Rugby: A Game For All Shapes, All Sizes...and ALL COLOURS
July 17th 2007 10:49
When I first read this South African Rugby article I thought it was a clever play on words, albeit grammatically incorrect.
Jake White being the Springboks coach....but as I continued to read...the blood drained out of my brown skin leaving me a whiter shade of aghast...
This has all the tones of the sixties/seventies/eighties era.
It took a long time for South Africa to recover from that, not just Rugby wise. Rugby wise, the Boks were banned from almost every sporting nation, a sporting embargo.
I had originally written and cited many moments of South African governing shame but as you can see, I deleted it. All that is in the past... or is it? Did someone say Apartheid?
This is shocking but there are some truths in it. I don't really know what to say. I really do not like getting in to racism debates because I'm not racist. I just dislike the French.
Anyway...read this article.
I have realised I am not very good at discussing my opinion on paper.
I can vocally discuss 'til I'm blue in the face about the Racism issue and how all races have inter-race racism and how each race has another race that they "just don't deal with" and how all of us at some stage or the other have said an offhand comment that could be perceived as racist and how I feel that WE ALL ARE SUBJECTED TO RACISM regardless of race and colour....but I just can't 'discuss' it here. Far too many factors to take into account for a one sided conversation.
Besides the core of this article is a separate issue and I'm focusing on the Rugby side of it.
Is this article about racist attitudes or is it just stating the truth? Is it right to force an issue to make it right? Does equality really come about through fixing the laws in favour of the minority? What the hell does politics have to do with sport?
AND....is this reverse racism?
I may be an English born Indian woman who desperately wishes she was Scottish and still Indian and was actually born in a galaxy far far away...but my blood is Australian...cut me and I bleed Green and Gold...but this article got me seeing RED....
from Fox Sports
...and this is where I turned an angrier shade of red...
*Do you know what the Wallabies did? Or...actually...what they didn't do??
Upon accepting the Mandela Plate after their match against the Springboks 2 weeks ago, apparently Captain Stirling Mortlock did not hold it high enough over his head.
Forget the fact that he had just played 80minutes of very tiring Rugby. Forget the fact that after playing a match like that, after playing a game of Rugby or any physically demanding sport, it does not matter how fit you are...you can barely stand let alone lift a fairly heavy plate above your head.
...and I suppose Komphela thinks that Gregan's tan comes out of a bottle?
I'm not going to address the comments made about Australians. I believe Australians on the whole are equal opportunity bigots...after all Dubya ain't black. He's a redneck.
Please understand...this is not a post about South Africans. To say that all South Africans are racist is like saying that no one else is.
Nor is it a post about racism.
Racism does exist and I will not deny that I haven't had to face it throughout my life and unfortunately I have noticed that ever since the events of September 11, 2001, there are many people who cannot tell the difference between terrorists and any brown skinned person...and I have been told that "my kind" is not welcome here to which I have replied...
"What? Intelligent?"
...then I get accused of being racist. Go figure.
This is not a post about racial attitudes nor is it a post about patriotism. This is merely a post to point out the stupidity of weak people in power. Regardless of their colour.
It would be a damn tragedy if the Springboks could not go to the World Cup...for the team, for their fans, for Rugby, for South Africa and for the world.
This was the slogan of the Rugby World Cup 2003:
The only colours that exist in Rugby are the team colours.
Actually it's rather funny to think of each team being the 'main colour' (eeek sorry that sounds awful) of their nation.
The All Blacks would be 2 Whites, the Wallabies would be Wannabees, the English team be Irish, the Japanese team would be Japanese....
***************************** ******
There is a big issue at the heart of this all and I apologise for the semi frivolous tone of my post. We kill ourselves, each other because of our skin colour yet sales of fake tan continue to go through the roof. Others hate The White Man yet prize fair skin as a sign of affluence.
Racism is the cause and reason why Jedis will never make contact with Earth.
