She called him an Ape ??????

[syllabus23]

Lolol How bleeding precious,,,the poor fellow.

[UselessBettor]

i don't think she meant it racist. Its kind of the same thing as fried chicken for an African American... Its the history of the word more then the word itself.

If she had called him anything else he probably would not have reacted the way he did.

It was big of her to apologise though and I think that shows she didn't mean it in a racist way as a racist would not have apologised.

[syllabus23]

I don't think that calling anyone an Ape has any racial connotations.Some people just look for offence,they love it.

[UselessBettor]

I don't think that calling anyone an Ape has any racial connotations.Some people just look for offence,they love it.
Different people will find different words offensive unfortunately. I think the more the world gets politically correct the more people take offence to things which were not meant to be offensive.

we are getting into a touchy area here and I don't want to go down that path but I think as the world gets more politically correct people feel they have a right to complain anytime someone says something they don't like even if the underlying meaning was not meant to be a sexist, racial, etc point.

Take the politicians at the moment, Gillard basically pulling the sexist card anytime anyone in the opposition says something she doesn't like ... she feels she has the right to pull that card even though the argument has nothing to do with it.

[Lord Greystoke]

Sadly, it appears that we may have missed the explosive nature of the comment here given the context and extra sensitivity regards the event being attended, and the player concerned.

However, I believe that you are correct regards the current politically correct environment and potential for anyone to light a match under a bonfire with a a single thought, throwaway comment.

What irks me is the way the media jumps on these things like an underfed p a r a s i t e and spins it out to the rest of the world with relish i.e. another big story building. It is these kind of snapshots of us that the rest of the World sees - polarised cliches which help to confirm somewhat cliched versions of who the World thinks we are. I have been privvy to conversations overseas on just this and I can tell you that rightly or wrongly, the story can often become the truth.

We are all bigger than this, as is the 13 year old girl who had the guts to call up the man and offer him an apology. In fact, this is the best example I can see of real progress on this topic. a one to one dialogue which probably contained a fair dose of respect, honesty, understanding etc

I went to the Dreamtime match last night and I can tell you unlike the packaged media drenched versions of the event you get from watching a telly or reading a newspaper, it is some of these things that bring home the really big message here...
- 85,000 people rocked up
- the burning torches in the darkness of the MCG
- a centre square badged in red, black and yellow
- lots of happy smiling faces in the large group of indigenous boys sitting in front of me who had participated on the ground earlier
- the sights, sounds and smells of something a bit special.
- the happy, well mannered mass of fans who left the game in droves (ok, not necessarily the sorry lot in yellow and black!)

That's all from me on this - no idea how the topic makes it's way into an online forum such as this, or why I am commenting for that matter!

Enough said, Mr Ed.

Cheers LG

[syllabus23]

You have been TOUd. Post deleted. You spoilt your post with your last sentence, which was an unpleasant personal attack. No more of this. Thank you. Moderator.

[Shaun]

I can see this being my first offense on this site but WTH.

If he looked in the mirror with the all the facial hair he had well he did look like an ape of some fashion, these guys are supposed to be tough didn't his mummy ever tell him "sticks and stones will brake my bones but names can never hurt me" he needs to grow some gonads and get on with playing, the media are always after a story and this was no different.

[UselessBettor]

yeah shaun you said it all in your first sentence It will be TOUd.

[SpeedyBen]

yeah shaun you said it all in your first sentence It will be TOUd.I too thought it strange that Goodes was so upset by the comments of a not so bright teenager. The words of my grandmother about sticks and stones also entered my mind.

[Chrome Prince]

Any chance to play the race or gay card will suffice, it seems these days.
I certainly don't agree with racial abuse, but this reaction is overkill just to further a cause.

[stugots]

It seems in Goodes's case that his reaction relates back to childhood bullying, so I'm not going to criticism him too much if he just snapped & saw red.

It is interesting though to contrast that with the weekly abuse copped by St Kilda player Steven Milne (aka Tip Rat), which I have witnessed first hand more than once - some skins are thicker than others i guess;)

[Barny]

A 13 year old child says something inappropriate and those wonderful moralistic group called the media, esp the footy media, incite hatred against her. I recall being lectured by Rex Hunt for years and years on the radio on how to lead a good life ..... until he got caught in a compromising situation, then there's Eddie who loves to tell people how to behave until he gets caught. I don't like being lectured by hypocrites. This 13 year old girl would have a higher moral standard than most of the media put together.

As far as Adam Goodes goes, well we're not all going to be on the same page all of the time but it doesn't make some of us bad people.