Rumour Idiot on social media having a go at Ed Betts

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JeddaB

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I had an Aboriginal partner for over 9 years, so I know what is and isn’t offensive to a black person.
Wait. Are you gatekeeping whats racist and what isn't?
You know what IS racist? Assuming all non white people find the same things racist because you had an aboriginal partner for 9 years.

Jesus christ...
 

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JackFlash is Ferris.pete
Amazing. I do feel exasperation, disgust, bafflement and disbelief when confronted with that which should not be, the foolish and stupid and appalling. I just like footy, all this other stuff is actually a bore. I feel a helplessness because the world is unfolding in a way that ought to bring shame, there is no real discussion anymore, no real debate, certainly no analytical thinking and often we can do nothing about it except acknowledge that it's all kinds of stuffed. It's a mad world we live in. We're still a month out from round one, what's next to keep us occupied? Oh yes, Fev is the new co - host of the Footy Show, that will go well.
 
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I hate to create an argument but this is why Adam Goodes pointed out that girl in the Collingwood match. You accept this sort of thing from one person then you accept it from all. Racism should always be called out.

This has nothing to do with the Goodes issue, so stop looking for sympathy for him by trying to align the situation with the one Eddie has faced.

As an example, Goodes played dirty which alienated himself from many from all clubs, as did Matthew Lloyd against Hawthorn, when he took out Sewell, etc - both got boo-ed equally by Hawthorn supporters. Goodes then went on and incited the general racists by throwing imaginary spears at the opposition crowd, from memory versus Carlton.

Betts has never done anything to incite anyone, he's very fair, a champ of the game and comes across as a champ of a bloke.

Am glad the scum bag on social-media got called out. This approach does not seem to be working though. I bet the red neck idiot is bragging to his bogan mates about how much of a stir he has created. This increasing the profile case certainly seems to be highlighting the issues people of certian races/genders/sexualities have to deal with, but it is not stopping it.

Here's a thought, instead of paying Danger $50,000 to play AFLX, put a bounty of $10,000 on people that make these remarks, and if proved, the idiots get huge fines, banned from all sport and social-media-ed !!
 

Masher

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Racism is wrong

But we can't stop worse crimes like children getting attacked by pedophiles so how are you going to stop some people making racist comments

Comments on social media are far more derogatory than what happened here
 
Of course they shouldn't be directed at an aboriginal person, that was the mistake the bloke made in the first place. Context is everything, but perhaps that person should be quizzed as to his motives behind his comment.

But he did and if he had manned up and hung around and apologised and explained the context then Eddie could of educated him and then “all good”

He obviously wasn't thinking of anything other than "imitation"? I don't know what other motive he might've had?

And you know this how - the “other” motive is just good old fashion racism

i would bet at least one of those phrases has been used by every single Big Footy poster in the past week...without realizing it.

Interesting poll - I can say with all sincerity that not one of those “idioms” has left my mouth this week


This chap hasn't looked at the pic closely enough and made a huge blunder.

Now you are just trolling - it’s Eddie Betts Instagram - no mistaking that whatsoever.
 
Jan 16, 2016
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Amazing. I do feel exasperation, disgust, bafflement and disbelief when confronted with that which should not be, the foolish and stupid and appalling. I just like footy, all this other stuff is actually a bore. I feel a helplessness because the world is unfolding in a way that ought to bring shame, there is no real discussion anymore, no real debate, certainly no analytical thinking and often we can do nothing about it except acknowledge that it's all kinds of stuffed. It's a mad world we live in. We're still a month out from round one, what's next to keep us occupied? Oh yes, Fev is the new co - host of the Footy Show, that will go well.
Oh you poor soul. Just want people to be able to say bigoted comments without anyone saying zip.
If you cant see the racist tone of the monkey comments you are a moron but I suspect you do and are just a troll.
 

Dunger

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It is all about context my dear chap, no matter how bold and how large the text you use. In this context, using a phrase like this it is absolutely abhorrent. Even if the phrase was acceptable considering the situation (e.g. another player wearing the same get up), you still wouldn't use it with the person involved.

