No Oppo Supporters The TAN 83 - arse

[SunshineBoy]

Lmao, feel free to do so

In all seriousness, I’m just making sure because some posts either get deleted or pushed to some other thread if they’re in the wrong thread. That’s just going to be unnecessary work for the mods

I’m not a mod , but there’s only a couple of snowflakes amongst our members

 

[SunshineBoy]

 

[Tiges1229]

all I can think about is the umps

* imagine bugging afl umpires headquarters, tapping the campaigners phones to

 

[Tiges1229]

Debra from everybody loves Raymond is hot

 

[beema limapep]

Lmao, feel free to do so

In all seriousness, I’m just making sure because some posts either get deleted or pushed to some other thread if they’re in the wrong thread. That’s just going to be unnecessary work for the mods

Dunno what you are gunna say now. You have piqued everyone's interest!

i posted a while back a personal experience that decades ago, I got concentrated piss tipped down my car vents because some guy at work was jealous I was seeing a girl he supposedly liked. Post didn't get deleted or moved.

The same guy do something to you? He had tiny brown eyes. Like two raisins on a plate they were.

 

[NaturalDisaster]

Mods, can I rant in this thread about things that happened to me in real life? I sometimes post on a thread and it gets moved because it’s the wrong one or something. So I just want to make sure.

It’s not expressly political (because I’m just venting about what happened), but some might see political themes in the rant.

Of course

oh btw, just so you know, I only read this because I checked the thread. The word "mod" doesn't raise some bat signal that alerts us to the thread (as nice as that would be) , tag one of us.

 

[smasha]

Alabama Chicken And Wings on uber eats.
Omy.

So tasty!

 

[beema limapep]

all I can think about is the umps

May as well post about it across multiple threads. Technically on topic too.

 

[Groupie_]

might buy a banshee

 

[Jimmybob]

What's half of Australia & Groupie_ gonna have for dinner now? https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/f...n/news-story/9daaa4f5e7eb5e0299138ba2079d5cea

 

[Jimmybob]

might buy a banshee

View attachment 1928752

Do it. Sister has a few mini quaddies at her property in Silvan and they go hard

 

[Groupie_]

Do it. Sister has a few mini quaddies at her property in Silvan and they go hard

needs a traditional yellow and black wrap

 

[Jimmybob]

needs a traditional yellow and black wrap

Go a suzuki, premade yellow and black

 

[SunshineBoy]

What's half of Australia & Groupie_ gonna have for dinner now? https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/f...n/news-story/9daaa4f5e7eb5e0299138ba2079d5cea

Aye Groupie_

 

[Groupie_]

View attachment 1928755
Aye Groupie_

need those out the front of the g

 

[kozi]

 

[Groupie_]

Go a suzuki, premade yellow and black

nah yamaha best

 

[Lsta062]

Dunno what you are gunna say now. You have piqued everyone's interest!

i posted a while back a personal experience that decades ago, I got concentrated piss tipped down my car vents because some guy at work was jealous I was seeing a girl he supposedly liked. Post didn't get deleted or moved.

The same guy do something to you? He had tiny brown eyes. Like two raisins on a plate they were.

I’m sorry for piquing all of your interests! That is awful man! I’d remember that a decades later too.

Lol no, no one like that did anything like that to me. But I’ll post now I got the all clear to post. I don’t think many people will be interested to hear once they know what the topic is about because I’ll sound like I’m whining, but I just feel like doing that once in a while you know

 

[SouthernStripes]

 

[Triggering Tiger]

View attachment 1928824

 

[Lsta062]

Warning, this is going to be a very long, long rant. If you care, then you can read it, and if you don’t, feel free to skip. And if you’re skipping, I feel sorry for you because you’re going to have to scroll down very far lol. Sorry!

But I just want to vent somewhere right now because I’m just upset and annoyed. Maybe I’m overreacting and blowing this out of proportion, but I don’t care right now.

Basically, I’m sick of being racially profiled. Like, I’m really sick of it and I mean it. It happened again today where my brother and I were restricted to $20 of petrol because “we were wearing hoodies” and “covered my head with a hat”. It was at the petrol station closest to my area and I wanted to put in $60, but when I got to $22, the guy just decided to stop the bowser while I was filling up. I was wondering what happened (I thought the petroleum under the ground was empty for some reason) until this guy came up to me to explain what I mentioned above. Like, what?!

