[Originally posted on The Roar, May 17, 2017]
I noticed there were two intriguing statements
in the AFL this past week that harken back to the racism column I wrote a few
weeks ago.
One was the aftermath of the St.
Kilda-Carlton boil over Marc Murphy: the sledges thrown his way, and the one he
threw at a prostrate Jake Carlisle which Saints teammate Jarryn Geary took
physical offense to on Carlisle’s behalf. While the topic of the niggling the
Saints gave Murphy is apparently NOT racial (or sexual or religious) in nature,
Murphy’s statement that he was offended on his wife’s behalf suggests
that there are other topics that are inappropriate on the pitch beyond those “big
three”. Certainly, the call from Paul Roos, Chris Scott, Damian Barrett, and a
host of others to “move into the 21st century” has been clarion
clear, and Barrett in particular points out that the AFL pitch is their workplace,
and in no other workplace in Australia would such sledging be acceptable. (No
other workplace is this competitive, but that’s an argument for another
day.)
On the show Access All Areas, Matthew Lloyd set out a reasonable guideline, one that
will change with the times as we have over the years: If you can’t shake a bloke’s hand after the
match, or more specifically if he won’t shake yours, then you’ve crossed that line. I
don’t know what was said to Murphy, and I certainly don’t know what he said to
Carlisle, but I strongly suspect that both failed the “Lloyd test”.
The
other statement was an off-hand comment by Ross Lyon on the troubled state of
former star Harley Bennell, acquired by Fremantle from the Gold Coast two years
ago and yet to play a game for the Dockers – at least, the Fremantle
version. He played for the Peel Dockers last weekend and showed that he’s
as troubled as the US President right now. Fremantle “docked” him five thousand
for his behavior on the sideline at ¾ time, with another five thousand
suspended as a carrot for sticking with his rehab program. But it was this set
of comments from his coach that caught my eye, quoted by Travis King on the AFL’s
website:
"It wasn't ideal. It wasn't exactly pleasing. He
certainly caused no harm to anybody and wasn't putting his best foot
forward," Lyon said. "We've sanctioned Harley, but we'll always
challenge that behaviour and support the person, and work really hard to get
Harley back to his best.
“It would be a terrible shame, wouldn't it, to lose a young indigenous footballer in
this country of this level of talent.”
While
there is nothing about Lyon’s comment that could be considered racist,
it is interesting that part of Bennell’s appeal as a player (to Lyon) is that
he is an “indigenous” footballer. Wouldn’t it be a terrible shame if
Harley threw away his career through his mistakes regardless of his race?
In
2017, we all walk an awkward line, a line between “politically correct” and “being
honest about the state of the world”. Too many people who say they’re just “being
honest” are actually “being crude and cruel”, while too many trying to espouse “political
correctness” are actually trying to sanitize our speech into meaningless
drivel. The line in between takes both intelligence and courage to walk.
We
DO have a race problem: in Australia, where you’re reading this; in America,
where I’m writing this; and in the rest of the world as well. To say otherwise
is to bury our heads in the sand. But to spend our lives focusing on it would
be to encourage that division through constant attention. In my earlier column
on racism, I mentioned Doug Williams, the first black quarterback in the NFL
Super Bowl. He hated the attention. In fact, his fondest wish was to see the
day when nobody mentioned the fact that the quarterbacks were black,
white, red, or green.
Christ
was clear that the way to get around issues like race was to see everyone else the
same way you see you. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Whether that neighbor
was white, black, indigenous, or Martian, treat them as you would treat
yourself. We get the Golden Rule from this fundamental commandment of the Lord’s,
and it’s still a universal guideline even in non-Christian cultures: “Do unto
others as you would have them do unto you” – NOT as they have DONE to you! You
don’t seek revenge through the Golden Rule: you demonstrate equality.
Sledging
becomes easy to regulate if you live your life by this principle. For example, I’m
somewhat overweight, and my congenital health issues prevent me from doing much
about it. Is my being fat fair game? I’d say so. My wife died three years ago;
is her death fair game? I would hope not. It’s not difficult to figure out the
magical imaginary “line” not to cross, if you simply turn the question around.
Should you tease Murphy about his wife, say, having an affair or some other unfounded
rumor? Well, how would you react if he’d said that (repeatedly) to you?
Yeah, me neither. Ever hear Jarryd Roughhead sledged over his cancer? Expect to
hear anything against Jesse Hogan when he returns? Any sledging of Lance
Franklin after his bout with depression? Some topics are obviously off the
board; for the rest, we turn the question around.
And
as for Lyon’s comment? Innocuous. If
he’d said about me, “well, it’d be a shame if we lost an American player of his
level of talent,” I’d first question his sanity about describing ME in those
words, and then I’d say, yeah, I see where you’re coming from; it’s good for
business from a PR standpoint, to be honest.
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