Quote Originally Posted by Bremsstrahlung View Post
Genuinely curious:
How do we know the boo's from the crowd are actually racist? ( i feel we will have a better idea after this round)
Like fair enough, he's had some incidents that revolve around race, but there's also an argument going around that it's due to his playing style e.g. AFL's equivalent of diving for free kicks/being soft/in the refs ear.
(Don't get me wrong, i'm against the boo's if in fact they are due to him standing up for his race/heritage/ancestors/fellow indigenous, but if they are purely directed at him and his football antics, fair game). I know there's probably some people boo-ing him for the former, and some booing for the latter, but part of the problem is that he is labelling them all as one. So if you are booing him as he's one of the swans best players/dives/gets free kicks, and Goodes comes out and says the boos are racist. Then this becomes a grey area. It's like Hutcho coming out and saying he's sad that people boo him, and then says they are booing because he's maltese. Or Sterling blaming the boo's he received in Melbourne on race. It is an important issue, and he's not the first player to react.
Balotelli, Frimpong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdTRAh0XDJw) and numerous other footballers have reacted to racist slurs/chant/actions and have consequently been boo-ed and jeered as a result.

We will see what happens this weekend with Goodes (if he plays). After the AFL, AFL Captains and all the media, other sports have urged fans not to boo him as he believes it is racist and he is being affected by this, it will be interesting to see the reaction he gets.
Do these statements therefore make those that boo a racist for consciously booing (which is now associated with racist stigma)?
Either way, i think it would be really nice to see some universal cheers/applause when he gets the ball. I think that would seriously be the best move for all involved.
Some interesting points but I have read somewhere that it is a myth about him "milking penalties", that for someone who is supposedly good at doing it he has actually received a very low amount of penalties from referees over the years. You see the mob mentality will make up anything to justify their actions for singling out a player, some say it is because of the 13 year old girl, others his outspokenness but why hound the guy for the whole game???
The comparison with Hutch is like chalk and cheese, yes Jets supporters gave him a hard time over the years but I don't think other supporters dished it out to him. I think he actually enjoyed the attention but I don't think I ever heard someone yell "go back home ya wog".....in reference to his Maltese heritage. Goodes just last week was told "go back to the zoo", big difference being booed or heckled and then a racist slur being aimed at you.
There is no comparison in Australian sport history what Goodes has endured throughout this season so please stop trying to make comparisons or say there are grey areas because it is pretty well "black and white"....pardon the pun!