Culture

Here’s A Bunch Of Great Ways People Are Supporting Adam Goodes This Weekend

If you're heading to the SCG or MCG this weekend, get involved.

by Meg Watson  31 July 2015

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First of all: let’s establish the fact that this whole thing is ridiculous. Not only is Adam Goodes a twice Brownlow medalist and easily one of the most accomplished players in the AFL, but he’s also a revered community leader and spokesperson who has been an active ambassador against domestic violence and created an entire foundation focussed on helping Australia’s Indigenous youth.

The thought of him being abused to the degree that necessitates him taking extended leave from competition is nonsensical, and the fact that this has been an issue of debate for more than two years is beyond farce.

Nevertheless, it’s where we currently find ourselves and, as Zita Whalley wrote for us yesterday, it reveals some uncomfortable truths about our nation’s race relations. Though his detractors claim it’s Goodes’ on-field play that leads them to jeer, the fact that this level of abuse has never been experienced by any of the (much more aggressive) players in the game’s history has led many to deduce the attacks are racially motivated. Goodes has been active campaigner of Indigenous rights and each ‘controversy’ he has faced has involved either racially-motivated attacks directed at him, or the appropriateness of his own cultural expression. Is it him the public has a problem with, or Indigenous culture in general?

Importantly, there are still a number of high-profile Australians denying these claims and defending the public’s right to jeer Goodes as much as they want. Former A-league player Griffin McMaster Jason Akermanis, and Shane Warne are among the sportspeople to suggest Goodes is in the wrong, and conservative media commentators are all over it as well. Earlier this week Alan Jones suggested he was playing “the victim”, Miranda Devine just got in a big Twitter fight with the Prime Minister’s Indigenous advisor, and Andrew Bolt has renewed calls for Goodes to apologise for objecting to being called “an ape” in 2013.

Here’s a concise summation of his argument:

Thankfully he still has a huge population of sane people on his side as well. Though he won’t be playing in the Swans match against Adelaide at the SCG this Saturday, others playing and attending the footy this weekend have found their own ways to show solidarity with him.

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Richmond Are Wearing Dreamtime Guernseys At The MCG Tonight

One of the first AFL clubs to make a formal statement on the issue, Richmond FC announced on Wednesday afternoon that their players would be wearing Dreamtime guernseys at the MCG tonight for their clash with Hawthorn. In an announcement on the matter they said it would be “in support of Adam Goodes and the Indigenous community more broadly”.

“We simply weren’t prepared to be a bystander on this issue,” said Richmond CEO Brendon Gale. “We want to support Adam Goodes, who has been a wonderful ambassador for our game and his people … More broadly, our game has done a lot to build understanding and respect, and it is important we take a stand when we think that is at risk of being eroded.”

The club also made a point to encourage their fans to wear their own Dreamtime jumpers when attending the match, so if you were heading along it’s a great way to get involved. If not, you might be about to see a lot of people looking like this around the city and inner-east (with or without mullet):

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The Captains Of All 18 AFL Teams Are Making A Direct Appeal To Fans 

This morning the back page of The Herald Sun was devoted to an open letter from every team captain in the AFL telling crowds to show respect and basically just stop being douchebags — a move which is no small feat considering 81 percent of the paper’s surveyed readers are currently rooting against Goodes.

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“As leaders we are accountable for everything we do on and off the field, and we think it’s just as important for us to be accountable and call out unacceptable behaviour when we see it,” it reads. “Sadly this week we have all seen it.”

“We call on all supporters, from all clubs, and industry leaders to join us as we make a stand against vilification. Enough is enough. Enjoy the game, celebrate the success. But don’t boo, jeer or taunt players because of who they are or what they stand for. We’re all human. We’re all in this together.”

The players encouraged all fans to be accountable and demonstrate “zero tolerance” for discriminatory behaviour, echoing the thoughts of AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan earlier this week.

“When you come to the footy, join us in putting a stop to offensive behaviour,” the letter reads. “Be the voice that makes a positive impact.”

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Thousands (Even People Who Don’t Like Sport) Are Signing Petitions

After penning her thoughts on the matter for The Age a couple of days ago, Alice Springs woman Fionn Griffin started a Change.org petition asking people to formally pledge their support for Adam Goodes. It’s now received 25,000 signatures.

“I want him to know that we don’t want him to stand down, and that we all want him to stand strong,” the petition reads. “Keep playing Adam, and keep talking … So many Australians have your back, and are proud of the conversations you are opening up.”

After it clocked over 20,000, Griffin posted an update saying she had been able to get in contact with someone close to Goodes who had passed on the petition and all its supportive comments. “A little bit of faith in humanity is being restored with every signature being added,” she wrote.

Now another petition directed at Goodes has popped up through Avaaz. “We applaud your courage and leadership in speaking out about the issues of race that still exist in our nation,” it reads. “We are deeply disappointed by the crowds that have booed you — they do not speak for us or for the majority of Australians who want to live in a country that values our Indigenous people and our cultural diversity.”

Clocking up a steady stream of signatures which you can watch in real time, the petition is aiming for a total of 30,000 at which point its organisers will approach the AFL to get the issue talked about before the Swans match next weekend — hopefully with him on the field.

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Fans Are Making A “Sea Of Hands” With His Number At The SCG 

While a few supporters have threatened to pelt Goodes’ detractors with eggs when he takes the field next, some other fans have come up with a more elegant solution. Suggested by Adam Rhodes, an Australia radio producer currently living in London, Sea of Hands will see Goodes’ supporters pen his player number on their hands and raise them in support at the SCG tomorrow.

“Unfortunately racist undertones are prevalent in modern Australian society [and] a lot of people will sadly choose not to speak up on this issue,” he wrote on Twitter and Instagram overnight. “This issue is bigger than the blatant racist booing of Adam Goodes. Australia has a dark and shameful history when it comes to the treatment of Indigenous Australians. It is time to make it right.”

As Rhodes goes on to note, the idea of a “sea of hands” is one that’s been used before to express solidarity with Indigenous communities and has become in fact become a symbol of the reconciliation movement. In 1997, after more than 300,000 Australians signed a petition in support of native title, advocacy group ANTaR set up an installation in front of Parliament House featuring one small hand for every signature. The group claims it was, at the time, Australia’s largest ever public artwork.

Though more than 124 people have now registered their interest in the act for tomorrow’s match between the Sydney Swans and the Adelaide Crows, the movement itself is spreading much further on social media. Comedian Dan Ilic and triple j’s Dom Alesio and Kyran Wheatley have been amongst the first to show their support for the idea, and it’s now catching on across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If it catches on before the match tomorrow afternoon, it’ll make for a pretty spectacular sight. Or, you know, one that’s slightly better than thousands of drunk bogans screaming at a former Australian of the Year.

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Feature image via Dan Ilic.