An important ongoing issue within Australian media discourse is the debate surrounding the booing of indigenous athlete Adam Goodes during the 2015 Australian Football Rules (AFL) season. The view that the booing amounted to the racialization of Goodes is summarily rejected by ‘rightist’ circles and defended on the grounds that he was booed because he is not liked, not because of his identity. This is nonsense though there is no slowing down of such dogma as a justification for defending the booing as not ‘racist’. Racism is difficult to pin down because race-ism has been rendered invisible. In a democratic society of equality and opportunity, there is no need for race as an explanatory tool. Contrary to this, I borrow from critical race theory to argue the changing significance of race and racism. It is rarely explicit but there nonetheless. In addition to referencing documentaries exploring the Goodes affair, this blog includes links to articles in which I identify a set of justifications of denial so as to unpack the implied assumptions of race and racism.

Racial Neutrality and the Booing of Adam Goodes

Human Rights