You know what they say, monkey see, monkey do...
 

ryancash

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I don't think a lot of white people really understand the constant crap aboriginal people have to deal with. I live in Melbourne and have been married to my very beautiful dark skinned aboriginal wife for 30 years. She has worked full time her entire adult life and never received one cent of welfare. She does not smoke, drink or swear. We have 2 beautiful intelligent daughters, the eldest scored 99.1 on her atar and has received a scholarship to study science at Melbourne uni. The youngest is heading in the same direction and she loves boxing training at Fitzroy gym, the guys down there reckon she could be a champ. In the past week and a half these things have happened. 1. my wife was walking home from the gym which she goes to everyday. The police pulled up and stopped her, searched her, patted her down, asked her name and address and what she had been doing.....this is not unusual. How many white women have to deal with this on their way home from the gym or shopping? 2. My daughters first day at uni and her group decide to have some drinks at a pub to get to know one another (my daughter does not drink). A young guy from the country walks up and asks her "Are you an abo?" She said don't call me that and he apologised. He then asked if she got into uni just because she is aboriginal which he considered unfair. She told him her atar score and he slinked away. 3. I went into an IGA with my youngest and she was a few feet behind me, the lady behind the counter says to my daughter not knowing she was with me, " I don't want you in here if going to steal everything". I said " I beg your pardon, that's my daughter you're talking to." She went red as a tomato and didn't know where to look. We left and shopped elsewhere. That's just the last 9 days. I could fill a book if I included the last 30 years and there's been a lot hell of a lot worse examples than these. Why do my girls have to constantly explain and justify themselves to white people?
 
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Benny78

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Players must be pretty bored if they're picking comments of randoms on social media
 

Lsta062

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I don't think a lot of white people really understand the constant crap aboriginal people have to deal with. I live in Melbourne and have been married to my very beautiful dark skinned aboriginal wife for 30 years. She has worked full time her entire adult life and never received one cent of welfare. She does not smoke, drink or swear. We have 2 beautiful intelligent daughters, the eldest scored 99.1 on her atar and has received a scholarship to study science at Melbourne uni. The youngest is heading in the same direction and she loves boxing training at Fitzroy gym, the guys down there reckon she could be a champ. In the past week and a half these things have happened. 1. my wife was walking home from the gym which she goes to everyday. The police pulled up and stopped her, searched her, patted her down, asked her name and address and what she had been doing.....this is not unusual. How many white women have to deal with this on their way home from the gym or shopping? 2. My daughters first day at uni and her group decide to have some drinks at a pub to get to know one another (my daughter does not drink). A young guy from the country walks up and asks her "Are you an abo?" She said don't call me that and he apologised. He then asked if she got into uni just because she is aboriginal which he considered unfair. She told him her atar score and he slinked away. 3. I went into an IGA with my youngest and she was a few feet behind me, the lady behind the counter says to my daughter not knowing she was with me, " I don't want you in here if going to steal everything". I said " I beg your pardon, that's my daughter you're talking to." She went red as a tomato and didn't know where to look. We left and shopped elsewhere. That's just the last 9 days. I could fill a book if I included the last 30 years and there's been a lot hell of a lot worse examples than these. Why do my girls have to constantly explain and justify themselves to white people?
Wow that’s disgusting, sorry to hear that you and your family went through horrible experiences like the ones you mentioned. What’s sad about that is that they are experiencing this as the Indigenous people of this land. They are not even foreigners.

Ps. Your daughter’s ATAR is amazing :fire:
 

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ryancash

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Wow that’s disgusting, sorry to hear that you and your family went through horrible experiences like the ones you mentioned. What’s sad about that is that they are experiencing this as the Indigenous people of this land. They are not even foreigners.

Ps. Your daughter’s ATAR is amazing :fire:
Thanks mate......a very proud dad here.
 