Mind you, the hoodie wasn’t even over my head, meaning that my face and hair can clearly be seen by any camera they’d have on. Yeah I was wearing some sort of a hat like he said (it’s plain navy blue with no gang tags on it), but it didn’t cover my face and my hair that comes to my neck was showing. So I definitely wasn’t obscuring my identity! Same with my brother, but he was wearing jeans and one of those Uniqlo hoodies. We were showing our faces like anyone else. The guy literally didn’t budge on this, so I paid the $22 I filled and went to go to another petrol station to fill the remaining $40. I’m not even a teenager either. I’m in my early 30s dumb ass! I know it’s to do with my ethnicity because I only need to look around to see what other customers were wearing and what they looked like.

After this experience, it dawned on me how many times I’ve been profiled in this country throughout my life. It dawned on me that Australia really has this problem, and that it’s not just a phenomenon overseas. The fact I have just ignored it and not put all these “isolated” incidences together these years still baffles me. Even last week, I was saying to my brother that we have it so good as Africans here in Australia and that you barely notice any racism compared to other Western nations. I realise now that this is far from the truth.

As an example of my past experience, there was a time where we (as in my brother, older sister, and mother) were threatened and told to come back to a store we just visited (and bought something from mind you) to return glasses that we allegedly stole. It was a store selling prescription glasses, and they said this just because they apparently found a hole in their stock somewhere and saw my brother and I trying a couple on before literally putting them back. Like, what would I do with non-prescription glasses anyway? Why would I want that? I realised it was a racist-fuelled incident when my sister calmly advised that we didn’t steal anything, and this woman starts backing up and saying things like “don’t get violent and aggressive” or something like that. We looked at each other in utter disbelief and got out of there very quickly after she said she wouldn’t take this further because we had a feeling that this was going to escalate if we complained about our treatment. She was the store manager, so it was end of the line there. I was around my mid 20s at the time (give or take), so it must’ve only been about 6-8 years ago. Again, clearly not a teenager.

This happens way too often, and it’s not just white people that do it. It’s anyone that’s non-black because we’re basically viewed as the bottom group by all races. By white, Arab, Asian, desi etc. It doesn’t matter if we speak the language flawlessly, it doesn’t change.

These are just a few examples of many. I’ll be fair and say that I somewhat understand if I looked and dressed like some sort of gangster or thug in all these incidents. Even though I’d still have said not to judge (I don’t judge people’s crime propensity based on things like that myself), but I get where it would come from. However, I’m someone who works in corporate roles, so I know I categorically don’t act or look suspicious to an average person that’s not racist or prejudice! Otherwise, I simply wouldn’t be hired in those places. I’m a tax-paying and law-abiding citizen just like anyone else, so why can’t people just assume that until proven otherwise? Why can’t that assistant just assume that I am just another diehard Richmond fan? Why a spy? Like, it’s tiring always having to mind the way I speak, mind what I wear, make sure I go by the letter of the law, because I know that one slip up will cause me to be seen as some thug. What’s worse is that if I make a genuine mistake, then black people around the area will all suffer because of it.

This is why I hate the way the media reports about “Sudanese gangs”. I notice an uptick of racial profiling for all black people the moment Sudanese people get targeted in the media. Even though I’m not Sudanese and don’t look like it either, I know that all black African-Australians like me will collectively get punished for the crimes a few of them commit. We’ll get denied service, turned away from places etc. And it’s not the Sudanese people’s fault either. It’s the fear-mongering media/Twitter journalists. Even if I was Sudanese, why should all Sudanese people suffer through racial profiling just because of the actions of a few? If you have a security camera, then use it to check the number plates of those that stole petrol. Use it to check who stole your glasses. Gather some intel before accusing someone of being a spy. Target those people actually doing stuff, and leave the rest of us alone.

And this is all in multicultural Melbourne, and I have friends and family members (like cousins) who experienced similar things. One of my cousins was arrested and slammed onto the floor as a 13 year old because they found him “suspicious”. Spoiler: he didn’t do anything wrong.

