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Articles on Adam Goodes

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Archibald Prize 2020 finalist Blak Douglas (aka Adam Hill), Writing in the sand, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 250 x 250 cm © the artist. Photo: AGNSW, Felicity Jenkins Sitter: Dujuan Hoosen - documentary star ('In my blood it runs')

‘The most refreshing Archibald exhibition I can remember’: the 2020 portrait prize finalists

Most years, the Archibald exhibition is worth viewing as an amusing exercise in social history. This year it is worth seeing for the art.
Adam Goodes in The Australian Dream: in the film he talks of finding an identity in football and with The Sydney Swans. Melbourne International Film Festival

The Australian Dream is must-see for lovers of football and this country

A new film chronicling the impact of racism on Indigenous football star Adam Goodes is both a damning and hopeful portrait of contemporary Australia.
The AFL quickly aborted the deployment of Behavioural Awareness Officers to monitor unruly fans. But who should be making sure spectators don’t get out of control? Rob Blakers/AAP

Loud, obnoxious and at times racist: the sordid history of AFL barracking

Barracking has been a colourful and controversial part of Australian Rules football since the game’s inception. Now, the AFL is trying to maintain order – and fans are irate.
Junior sports clubs in Australia have policies in place for handling racial taunting and vilification, but punishments are rarely enforced. David Crosling/AAP

Racial abuse is rife in junior sports – and little is being done to address it

New research has found that racial vilification is a common occurrence in junior sport in Australia – and is rarely punished when it happens.
In a painting such as Warriors of New South Wales, 1813, we can easily imagine a group of men ready to take to the football field. Australian War Memorial

Did Indigenous warriors influence the development of Australian rules football?

Between the 1830s and the 1850s, hundreds of Indigenous warriors and dozens of British settlers were killed across south-east Australia. Echoes of that conflict recur in Aussie rules.
Adam Goodes training at the SCG in 2015. David Gray/Reuters

Refusing to play the race game

For Indigenous people, refusal is a powerful act of sovereignty. In Grand Final week, it’s timely to reflect on Adam Goodes’ refusal to accept racism in football or an official send off when he retired - and the repercussions of his stance, a year on.
It may not be comfortable or easy to do but racist abuse needs to be challenged in sport and our society. Ben Macmahon/AAP

Eddie Betts and racism in sport: it’s not enough to just not join in

Sport can be a driver for change; it can make a difference in people’s lives and unify communities, particularly around national successes. But it can also create tensions and cause conflict.
Sport continues to be one of Australia’s most potent social lubricants. AAP/David Crosling

More than fun: capitalising sport’s social goods

Public discourse and commentary are generally blind to the massive contribution that local sport contributes to social connectedness.
Footballer Adam Goodes was daring to speak of things that many Australians would prefer to be ignorant of. AAP/Dean Lewins

The land we play on: equality doesn’t mean justice

Until we see a marked change in the stories that are told, together with a shift from inclusion to social justice, the national story of Australian sport will remain very, very white.
The Papunya elders who organised the event were less concerned about their team winning and more about ensuring each community got a fair go. Barry Judd

The Aboriginal football ethic: where the rules get flexible

Sports weekends are where family connections are sustained, and culture is infused into Australian football games played on country.
While Adam Goodes is the public face of the debate, almost any Indigenous Australian can speak of the day-by-day experience of a lack of respect for who they are. AAP/Paul Miller

White Australia needs to take responsibility for reconciliation too

For at least some Australians, it seems that Indigenous culture is acceptable only as an object of consumption for tourists visiting the remote north.
Yolngu men at Garma Festival in north-east Arnhem Land, painted in a Sydney Swans jersey with a number 37 to support embattled AFL star Adam Goodes. AAP Image/Neda Vanovac

Racism defies logic – so don’t go searching for any

There are no examples of evidence being put forward by race theorists that a race other than the one they belong to is superior. That’s worth bearing in mind when it comes to ‘understanding’ racists.

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