Lsta062

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You know what? I have read the arguments of JackFlash and I think the poster is right. Racism is nasty, disgusting and vile. However, you cannot immediately assume a phrase like "monkey see, monkey do" is racially derogative when the English language holds a well-known meaning for it that is far from being racially derogative. In fact, it is a phrase that is rarely used as a racial slur. In cases where the intent behind an uttered statement like this is outwardly unknown due to its multiple meanings, you need to know what the person’s intention was before making an accusation.

Otherwise, we will live in a world where people are charged before they are proven guilty. I understand Eddie Betts’ point of view and I get how it would feel to look at a phrase like that, but at the end of the day the Instagram poster’s intention isn’t apparent enough to accuse them of racism. Being accused of racism is a serious accusation in our modern society so it should not be used in ambiguous cases where the intent behind a phrase remains unknown.
 
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Social media gives everyone a voice, even the rednecks. Call it out for what it is but it wont change much. There are idiots everywhere and there always will be. And then there are those that just like to cause s**t for the sake of it.

Good that the players themselves are bringing it into the spotlight and give it some airtime to let people know its not ok. But then everyone needs to move on and not give idiots who love this stuff more airtime than it needs to keep it going. running it into a week long circus does no good and brings more racist idiots out.
 

newblueo

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Putting aside the racist remark for one second.

Does going public with the comment do more harm? The person making the remark is clearly a troll and most likely will get random people attacking them if they track them down.

You only have to see the remarks towards Sudanese online to see this is a wide speard problem that only gets better with education imo
 

Rusty Brookes

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Context is key? No s**t.

Damn straight context is key, you don’t call a black person a monkey, you don’t imply they are one and you don’t relate them to acting like one.

At first I thought it was potentially an honest mistake until

a) I'd seen how many times Betts has been referred to as a monkey on social media

and

b) there was no attempt by the poster to clarify the context - something along the lines of "Sorry dude, bad choice of words" or whatever.

The context here is Eddie Betts (and of all the players to have a go at, why Betts he's one of the seemingly nicest guys in the caper) has had to put up with this for a long bloody time. His response was pretty measured and calm to boot.

There was a suggestion that the poster may have a disability but even if that is the case, the fact that the account was deleted immediately suggests someone realises it was the wrong thing to do. It may have been the poster, it may have been someone else. It doesn't matter. Betts (or any other indigenous person) has every right to call out someone calling them a monkey.
 
Thanks mate......a very proud dad here.
So you should be.

Unfortunately ignorance abounds, but the behavior has to be learnt. The old saying of, you need to a licence to have a dog but not a child is apt. Fortunately there are people like yourself and your family that are willing to stand up, be proud and educate people.
 
Does it annoy you that all of those idioms can be found on the ABC education site ? That people use them every day and have done so for a hundred years? You can even learn them. Of course they shouldn't be directed at an aboriginal person, that was the mistake the bloke made in the first place. Context is everything, but perhaps that person should be quizzed as to his motives behind his comment. He obviously wasn't thinking of anything other than "imitation"? I don't know what other motive he might've had? I'm just making note of phrases that are used every single day throughout the country and i would bet at least one of those phrases has been used by every single Big Footy poster in the past week...without realizing it. As it turns out, we've all been unconsciously using racial slurs our entire life! I hope you never use the terms "long time no see" or "no can do" to a person of Asian origin? Both terms originated in the 19th century at a time when Westerners widely held a racist attitude toward the East—as a way to mock simplified Chinese Pidgin English. My Asian partner Yuqi just nodded in agreement. The English language is constantly evolving, with new words and phrases spreading among us like an infection - we hear things, then we say those things. The problem is that we don't always bother to wonder if we should. This chap hasn't looked at the pic closely enough and made a huge blunder.
“Happy as a pig in s**t” is probably on there too mate, should we remove that from the common persons vernacular, or maybe we just don’t direct the term pig at women we don’t like?

You seem to really struggle with the concept of context.

Don’t try and make out that because a term exists and can be used in an insulting way that we need to remove it from circulation.....no, we just need people to not be campaigners and liken particular skin colors or ethinicities to animals in an attempt to insult them.
 
