority of our population who prefer to lie low, keep their mouths shut and quietly fume over what they perceive to be 'injustices', mainly to them.

Stand up.... research your topic.... take some action about it...and if that includes Vlad doing something constructive in his own community and making an attempt to resolve street violence there... initiated by any group.... I suggest he takes the advice and reports back here with his future plans.

Blue Cross your suggestion about constructive action in my own community is appreciated, but I certainly won't be wasting time setting up a personal website detailing my publications and telling the world that I'm the best community worker since sliced bread. One of the things people like myself - Aboriginal and very much a part of a number of communities making up the Windale mix - are doing involves getting kids from indigenous and non-indigenous backgrounds to think and act beyond the white/black divisions that have, unfortunately, been promulgated by far too many people employed in tertiary education. I have several degrees myself, and I've worked with Aboriginal students very effectively indeed in getting them involved in all sorts of ways with careers and connectivity to their communities. But I do resent people who turn to posturing, indulging in gestural middleclass media games that represent little more than self-aggrandisement at the expense of the dedicated work of many others who are not considered worthy by academics and whose efforts are rarely if ever acknowledged.

I think Hagan's efforts regarding the "clapped out" sports stand while morally correct unfortunately played into the politico-cultural field of the right wing conservatives masquerading as "average ordinary Aussie's", some of whom do resent those with educations beyond their experience. In following this particular path Hagan had some success (and the name of the stand SHOULD have been changed years ago by the trust organisation btw) but ironically the results have given some conservatives more fuel to stir up reaction and play white against black. For instance, Graeme Gilbert's syndicated, sinister and clapped out radio talkback programme is a case in point and every damn month he will raise the stand matter to stir up the most dodgy debate imaginable.

Meanwhile some kids in my area deliberately target elderly or ill white women because they are easy to steal from and they think it is their right because of a distorted black/white political dichotomy. I want this sort of despicable violence stopped before it hits the headlines only to fuel even more reactionary debate!

By the way
I just spent the last few days seeing my son, daughter and grandchildren in Tannum Sands (near Gladstone). Drove into Gladstone and guess what there is a street named C##N Street , which ironically is not all that far from the disused Port Curtis Dairy Factory. I think it is time for Action Man to rid Gladstone and the world, of this offensive and insulting street name. Alternatively the Council is not short of a quid so perhaps the legal approach might be more rewarding.

Good comments by Blairbar and Deep Northerner. Myself I am happy for retained relics of our past mistakes to act as prompts about continuing to think and act on these issues. It would be helpful to have a board at the oval explaining the original name and why it was taken down. Yes, a repro of the board could be put up in any sports venue anywhere with an explanation. I certainly hope that a very good photograph was taken of the original signboard for such a purpose. Yes, this case should be a spur to discussion of similar prejudicial thinking still to be found in our society, therefore the record of the original should not be expunged. An old mistake is still a mistake we can newly learn from. E.g. look how successful the floggings are at Old Sydney Town. Toowoomba is a city with a lot of educational resources: a case study could be a hallmark of today's ability to deal with the past. Tmba thinkers, please take this on!

Reference Blairbar's 3 Nov comment <Gladstone and guess what there is a street named C##N Street>, all that is needed is a small board explaining the origin of the name in this case. Gladstone City, please help us all by doing that. What the cheese company could helpfully do is to add in the small print a short credit to Mr/Dr Coon as the inventor of the process. Mr Hagan was here embarking on something of what the lamented John Howard used to call PC. While Howard's use of the term was wrong (typical!), his instinct was right -- you do not remove a wrong by removing it from view, instead you need to expose it to the light where it will shrivel. Yes, there may still be insulting uses of the word C##N and each one should be challenged, past or present.

Somewhere in my deep memory a bell rang. The debate on Coon Cheese has been won by common sense. If I remember correctly the matter was taken to the Supreme Court and the Politically Correct lost & lost the Appeal as well.