I’ll be honest and say that I feel worse after racial profiling than being called something racist. If I went to a AFL game and someone called me a monkey, I’d hate it, but I’d move on. I’ve had people driving by call me the n-word, and the same thing. I hate it, but I can just ignore it and get over it. Racial profiling though is something that genuinely makes me upset. You know, where I can only fill $20 of petrol because I’m too suspicious for dumb reasons.

That’s what I wanted to rant about because I just feel so upset about it right now. Again, maybe I’m overreacting, but I don’t care.
Also, I don’t want to hear anyone say “oh but maybe you misunderstood?”. I have a lifetime of experience with this bullcrap, so I know when it’s happening and when it’s not. So, if that’s what you want to say, then I honestly prefer you keep it to yourself and just scroll on.

Rant over.

EDIT: Removed a part that I was wrong in

 

[beema limapep]

Of course

oh btw, just so you know, I only read this because I checked the thread. The word "mod" doesn't raise some bat signal that alerts us to the thread (as nice as that would be) , tag one of us.

What are words that do raise signals?

 

[beema limapep]

Warning, this is going to be a very long, long rant. If you care, then you can read it, and if you don’t, feel free to skip. And if you’re skipping, I feel sorry for you because you’re going to have to scroll down very far lol. Sorry!

But I just want to vent somewhere right now because I’m just upset and annoyed. Maybe I’m overreacting and blowing this out of proportion, but I don’t care right now.

Basically, I’m sick of being racially profiled. Like, I’m really sick of it and I mean it. It happened again today where my brother and I were restricted to $20 of petrol because “we were wearing hoodies” and “covered my head with a hat”. It was at the petrol station closest to my area and I wanted to put in $60, but when I got to $22, the guy just decided to stop the bowser while I was filling up. I was wondering what happened (I thought the petroleum under the ground was empty for some reason) until this guy came up to me to explain what I mentioned above. Like, what?!

Mind you, the hoodie wasn’t even over my head, meaning that my face and hair can clearly be seen by any camera they’d have on. Yeah I was wearing some sort of a hat like he said (it’s plain navy blue with no gang tags on it), but it didn’t cover my face and my hair that comes to my neck was showing. So I definitely wasn’t obscuring my identity! Same with my brother, but he was wearing jeans and one of those Uniqlo hoodies. We were showing our faces like anyone else. The guy literally didn’t budge on this, so I paid the $22 I filled and went to go to another petrol station to fill the remaining $40. I’m not even a teenager either. I’m in my early 30s dumb ass! I know it’s to do with my ethnicity because I only need to look around to see what other customers were wearing and what they looked like.

After this experience, it dawned on me how many times I’ve been profiled in this country throughout my life. It dawned on me that Australia really has this problem, and that it’s not just a phenomenon overseas. The fact I have just ignored it and not put all these “isolated” incidences together these years still baffles me. Even last week, I was saying to my brother that we have it so good as Africans here in Australia and that you barely notice any racism compared to other Western nations. I realise now that this is far from the truth.

As an example of my past experience, there was a time where we (as in my brother, older sister, and mother) were threatened and told to come back to a store we just visited (and bought something from mind you) to return glasses that we allegedly stole. It was a store selling prescription glasses, and they said this just because they apparently found a hole in their stock somewhere and saw my brother and I trying a couple on before literally putting them back. Like, what would I do with non-prescription glasses anyway? Why would I want that? I realised it was a racist-fuelled incident when my sister calmly advised that we didn’t steal anything, and this woman starts backing up and saying things like “don’t get violent and aggressive” or something like that. We looked at each other in utter disbelief and got out of there very quickly after she said she wouldn’t take this further because we had a feeling that this was going to escalate if we complained about our treatment. She was the store manager, so it was end of the line there. I was around my mid 20s at the time (give or take), so it must’ve only been about 6-8 years ago. Again, clearly not a teenager.

This happens way too often, and it’s not just white people that do it. It’s anyone that’s non-black because we’re basically viewed as the bottom group by all races. By white, Arab, Asian, desi etc. It doesn’t matter if we speak the language flawlessly, it doesn’t change.

It also reminded me of a weird incident I experienced at the Richmond Football Club funnily enough. It was actually the beginning of the end of me attending Richmond games and being a paid member. I’ll explain why I don’t call this a racist incident later, but I’m very close to doing so.

