I watched Adma Goodes on Ahn Do's show last night. He is a really likeable guy. And genuine.
But there was an "Ah Ha!" moment for me when he talked about the 13 year old girl's sledge and his spear dance in front of the Carlton cheer squad. He said he loved playing footy and being on the field of play and, if I recall correctly, inferred that it was a safe place for him.
I realised that by pointing to the young girl and aiming an imaginary spear at the Carlton supporters he "jumped the fence". He broke the protective barrier between him and the general public. In the process he made the story about racism and, although he might not have meant it, invited the public to the discussion. In his mind the issue was about his race, not his on field actions. He could not see the nuances in the public's reaction.
He said he planned the spear dance ahead of time. Had he aimed his imaginary spear at the Carlton players instead of the crowd, as the Kiwis do to their adversaries in the Haka, he might have made a powerful point and garnered a lot of support for his position. By aiming it at the supporters he declared war on them. And lost them.
Yep, the whole thing for me was it had nothing to do with race. I love watching aboriginal players, we've had Cyril, Burgoyne, etc to marvel at over the years, then there's been the brilliant goals from Eddie Betts, the Krakouer brothers, Polly Farmer and many others who have helped make the game exciting. Nobody was booing those players, why not? If we booed people simply because they were aboriginal, then why was Goodes the only person copping it? You nailed it, he crossed the line in the eyes of the public and they just didn't like him.
It reminds me of the time I was annoyed that Murali was allowed to play Test cricket because (in my opinion) his bowling action was illegal. I've watched Test cricket for over 50 years and have marvelled at players such as Viv Richards, Malcolm Marshall, Rahul Dravid, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, etc .... I could name many more, and my favourite cricketer of all time is still the great Garfield Sobers. However, when I complained about Murali's action, I was accused of being racist. Some people really are narrow minded.