Week in,
week out, opposition fans have greeted Adam Goodes—superstar Sydney Swans
footballer and strong advocate for Australia’s indigenous peoples—with a chorus
of booing. Debate rages even within the AFL Commission around whether the booing is
legitimate, or is done for racist reasons.
In the
furor surrounding this controversy, social commentators and online pundits tend
to argue past one another, brusquely dismissing the other
side’s claims. However—as
often in ethical issues—this story has two sides, each with something
legitimate to say.
But—as
often in ethical issues—this doesn’t mean a clear moral answer doesn’t emerge
as to what to do now.
Legitimate booing
It’s often pointed out that some of the reasons fans give
for booing Goodes seem weak. After all, if you consistently booed every opposition
player who had ever played for a free kick, or who threw his weight around
physically, your voice would be hoarse by quarter-time.
But these
objections miss the point that, ordinarily, fans don’t need good reasons to boo
opposition players. For example, playing at the Gabba in his landmark 400th
game, Kangaroo Brent Harvey was jeered by the Brisbane crowd late in the game.
Why? Probably simply in response to the raucous Kangaroos’ fans, who were
cheering every time their milestone man touched the ball. Cheering, booing,
chanting, clapping and trading jibes all happen spontaneously in the vocal,
competitive, and often exciting environment that makes up a trip to the footy.
As well,
some of the booing has an obvious enough origin: Goodes’ celebratory ‘war-dance’ during the AFL’s indigenous round,
directed towards the opposition side’s supporters. It’s rare for AFL players to
directly engage with opposition fans in any way, as it never fails to fire them
up. (Players can also be sanctioned for deliberately offending opposition
supporters.) An act
like Goodes’ was bound to spark a raucous response. Some of the crowd might even
have felt that responding with silence would be patronizing.
(Note that
if Goodes had performed the dance at the game’s beginning, directing it towards
the opposition team—like the New Zealand All Black’s haka – this justification would not
apply. Just following this thought for a
moment… Imagine if the AFL picked this up for the 2015 finals, and after
the national anthem, perhaps any time both teams fielded Aboriginal players
(which is usual), those players would then perform the dance in challenge to
the opposition team. I predict the crowd’s cheering would drown out any forlorn
boo-ers!)
In sum,
defenders of the booing are correct that some of the booing stems from quite
ordinary sources, innocent of any racial overtones.
Illegitimate booing
Yet the
booing has continued well beyond its usual life-span—becoming more relentless
as the months passed by. It became a ‘thing’: a widespread social phenomenon
distracting from the game, rather than being a part of it.
As the
action shifts from a sporadic occurrence to an ongoing phenomenon, the moral
issues change. Individual booing now becomes part of a larger collective activity,
with different consequences—such as potentially hounding a great player from
the game.
So too, the
passage of time allows the views of those affected to be known. Goodes himself
has felt the need to take time out of the game (hopefully temporarily).
Indigenous players, Goodes’ team-mates, and now the entire playing community
through a recent team-captains’ statement have called for an end to the
practice.
Racism
The specter
of racism drives this widespread concern.
Undeniably,
Australia has racists. Undeniably too, some of these racists like to go to
football and racially vilify non-white players. This is why in 1993 Nicky Winmar had to famously take a stand
against racist abuse, and why the AFL possesses, and routinely acts upon, its
racial vilification policy. Some of these racists are bound to seize this
opportunity, and use the cover of ordinary crowd booing to deliberately vilify
Goodes.
In fact, we
have good reason to believe some of the booing is unconsciously racist as well.
It is a well-known psychological fact that (as Immanuel Kant once observed) we
tend to present our actions – to ourselves as much as to others – in the best
possible light. We find excuses and rationalizations for our uglier moments,
trying to preserve our sense of personal moral decency. Since this holds true
of all people, it remains true for football fans. We might not know which fans
do this, but the uncomfortable truth remains that some are surely glossing over
their unconscious racist sentiments with contrived excuses.
Since the
ordinary reasons for booing tend to fade once the game finishes and the weeks
pass, it seems plausible to conclude that these racial elements, conscious or
unconscious, are substantial enough to fan the flames and drive the now
widespread phenomenon.
Where does this leave
us?
As a
result, we have solid reason to believe a decent proportion of the booing is
racist in nature. A significant portion of the crowd are racially vilifying
Adam Goodes, and this vilification is (understandably) impacting upon him.
These facts
change the action’s moral status.
Imagine you
are a fan, and your reasons for previous booing have nothing to do with racism
(you are an ‘equal opportunity’ knocker). The facts being what they are, you
cannot now boo without facilitating racists vilifying Goodes. Perhaps worse,
you yourself cannot be distinguished from such racists. An external
observer—other people in the crowd, families, children, indigenous footballers,
Goodes himself—know that there are racists vilifying him, and they cannot know
that you aren’t one of them.
This, I
think we can all agree, constitutes a decisive reason to stop the booing.
Ultimately,
opposition supporters had reason to boo Goodes at various moments in the past,
and they have every reason to be affronted by knee-jerk accusations of racism for
their doing so. But the situation has now progressed to the point where there
is compelling reason to stop.
(A first version of this blogpost was originally published by The Ethics Centre.)
