Racism in Australian Sports
History of racism in Australia
Self-identity when approached from the concept of sociological perspective identifies it with a reciprocal relationship between the self and society. The influence of self to the society is through the actions of individuals, hence creating networks, groups, institutions and organizations. On the other hand the society has influence to self by its ways of shared language as well as meaning that makes one to take the role of others, participate in social interaction, and reflect oneself as an object. The core of selfhood has been constituted through the later process of reflexivity. Since the self appears in and is reflective of society, the understanding of self in terms of sociological approach and its part reveals that we as well have to understand the society where the self is acting and we should always remember in this event that the action of self is many a times in a social context in which other self exist.
Introduction
Racism in sport has been an issue in Australia even though all Australians of various color, race as well as ethnic origin had united as one in their participation in cheering home Cathy Freeman to gold in the final of the Sydney Olympic Games 400 metres. Sports and sporting forms the ultimate cross-cultural mixing pot in Australia. It has established platform where respect for ability and the camaraderie of teamwork overcomes intolerance and exclusion, where the people cheer their champions without considering the color, of the sound of their sir name or the color of their skin.
According to researches, even though racist attitudes tend to have still been largely manifested, it has as well considerably reduced in terms of overt racist behavior, the reason behind it is considered to be due to development of strong social norms against openly expressing racist views. This change of attitude has gained support from comprehensive racial discrimination laws administered by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) at a federal level without forgetting the state and territory anti-discrimination commissions. Other researches on the other hand point out those social norms have not been well developed in every section of Australian coexistence, for instance in the sporting arena.
Within the sporting activities of Australia, which has been expected to be the fore front of fighting against the racism, it has been the opposite over the century. For instance, Eddie Gilbert who was a Queensland fast bowler and took 5 for 65 against the touring West Indies in 1929 and who once bowled Sir Donald Bradman for a duck in 1931, came to be excluded from higher honors with the reason behind it happened to be his indigenous background; another evidence was Duong Nicholls, the champion Fitzroy Australian rules football winger who later became the governor of South Australia found himself rejected by blue-blood Carlton in the late 1920s that he was smelling. In those early years of Australia's federation to the dominant culture the idea of racist abuse tended to be legitimate and normal, and was seen as a part of playing the game, (McNamara L, 2000).
The Australian federal laws have been established with the aim of protecting people against racial discrimination in sports as well as other areas. HREOC administers "Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) (RDA) that makes sure that people have to be equally treated no matter their color, race, descent, background, ethnic origin. Through the racial Hatred Act 1995(Cth) it provide a platform where people are able to air complaints whenever they have been racially offended or have faced abusive behavior.
The aim of the RDA is to create a balance between the right to communicate freely and the right to live free from vilification. Every state and territory are as well having a legislation that put it to be unlawful to discriminate or harass based on an individuals' color, race, ethnic or ethno-religious background, national and ethnic background. This as well applies in a sporting organization in case the individuals who represent the organization for example, board members, coaches, officials, mangers and others, happens to behave unlawfully when they are in their duties. It is the obligation of the sporting organization to make sure that they prevent any unlawful act: They can do this through establishing policies and procedures, codes of conduct as well as offering education and training to its members for them to avoid such situation arising that could make them liable.
Majorly the obstacles that is experienced within the sport could be discrimination, racism, vilification or harassment by spectators directed at players, by player directed to other players or in form of racist behavior among spectator groups who are rival that could...
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