There was this closed training session on during Richmond’s 2018 preseason. I was wearing normal clothes and stopped by the Richmond shop before going to work. Since I had a membership, I wanted to pick up the membership scarf you get when you pay for a membership. On my way back to the train station, I saw that the club had a training session going on. I saw other people watching over the fence, so I decided to do the same as them. Why not?

I kid you not, it took 2-3 minutes before a Richmond assistant singles me out, runs up to me from the field, and starts asking me about what I was doing here. At this point, some of the Richmond players stopped training and start looking over at us to see what was happening because this was kinda causing a scene. The assistant tells me that Hardwick doesn’t like it when people watch into the training session and asked if I was an opposition spy. Me, a spy? Like, since when do you see Africans of my specific background in AFL spaces? We have no presence in the AFL at all! I honestly know only a handful that even care about the AFL, let alone work for the AFL. Only Sudanese people and West Africans have presence, and they’re not even in the coaching ranks. After I told him that I wasn’t a spy (obviously), he basically told me to move along. Even if it was a closed session and we’re not allowed to watch, are you not going to tell any of those white people standing around and watching to move along either? You’re only going to address me and accuse me of basically being suspicious (which is what thinking I’m a spy essentially is) without any evidence whatsoever? Safe to say, I got out of there shortly after that. Whenever things like this happen, I try to get out of there as quick as I can because I don’t like it when things unnecessarily escalate. If I can help it then I’ll stop it from escalating.

As I said, I’m not going to call the Richmond one an outright racist incident because they might’ve been familiar with those other white people attending, but I’m very close to calling it that because being accused of unfamiliarity and suspicion for seemingly innocuous acts/clothing is exactly what happens in racial profiling. I wasn’t looking through binoculars or anything, and was just doing what others were doing. The incident is exactly what I experience when I’m actually being racially profiled. But I’ll hold off calling it that because maybe other people regardless of race got accused of the same thing. Still wouldn’t answer why those white people can become familiar faces around the club without ever being viewed suspiciously and I can’t. Others I spoke to about it agree that it’s a strange experience, but I’ll hold off on calling it racial profiling.

After that Richmond experience, I still went to a couple of games in 2018 and to an open training session in 2019. I also attended the first two games at the beginning of 2019. But then I stopped going after that. I didn’t really enjoy going anymore and felt out of place, and it ended up being the last year that I was a paid member. I knew I no longer was going to attend, so I didn’t see the point of buying a membership. I mean, I don’t like spending money for nothing (says the guy who is spending money on streaming services that he doesn’t even use - I’m looking at you Netflix!).

I just watch AFL in a place where I like to watch it - at home. This definitely wasn’t the only strange incident within the AFL community that I experienced btw. I’ve dealt with outright and veiled racism from supporters of this game too. Although the training session incident was only a minor incident, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. I just accepted that I just can’t rock up to AFL spaces and experience what white people experience. It just isn’t the reality of the world we live in. I mean, rich indigenous and black AFL players still get called ape/monkeys. What hope does an ordinary citizen on the stands like me have? What stops these alcohol-breath supporters from doing it to me?

So, I stay my black ass at home and don’t go to training sessions, games, etc. I still like watching AFL (well, you could argue that I don’t due to the umpiring), and passionately cheer for Richmond, but I just watch it on TV or Kayo. I interact with fans on Bigfooty because I know I won’t be profiled or called a racial slur since people won’t know I’m black unless I say it. Works better for me. Looking back, even my footy-playing and footy-loving white friends that got me into footy in the first place were so racist. I of course don’t talk to them anymore (just social media friends now), but it’s almost as if they forget they’re including me when they say “I wish these Africans would just go back home because they ruined Australia”. Oh, the memories of being the only black person in a group. “Oh but I’m not talking about you, you’re different!”. Like, did it ever dawn on you that people of one race are individuals and not a monolith? The black race are just as nuanced in their personality and background as other races.