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I don't think a lot of white people really understand the constant crap aboriginal people have to deal with. I live in Melbourne and have been married to my very beautiful dark skinned aboriginal wife for 30 years. She has worked full time her entire adult life and never received one cent of welfare. She does not smoke, drink or swear. We have 2 beautiful intelligent daughters, the eldest scored 99.1 on her atar and has received a scholarship to study science at Melbourne uni. The youngest is heading in the same direction and she loves boxing training at Fitzroy gym, the guys down there reckon she could be a champ. In the past week and a half these things have happened. 1. my wife was walking home from the gym which she goes to everyday. The police pulled up and stopped her, searched her, patted her down, asked her name and address and what she had been doing.....this is not unusual. How many white women have to deal with this on their way home from the gym or shopping? 2. My daughters first day at uni and her group decide to have some drinks at a pub to get to know one another (my daughter does not drink). A young guy from the country walks up and asks her "Are you an abo?" She said don't call me that and he apologised. He then asked if she got into uni just because she is aboriginal which he considered unfair. She told him her atar score and he slinked away. 3. I went into an IGA with my youngest and she was a few feet behind me, the lady behind the counter says to my daughter not knowing she was with me, " I don't want you in here if going to steal everything". I said " I beg your pardon, that's my daughter you're talking to." She went red as a tomato and didn't know where to look. We left and shopped elsewhere. That's just the last 9 days. I could fill a book if I included the last 30 years and there's been a lot hell of a lot worse examples than these. Why do my girls have to constantly explain and justify themselves to white people?
So many of those examples resonate with my experiences, mate. A lot of them still make me angry just thinking about it.

Particularly all the “they get everything handed to them” bullshit. My partner rejected all government handouts. She wouldn’t even apply for a loan for a car for the entire time I was with her, because she didn’t want people to think she needed a helping hand because of her skin color.

Hats off to you, and your family.
 
Didnt you know once you are a partner of an aboriginal that you then know what offends all aboriginals? Because all aboriginals are offended by the same things.........

Hahaha what an idiototic thing for him to say

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It’s an idiotic thing to say if you remove the context and make it into something that it wasn’t.
 
I don't think a lot of white people really understand the constant crap aboriginal people have to deal with. I live in Melbourne and have been married to my very beautiful dark skinned aboriginal wife for 30 years. She has worked full time her entire adult life and never received one cent of welfare. She does not smoke, drink or swear. We have 2 beautiful intelligent daughters, the eldest scored 99.1 on her atar and has received a scholarship to study science at Melbourne uni. The youngest is heading in the same direction and she loves boxing training at Fitzroy gym, the guys down there reckon she could be a champ. In the past week and a half these things have happened. 1. my wife was walking home from the gym which she goes to everyday. The police pulled up and stopped her, searched her, patted her down, asked her name and address and what she had been doing.....this is not unusual. How many white women have to deal with this on their way home from the gym or shopping? 2. My daughters first day at uni and her group decide to have some drinks at a pub to get to know one another (my daughter does not drink). A young guy from the country walks up and asks her "Are you an abo?" She said don't call me that and he apologised. He then asked if she got into uni just because she is aboriginal which he considered unfair. She told him her atar score and he slinked away. 3. I went into an IGA with my youngest and she was a few feet behind me, the lady behind the counter says to my daughter not knowing she was with me, " I don't want you in here if going to steal everything". I said " I beg your pardon, that's my daughter you're talking to." She went red as a tomato and didn't know where to look. We left and shopped elsewhere. That's just the last 9 days. I could fill a book if I included the last 30 years and there's been a lot hell of a lot worse examples than these. Why do my girls have to constantly explain and justify themselves to white people?


thanks for sharing this, its easy to be immune from these types of things for some of us. In my case as a 30-35 year old male in a small city of Tasmania, it is something that rarely impacts me or anyone I know. Its important then people like Eddie Betts make a stand for people without a voice IMO, or we get exposure to the stories you share, it helps.

The things you mention are pretty bad and would never excuse them, maybe they (especially the young guy at uni) just had no idea the impact of what they were saying has, and getting to hear stories of the hurt, anger, pain it causes helps to stop them being unaware imo.
 

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