When Indian cricketers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj reported racist abuse during the recent Sydney test match, Australia鈥檚 ugly racism hit the headlines again.
The most racist media outlets questioned whether the abuse had actually happened. The less racist outlets tried to blur the incident, drawing parallels between racist abuse and sledging 鈥 a cricketing term for verbal insults aimed at distracting the opposition.
, the ABC鈥檚 sports journalist, probably had the best establishment position.
鈥淩acism happens in Australian sport because there is racism in Australia,鈥 she said bluntly on January 12.
She went on: 鈥淚n a predominantly white society, with a domination of white voices setting the daily news agenda, it is not a white person鈥檚 place to decide what is racist and what isn鈥檛.鈥
She鈥檚 right. But without a class analysis she didn鈥檛 draw any conclusions about why victims of racism are rarely believed, nor how institutionalised racism has not only destroyed the careers of professional sports people, it has also destroyed the lives of many.
Sports commentators are well aware of the insidious nature of racism in sport. First Nations鈥 player Adam Goodes, a Brownlow medallist and former Sydney Swans footballer, has featured in debates and documentaries about the topic. Goodes spent three years being booed and racially vilified, until he was forced into early retirement in 2015.
Last year, the ABC ran a feature-length story on the persecution, which started some 40 years ago, of another First Nations鈥 footballer, the former St Kilda player . Racism destroyed Muir鈥檚 career, it also nearly ended his life.
Few, however, draw the conclusion that the same injustices Muir faced are at play for all First Nation鈥檚 communities.
Institutionalised racism, a legacy of colonialism, is the cause of so much poverty, a shorter life expectancy and less quality of life for this country鈥檚 First Nation's peoples today. Racism is also the context for the high levels of infant mortality, blindness, deafness, diabetes and liver disease they suffer.
From 1788 until today, First Nations鈥 peoples are still having to fight against corporation鈥檚 wilful destruction of their land and for their children not to be taken away.
Refugees and asylum seekers suffer similar vilification, portrayed as 鈥渋llegals鈥 or 鈥渋nvaders鈥 coming to steal land and jobs. It is shameful that the racist scapegoating of a tiny minority is promoted (albeit in different ways) by both major parties.
The establishment media reflects the ideology of those who rule society. Rulers benefit from racism and sexism (and all the 鈥渋sms鈥) because they keep us divided and stop us from working together against exploitation and injustices and challenge the system.
Racism has its historical roots in the development of capitalism. Just as racism helped enable the emerging capitalist class of medieval Europe to accumulate the capital to plunder the native Americas, so today it serves the interests of those in power who use racism to divide workers and deflect anger, especially when times are tough.
Racism in sport, and more broadly against First Nations peoples, won鈥檛 end while it remains one of the bedrocks of a system which relies on a layer of super-exploited workers.
The mainstream media, even those who call out racism, won鈥檛 explain that because it would involve challenging the hand that feeds it.
Unlike the big media, we have no reason not to challenge and expose the injustices of the capitalist system. And unlike the big media, we don鈥檛 rely on paid sponsors and advertising. We rely on you.
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