These are just a few examples of many. I’ll be fair and say that I somewhat understand if I looked and dressed like some sort of gangster or thug in all these incidents. Even though I’d still have said not to judge (I don’t judge people’s crime propensity based on things like that myself), but I get where it would come from. However, I’m someone who works in corporate roles, so I know I categorically don’t act or look suspicious to an average person that’s not racist or prejudice! Otherwise, I simply wouldn’t be hired in those places. I’m a tax-paying and law-abiding citizen just like anyone else, so why can’t people just assume that until proven otherwise? Why can’t that assistant just assume that I am just another diehard Richmond fan? Why a spy? Like, it’s tiring always having to mind the way I speak, mind what I wear, make sure I go by the letter of the law, because I know that one slip up will cause me to be seen as some thug. What’s worse is that if I make a genuine mistake, then black people around the area will all suffer because of it.

This is why I hate the way the media reports about “Sudanese gangs”. I notice an uptick of racial profiling for all black people the moment Sudanese people get targeted in the media. Even though I’m not Sudanese and don’t look like it either, I know that all black African-Australians like me will collectively get punished for the crimes a few of them commit. We’ll get denied service, turned away from places etc. And it’s not the Sudanese people’s fault either. It’s the fear-mongering media/Twitter journalists. Even if I was Sudanese, why should all Sudanese people suffer through racial profiling just because of the actions of a few? If you have a security camera, then use it to check the number plates of those that stole petrol. Use it to check who stole your glasses. Gather some intel before accusing someone of being a spy. Target those people actually doing stuff, and leave the rest of us alone.

And this is all in multicultural Melbourne, and I have friends and family members (like cousins) who experienced similar things. One of my cousins was arrested and slammed onto the floor as a 13 year old because they found him “suspicious”. Spoiler: he didn’t do anything wrong.

I’ll be honest and say that I feel worse after racial profiling than being called something racist. If I went to a AFL game and someone called me a monkey, I’d hate it, but I’d move on. I’ve had people driving by call me the n-word, and the same thing. I hate it, but I can just ignore it and get over it. Racial profiling though is something that genuinely makes me upset. You know, where I can only fill $20 of petrol because I’m too suspicious for dumb reasons.

That’s what I wanted to rant about because I just feel so upset about it right now. Again, maybe I’m overreacting, but I don’t care.
Also, I don’t want to hear anyone say “oh but maybe you misunderstood?”. I have a lifetime of experience with this bullcrap, so I know when it’s happening and when it’s not. So, if that’s what you want to say, then I honestly prefer you keep it to yourself and just scroll on.

Rant over.

That's a pretty ****ed up set of things to have been subjected to.

 

[Jimmybob]

Warning, this is going to be a very long, long rant. If you care, then you can read it, and if you don’t, feel free to skip. And if you’re skipping, I feel sorry for you because you’re going to have to scroll down very far lol. Sorry!

But I just want to vent somewhere right now because I’m just upset and annoyed. Maybe I’m overreacting and blowing this out of proportion, but I don’t care right now.

Basically, I’m sick of being racially profiled. Like, I’m really sick of it and I mean it. It happened again today where my brother and I were restricted to $20 of petrol because “we were wearing hoodies” and “covered my head with a hat”. It was at the petrol station closest to my area and I wanted to put in $60, but when I got to $22, the guy just decided to stop the bowser while I was filling up. I was wondering what happened (I thought the petroleum under the ground was empty for some reason) until this guy came up to me to explain what I mentioned above. Like, what?!

Mind you, the hoodie wasn’t even over my head, meaning that my face and hair can clearly be seen by any camera they’d have on. Yeah I was wearing some sort of a hat like he said (it’s plain navy blue with no gang tags on it), but it didn’t cover my face and my hair that comes to my neck was showing. So I definitely wasn’t obscuring my identity! Same with my brother, but he was wearing jeans and one of those Uniqlo hoodies. We were showing our faces like anyone else. The guy literally didn’t budge on this, so I paid the $22 I filled and went to go to another petrol station to fill the remaining $40. I’m not even a teenager either. I’m in my early 30s dumb ass! I know it’s to do with my ethnicity because I only need to look around to see what other customers were wearing and what they looked like.

After this experience, it dawned on me how many times I’ve been profiled in this country throughout my life. It dawned on me that Australia really has this problem, and that it’s not just a phenomenon overseas. The fact I have just ignored it and not put all these “isolated” incidences together these years still baffles me. Even last week, I was saying to my brother that we have it so good as Africans here in Australia and that you barely notice any racism compared to other Western nations. I realise now that this is far from the truth.

