Csteele>> To my eternal shame not only did I not tell him to can it but I joined in like all the rest. It got more and more vicious and the whole bay started chanting at the player when suddenly he looked up at us, only for a moment, but the look of utter anger, powerlessness, and hurt has never left me.

I knew what had happened was badly wrong yet I never expressed that feeling to my mates at the time. At that age we all tended to egg each other on to do and say more and more outrageous things.<<

Not all of us Cs, we were not all followers.

OH! You big ape! As a white person it is certainly not the first time I have heard that comment. It usually means some big oaf of a man who may or may not be acting stupidly or using brawn instead of brains.

Big black whiskers on a man, black or white, could certainly result in a bloke being called a big ape or a gorilla. I think the term is more sexist if anything, than racist. It also means a man is acting like a bully or being overbearing which is
probably what the girl meant in this case in defending her team.

The brainless reaction to a harmless comment is the shocking element in this big to-do over nothing.

Perhaps the following two links will give a better
perspective of the issue:

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/adam-goodes-sets-an-example-for-all-20130530-2nehc.html

And: -

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/zero-tolerance-means-you-too-mr-mcguire-20130530-2nf47.html

One of the rugby players in Queensland was called Wendell,
and one of the fans I was sitting next to at a game
sang out, "Wendell's a girls name!" when Wendell was standing
down our end waiting for a goal to be kicked.

Wendell, looked nothing like a girl being a very solidly built
bloke.
He could have reacted as though they were calling him gay but he
understood that they were just heckling him.

It is just the fans way of letting off steam at the opposing team
and trying to rattle them out of playing their best.

Their is no case to be made for ape being a racist remark, when it is a term used quite widely in white society and has been for at least
50years in my memory and it is used towards all men not just Aboriginals.

CHERFUL is right.

Wanda: "..I've worn dresses with higher IQs. I've known sheep that could outwit you, but you think you're an intellectual don't you, ape?

Otto: "Apes don't read philosophy"

Wanda: "Yes, they do, Otto, they just don't understand it .."

From A Fish Called Wanda (@ 4:00, but why miss the rest? LOL )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YKbYLb5GVc

Then what about all those Silverbacks posing as security guards & bouncers & yes, footballers in particular.
With the mentality that makes people watch football they're no better than the apes playing.