Racism. A social injustice that has occurred through many generations. It is almost as if it is an extremely harmful virus that the world is still unable to cure. African and Indian Americans as well as Indigenous Australians are some of the many cultures of today that still are being assaulted with hurtful, racist remarks. Racist remarks towards Indigenous Australians in the AFL is yet another case of Racism found all over the world. In recent years, football, even at the highest level, still has racism apparent in its beloved games.

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Adam Goodes was one of the greatest players to ever play the game. A two time Brownlow and Premiership winner, 1999 AFL rising star and the Australian of the year. You would think that all Australians across the nation would treat Adam with respect and appreciation with what he gave to the game and the country we love. But apparently not.

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Many of you may have heard of the fairly new documentary about the footballing career of Adam Goodes called ‘The Final Quarter’. In the off chance you haven’t, the documentary showcased the hardships, specifically racism, that Adam Goodes went through during his professional AFL career.

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During the documentary it becomes apparent that Adam Goodes was being wrecked and destroyed by the awfully inhumane comments directed at him due to the colour of his skin. Maybe one of the most famous and well known racist incidents in AFL history was when Adam Goodes singled out a 13 year old girl from the crowd. He did this after being racially abused by the girl, as he was called an ape by her. That particular game was the annual Indigenous round that the AFL held each year. This round is supposed to celebrate our Indigenous culture. But yet, Adam Goodes was unable to escape the racist comments about him and his culture. By pointing at the young girl, Adam Goodes showed that he wouldn’t stand for the abuse that his culture often deals with. Standing up for himself allowed him to get it through to people, that being racist towards anyone isn’t the right option, and that if you chose to be racist at an AFL game there would be consequences.

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Even though Adam Goodes stood up for himself and his culture, he felt as if he could still do more to stop the discrimination and hate against the colour of his skin. So what could he do? Adam Goodes became part of an advert that has the punch line: “Racism. It stops with me”. This advertisement was completely based around how racism has no room in sport. Adam Goodes used his platform to spread the word that racism is not okay. Not in sport and not in our everyday lives. The advert was a great way of getting the word across to anybody who hadn’t realised but were in fact being racist to the players on the field.

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Even though Adam put in a lot of effort to combat racism in sport, it seemed as if it was getting worse and worse. During the documentary it showed how Adam’s efforts sometimes went to no avail. Booing directed at Adam was apparent throughout his final seasons. This show of hatred from the opposition is likely one of the reasons Adam retired from playing professionally. The booing was caused due to how Adam was dealing with racism. Because he spoke out about it, people seemed to dislike him for it. In his final seasons, Adam took an indefinite leave from the game to sort out some mental issues. This shouldn’t be happening in the game we enjoy and love. Coaches, staff members and teammates all spoke on the matter at hand. They supported Adam and used their popularity from the AFL fan base to speak up and alert people that it wasn’t okay and that they are just bullying a man due to the colour of his skin.

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So did Adam Goodes’ efforts towards the social injustice of racism actually result in a positive change? You could argue either way. On one side, the AFL as a whole seem to be more aware with the fact that racism isn’t alright. Although, on the other side, the booing continued throughout the final years of Adam’s career, and seemed to get worse when he did fight back. So I would have to argue that Adam Goodes’ efforts didn’t end up creating an overwhelming positive change. Even though I and many others would’ve liked for his efforts to be noted and result in a positive change, when he was using his platform to fight back against those who were being racist, it just seemed to get worse. The more he spoke on the matter the worse and louder the booing got. Another reason I believe that his efforts didn’t result in a positive change is from earlier this year. Racial attacks were yet again found apparent after Jarrod Cameron, an Indigenous Australian football player, was sent a message with vile and racist remarks. This shows that racism in AFL is still happening, and that even though Adam Goodes tried his best to combat the racism towards his heritage and culture, he was unable to get rid of racism all together. Hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel, as the AFL have stated that they will not tolerate any form of racism on or off the pitch, and that they are working towards ending the online trolling that occurs on social media platforms.