As an example of my past experience, there was a time where we (as in my brother, older sister, and mother) were threatened and told to come back to a store we just visited (and bought something from mind you) to return glasses that we allegedly stole. It was a store selling prescription glasses, and they said this just because they apparently found a hole in their stock somewhere and saw my brother and I trying a couple on before literally putting them back. Like, what would I do with non-prescription glasses anyway? Why would I want that? I realised it was a racist-fuelled incident when my sister calmly advised that we didn’t steal anything, and this woman starts backing up and saying things like “don’t get violent and aggressive” or something like that. We looked at each other in utter disbelief and got out of there very quickly after she said she wouldn’t take this further because we had a feeling that this was going to escalate if we complained about our treatment. She was the store manager, so it was end of the line there. I was around my mid 20s at the time (give or take), so it must’ve only been about 6-8 years ago. Again, clearly not a teenager.

This happens way too often, and it’s not just white people that do it. It’s anyone that’s non-black because we’re basically viewed as the bottom group by all races. By white, Arab, Asian, desi etc. It doesn’t matter if we speak the language flawlessly, it doesn’t change.

It also reminded me of a weird incident I experienced at the Richmond Football Club funnily enough. It was actually the beginning of the end of me attending Richmond games and being a paid member. I’ll explain why I don’t call this a racist incident later, but I’m very close to doing so.

There was this closed training session on during Richmond’s 2018 preseason. I was wearing normal clothes and stopped by the Richmond shop before going to work. Since I had a membership, I wanted to pick up the membership scarf you get when you pay for a membership. On my way back to the train station, I saw that the club had a training session going on. I saw other people watching over the fence, so I decided to do the same as them. Why not?

I kid you not, it took 2-3 minutes before a Richmond assistant singles me out, runs up to me from the field, and starts asking me about what I was doing here. At this point, some of the Richmond players stopped training and start looking over at us to see what was happening because this was kinda causing a scene. The assistant tells me that Hardwick doesn’t like it when people watch into the training session and asked if I was an opposition spy. Me, a spy? Like, since when do you see Africans of my specific background in AFL spaces? We have no presence in the AFL at all! I honestly know only a handful that even care about the AFL, let alone work for the AFL. Only Sudanese people and West Africans have presence, and they’re not even in the coaching ranks. After I told him that I wasn’t a spy (obviously), he basically told me to move along. Even if it was a closed session and we’re not allowed to watch, are you not going to tell any of those white people standing around and watching to move along either? You’re only going to address me and accuse me of basically being suspicious (which is what thinking I’m a spy essentially is) without any evidence whatsoever? Safe to say, I got out of there shortly after that. Whenever things like this happen, I try to get out of there as quick as I can because I don’t like it when things unnecessarily escalate. If I can help it then I’ll stop it from escalating.

As I said, I’m not going to call the Richmond one an outright racist incident because they might’ve been familiar with those other white people attending, but I’m very close to calling it that because being accused of unfamiliarity and suspicion for seemingly innocuous acts/clothing is exactly what happens in racial profiling. I wasn’t looking through binoculars or anything, and was just doing what others were doing. The incident is exactly what I experience when I’m actually being racially profiled. But I’ll hold off calling it that because maybe other people regardless of race got accused of the same thing. Still wouldn’t answer why those white people can become familiar faces around the club without ever being viewed suspiciously and I can’t. Others I spoke to about it agree that it’s a strange experience, but I’ll hold off on calling it racial profiling.

After that Richmond experience, I still went to a couple of games in 2018 and to an open training session in 2019. I also attended the first two games at the beginning of 2019. But then I stopped going after that. I didn’t really enjoy going anymore and felt out of place, and it ended up being the last year that I was a paid member. I knew I no longer was going to attend, so I didn’t see the point of buying a membership. I mean, I don’t like spending money for nothing (says the guy who is spending money on streaming services that he doesn’t even use - I’m looking at you Netflix!).

I just watch AFL in a place where I like to watch it - at home. This definitely wasn’t the only strange incident within the AFL community that I experienced btw. I’ve dealt with outright and veiled racism from supporters of this game too. Although the training session incident was only a minor incident, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. I just accepted that I just can’t rock up to AFL spaces and experience what white people experience. It just isn’t the reality of the world we live in. I mean, rich indigenous and black AFL players still get called ape/monkeys. What hope does an ordinary citizen on the stands like me have? What stops these alcohol-breath supporters from doing it to me?

