Anthony Mundine Backs Calls To Boycott The National Anthem At The AFL And NRL Grand Finals
The former NRL player has thrown his weight behind the protest in support of Indigenous Australians.
Former NRL player turned boxer Anthony Mundine has backed a growing call for players and fans at this weekend’s AFL and NRL grand finals to boycott the national anthem, in a show of support for Indigenous Australians.
Why I Won’t Be Standing For The National Anthem At The Grand Final
Mundine shared a video of ours, posted earlier today, in which Gunai/Kurnai & Yorta Yorta man, Blacktivist, environmentalist and artist Paul Gorrie suggested that Australian athletes and fans should follow the lead of their American counterparts, who this week have been refusing to stand during the national anthem in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Why not support Indigenous black lives in Australia?” Gorrie asks. “I’m urging all Australian football players from the NRL and AFL to not stand for the national anthem.”
“Been saying this for years!” wrote Mundine on Facebook. “The anthem was written in late 1700s where blackfullas were considered fauna (animals) Advance Australia fair as in white not fair as in fair go…”
“All players aboriginal & non aboriginal should boycott the anthem & start changing Australia’s ignorant mentality…lets move forward together yo.”
Mundine joins former NRL players Larry Corowa and Joe Williams in calling for players not to stand for the national anthem.
“Imagine if a couple of guys did it on grand final day – what a powerful message it would send to white Australia,” Williams told Rugby League Week last Thursday. “It would bring all the racism that’s in the closet to the surface – the racism we have to put up with every day.”
“Our footballers are role models and the ideal ones to bring about change.”
Mundine previously threatened to boycott the anthem himself ahead of a title fight against Daniel Geale in 2013.
“I am not trying to divide people, I am trying to unite people,” he said at the time. “I have got white brothers, I have got white friends that I grew up with from school, but I want Australia to recognise the injustices and the wrongs, and it is an injustice that it still is the anthem.”
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Feature image via Anthony Mundine/Facebook