“Is it racist? Yes, I think it is.”
Model and TV presenter Jesinta Campbell has powerfully spoken out in support of AFL star Adam Goodes following claims he was racially abused on the field.
Brownlow medalist Goodes, 35, was booed by West Coast fans at a game on Sunday. He has taken indefinite leave from the game amid ongoing controversy about whether the booing was racist.
During a segment on Today this morning Campbell, who is engaged to indigenous football star Buddy Franklin, praised Sydney Swans player Goodes for creating “a better future” for her own “future children.”
Watch the segment here (post continues after video):
“Is it racist? Yes, I think it is,” Campbell said of the booing on Channel Nine’s Today show this morning.
Related: Adam Goodes isn’t “playing the race card”. He’s being silenced by thugs.
“Now I have to personally thank Adam Goodes because my future children are going to be indigenous, and because of his courage and his passion, he is creating a better future for not only my children, but all indigenous children,” she said.
“And so for that I have to say, Adam, you are a champion on the field and off the field and I will stand by you.”
The 23-year-old former Miss Universe Australia also described persistent booing as “bullying,” calling on fans to stop the hostile behaviour.
“Booing is a public form of bullying,” Campbell said.
“Adam has come out and said it is affecting him, so everyone needs to stop.”
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Top Comments
I have personally always found it less convincing when someone argues "this is wrong because it may negatively affect me in a peripheral way" than when someone says "This is wrong because it hurts people, I am not one of the people being hurt by it and never will be but I am not going to stand by and watch something bad unfold just because I wont be the one affected". I cant have children, but I still want a better future for the world. I will never have a child with a chronic condition, but I am still going to donate to charities that support childhood illness. I have never experienced racial discrimination, but if there is anything I can do to genuinely address it so that no-one else ever experiences it sign me up. For me, the message would have been more powerful if it came from someone who had something to lose by standing up to racism, if someone said "Racism has given me advantages in life over others but this is wrong and I don't want these unearned advantages at the expense of other people". I don't think it matters why Adam Goodes is being booed, whatever the reasons behind it, seeing thousands of people boo a person is ugly and sends revolting mixed messages about how people should be treated. I don't in any way understand why people would be proudly defending their "right" to make someone else feel like rubbish. If you really need to put yourself in someone else's shoes to feel empathy, imaging how terrifying (yes genuinely terrifying) it must be to have thousands of people booing you, calling you derogatory names and dismissing your hurt as wimpy. Jacinta Campbell's speech did not really do anything for me, I understand that sometimes people need to hear a personal example or perspective, but for me the issue of racism is big enough to matter regardless of whether it will ever impact me (or her) personally.
What exactly has Adam Goodes done wrong?