So, I stay my black ass at home and don’t go to training sessions, games, etc. I still like watching AFL (well, you could argue that I don’t due to the umpiring), and passionately cheer for Richmond, but I just watch it on TV or Kayo. I interact with fans on Bigfooty because I know I won’t be profiled or called a racial slur since people won’t know I’m black unless I say it. Works better for me. Looking back, even my footy-playing and footy-loving white friends that got me into footy in the first place were so racist. I of course don’t talk to them anymore (just social media friends now), but it’s almost as if they forget they’re including me when they say “I wish these Africans would just go back home because they ruined Australia”. Oh, the memories of being the only black person in a group. “Oh but I’m not talking about you, you’re different!”. Like, did it ever dawn on you that people of one race are individuals and not a monolith? The black race are just as nuanced in their personality and background as other races.

These are just a few examples of many. I’ll be fair and say that I somewhat understand if I looked and dressed like some sort of gangster or thug in all these incidents. Even though I’d still have said not to judge (I don’t judge people’s crime propensity based on things like that myself), but I get where it would come from. However, I’m someone who works in corporate roles, so I know I categorically don’t act or look suspicious to an average person that’s not racist or prejudice! Otherwise, I simply wouldn’t be hired in those places. I’m a tax-paying and law-abiding citizen just like anyone else, so why can’t people just assume that until proven otherwise? Why can’t that assistant just assume that I am just another diehard Richmond fan? Why a spy? Like, it’s tiring always having to mind the way I speak, mind what I wear, make sure I go by the letter of the law, because I know that one slip up will cause me to be seen as some thug. What’s worse is that if I make a genuine mistake, then black people around the area will all suffer because of it.

This is why I hate the way the media reports about “Sudanese gangs”. I notice an uptick of racial profiling for all black people the moment Sudanese people get targeted in the media. Even though I’m not Sudanese and don’t look like it either, I know that all black African-Australians like me will collectively get punished for the crimes a few of them commit. We’ll get denied service, turned away from places etc. And it’s not the Sudanese people’s fault either. It’s the fear-mongering media/Twitter journalists. Even if I was Sudanese, why should all Sudanese people suffer through racial profiling just because of the actions of a few? If you have a security camera, then use it to check the number plates of those that stole petrol. Use it to check who stole your glasses. Gather some intel before accusing someone of being a spy. Target those people actually doing stuff, and leave the rest of us alone.

And this is all in multicultural Melbourne, and I have friends and family members (like cousins) who experienced similar things. One of my cousins was arrested and slammed onto the floor as a 13 year old because they found him “suspicious”. Spoiler: he didn’t do anything wrong.

I’ll be honest and say that I feel worse after racial profiling than being called something racist. If I went to a AFL game and someone called me a monkey, I’d hate it, but I’d move on. I’ve had people driving by call me the n-word, and the same thing. I hate it, but I can just ignore it and get over it. Racial profiling though is something that genuinely makes me upset. You know, where I can only fill $20 of petrol because I’m too suspicious for dumb reasons.

That’s what I wanted to rant about because I just feel so upset about it right now. Again, maybe I’m overreacting, but I don’t care.
Also, I don’t want to hear anyone say “oh but maybe you misunderstood?”. I have a lifetime of experience with this bullcrap, so I know when it’s happening and when it’s not. So, if that’s what you want to say, then I honestly prefer you keep it to yourself and just scroll on.

Rant over.

Thank you for sharing. I know it would be incredibly hard for an African-Australian, like yourself, growing up in Australia or any predominantly white nation. While what I say or do won’t stop people from being racist or racially profiling you and others, I truly do hope that the kindness and inclusion from some of us does make some amends or show you that there are people out there that don’t give a s**t what colour your skin is or where you’re from; because, to me, you’re Australian - and thats that.

I hope one day you’re able to go to a Richmond game and just be able to enjoy it without wondering what others are thinking about you. Until then, know that BigFooty is a safe place for you, and others, no matter what you look like or where you’re from.

 

[Karp3_dm]