McCarthy recognising himself as indigenous

[barrackers]

EDIT:

This thread seems to have taken the course of a debate about whether or not Mitch McCarthy is indigenous and original OP isn't relevant to that discussion. The thread title has been updated to reflect this debate.



FYI Vicky Park, Magpie Girl, 76woodenspooners, Anzacday

 

[The Magnificent Seven]

You've left poor old Leon out of the 2009 crew!

 

[barrackers]

You've left poor old Leon out of the 2009 crew!

Cheers. So I have, OP edited.

 

[Apex36]

Calling McCarthy indigenous is a farce. Whitest, blonde kid around, didn't even know he had indigenous blood in his veins (from generations ago) until a couple of months ago. It's like me calling myself Scottish or Dutch because I had ancestors from there.

 

[Saintly Viewed]

Calling McCarthy indigenous is a farce. Whitest, blonde kid around, didn't even know he had indigenous blood in his veins (from generations ago) until a couple of months ago. It's like me calling myself Scottish or Dutch because I had ancestors from there.

 

[Saintly Viewed]

Love our movement in this direction.

Folks just wait till silky Wells gets going with silky Pendlebury
Be something else

 

[Apex36]

View attachment 314260

I know. Don't care though. Come at me PC brigade.

 

[Scodog10]

This isn't a thread I'm going to buy into until McCarthy confirms he identifies himself as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

 

[barrackers]

Calling McCarthy indigenous is a farce. Whitest, blonde kid around, didn't even know he had indigenous blood in his veins (from generations ago) until a couple of months ago. It's like me calling myself Scottish or Dutch because I had ancestors from there.

To me these things come down to how the player identifies themselves. If McCarthy identifies and is recognised by his family as indigenous I don't think it's right that I debate otherwise.

 

[barrackers]

This isn't a thread I'm going to buy into until McCarthy confirms he identifies himself as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

He talks about it a little in this interview with Emma Quayle.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...-mccarthy-chose-football-20161006-grwovg.html

It was only a few years ago - when previously unknown siblings of his mother started calling her to introduce themselves - that she and the family began to learn more about where they had come from.

"It all came out of the blue. People were out there putting together the family history and one day someone rang her saying, 'I think I'm your sister," McCarthy said.

"My mum is one of 10, now. One of my uncles is an elder and I love catching up with him because he's just like a book, with all the history he throws at you.

"It's still very new and my knowledge on it is pretty limited, but my mum can talk about it all for hours. It's something I'm very interested in getting involved with and learning a lot more about."

 

[Apex36]

To me these things come down to how the player identifies themselves. If McCarthy identifies and is recognised by his family as indigenous I don't think it's right that I debate otherwise.

How do you identify as a part of a culture or race you've had no involvement with for your entire life apart from a couple of months?

Edit: a couple of years. Point still stands.

 

[Saintly Viewed]

I know. Don't care though. Come at me PC brigade.

I'm just anticipating they will come.....
But you have strong shoulders to bear it all

 

[Rorzza]

I think it is fantastic, I have really missed the skill and flare that indigenous kids bring to the team, it is so instinctive. Hopefully the club can develop the support programs that is required allowing these kids to thrive in a professional environment.

 

[barrackers]

How do you identify as a part of a culture or race you've had no involvement with for your entire life apart from a couple of months?

Edit: a couple of years. Point still stands.

I don't disagree with what you're saying and I can see why you have that stance. I just don't feel it's my position to debate it.

 

[Kilmo]

Calling McCarthy indigenous is a farce. Whitest, blonde kid around, didn't even know he had indigenous blood in his veins (from generations ago) until a couple of months ago. It's like me calling myself Scottish or Dutch because I had ancestors from there.

Apex, telling indigenous people that they are not indigenous is a farce. You're better than this.

 

[WalterBlaknWhte]

How do you identify as a part of a culture or race you've had no involvement with for your entire life apart from a couple of months? Edit: a couple of years. Point still stands.

I guess you read, talk to people, and learn about part of your ancestry and personal history.

Why do you or I want to deny the kid from exploring and discussing his Aboriginality?

 

[Scodog10]

He talks about it a little in this interview with Emma Quayle.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...-mccarthy-chose-football-20161006-grwovg.html

That's good enough for me! Though I understand Apex's POV and agree with it if he didn't see himself as of Aboriginal descent, but it's hard to argue with that sort of dialogue.

The next step for us as a club is for this to not even be a topic of conversation. I can't help but feel that we as a game have missed out on so much given we've had only 15 players represent our club out of what I believe has been more than 1200 overall...

 

[Wooljay]

The intent of this thread is getting totally railroaded.

Think it's fantastic we have such a high number of indigenous heritage players.

Wells and Varcoe in particular are great to have as leaders of the club.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Jamie Elliott?

 

[Kappa]

Apex, telling indigenous people that they are not indigenous is a farce. You're better than this.

If you're 1/8th chinese and 7/8th Anglo-saxon and have white skin with red hair and you go around calling yourself Chinese does that make sense?

 

[PicaBoo]

I guess you read, talk to people, and learn about part of your ancestry and personal history.
Why do you or I want to deny the kid from exploring and discussing his Aboriginality?

On danger of launching another PC thread. It all depends on which part of the ancestry was most influential during the formative years.
Always fun though to look into family history but to make claim one is a descendent of <insert_ancestry_here> always makes me giggle.
My (ex)wife is English but to say my son is 50% Brit is only true on paper. Not to mention her Irish ancestry from 4 generations back which is completely untraceable in him. The Dutch though flows strong in him.
Imho, anything to do with bloodlines, after 4 generations you can seriously doubt the noticeable affect of an exception to the common lineage.
That is not different for Aboriginals. That it is an sensitive issue, I can understand that too.

 

[Kilmo]

If you're 1/8th chinese and 7/8th Anglo-saxon and have white skin with red hair and you go around calling yourself Chinese does that make sense?

It really doesn't matter what makes sense to you or I Kappa. If people are indigenous and identify as such, telling them that they're wrong is not only pointless and rude, but actually hearkens back to the early days of colonisation where people who were mixed race were labelled as non-indigenous in effort to divide the community and deconstruct the Aboriginal culture and identity.

 

[barrackers]

That's good enough for me! Though I understand Apex's POV and agree with it if he didn't see himself as of Aboriginal descent, but it's hard to argue with that sort of dialogue.

The next step for us as a club is for this to not even be a topic of conversation. I can't help, but feel that we as a game have missed out on so much given we've had only 15 players represent our club out of what I believe has been more than 1200 overall...

That's in part why I created this thread. Our club's history with indigenous players isn't great and I'm envious of other clubs like Essendon and Port Adelaide. Indigenous players certainly add so much to our game and hopefully this offseason is the start of a new era. With Varcoe and Wells we're well placed to develop young indigenous players and I hope Kirby and McCarthy can have long and successful careers.

 

[barrackers]

Given the current debate in this thread I think this link is a worthy addition as goes through the process required to be recognised as indigneous for official purposes.

http://aiatsis.gov.au/research/finding-your-family/before-you-start/proof-aboriginality

 

[Kappa]

It really doesn't matter what makes sense to you or I Kappa. If people are indigenous and identify as such, telling them that they're wrong is not only pointless and rude, but actually hearkens back to the early days of colonisation where people who were mixed race were labelled as non-indigenous in effort to divide the community and deconstruct the Aboriginal culture and identity.

The old "well people did it 200 years ago in a racist way therefore it's racist today" argument.

People can identify themselves in whatever way they want, I can identify myself as an attack helicopter but that doesn't make it completely true or accurate.