However...nothing is ever black and white and whereas I agree that a South African team should represent it's demographic, I do not agree with it being forced like this. This is, in my humble opinion, is a form of Apartheid.
An eye for an eye makes us all blind.
Jake White being the Springboks coach....but as I continued to read...the blood drained out of my brown skin leaving me a whiter shade of aghast...
This has all the tones of the sixties/seventies/eighties era.
It took a long time for South Africa to recover from that, not just Rugby wise. Rugby wise, the Boks were banned from almost every sporting nation, a sporting embargo.
I had originally written and cited many moments of South African governing shame but as you can see, I deleted it. All that is in the past... or is it? Did someone say Apartheid?
This is shocking but there are some truths in it. I don't really know what to say. I really do not like getting in to racism debates because I'm not racist. I just dislike the French.
Anyway...read this article.
I have realised I am not very good at discussing my opinion on paper.
I can vocally discuss 'til I'm blue in the face about the Racism issue and how all races have inter-race racism and how each race has another race that they "just don't deal with" and how all of us at some stage or the other have said an offhand comment that could be perceived as racist and how I feel that WE ALL ARE SUBJECTED TO RACISM regardless of race and colour....but I just can't 'discuss' it here. Far too many factors to take into account for a one sided conversation.
Besides the core of this article is a separate issue and I'm focusing on the Rugby side of it.
Is this article about racist attitudes or is it just stating the truth? Is it right to force an issue to make it right? Does equality really come about through fixing the laws in favour of the minority? What the hell does politics have to do with sport?
AND....is this reverse racism?
I may be an English born Indian woman who desperately wishes she was Scottish and still Indian and was actually born in a galaxy far far away...but my blood is Australian...cut me and I bleed Green and Gold...but this article got me seeing RED....
from Fox Sports
Springboks fans showing their TRUE COLOURS at RWC 03
White Springboks face World Cup ban
By Wayne Smith
July 17, 2007
By Wayne Smith
July 17, 2007
THE South African Government is threatening to stop the Springboks from attending the World Cup unless coach Jake White selects an acceptable number of black players in his squad.
As part of its justification for preventing the Boks from competing in the tournament in France in September-October, the Government has cited the example of Prime Minister John Howard's refusal recently to allow the Australian cricket team to tour to Zimbabwe.
In an interview with the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times, Butana Komphela, chairman of the parliamentary portfolio committee on sport, said if South African President Thabo Mbeki signed the sport amendment bill into law before the Springboks leave for France, the team would have to conform to the Act.
As part of its push to speed up the process of racial change in rugby - a white-dominated sport long seen to be dragging its feet on full integration - the South African Government intends imposing a quota of 10 players of colour in the starting team.
It had been thought the quota system would not be introduced until after the World Cup but Komphela, who recently blasted the South African Rugby Union for not quashing rumours that President Mbeki was planning to take over the running of the game, indicated in that unless the Boks complied with the Act, they would be deemed to be in contravention of the law.
"If that happens, they will be stopped," Komphela said. "When the Australian cricket team were supposed to play in Zimbabwe, their Prime Minister said the team would not be allowed to go because there were no human rights there and the team didn't go.
"Our Government will do the same. We will take appropriate action by stopping them from leaving the country if necessary. We will hit them hard.
"People must understand we are a government and South Africa is not a banana republic. Rugby wants to have its own government. This country has only one government, led by President Mbeki."
If White is forced to select a team that accurately reflects South Africa's racial demographics, the Springboks' prospects would plummet.
It is being argued in South Africa that if black players are seen to be responsible for the Springboks losing, it could further impede the transformation process.
Komphela also unleashed a tirade against Australia, citing the Wallabies' muted acceptance of the Mandela Plate after their successful defence of the trophy in Sydney as evidence of Australian racism.
...and this is where I turned an angrier shade of red...
"Australia has a history of racism," Komphela said. "I was not surprised to see them (the Wallabies) do what they did*. That country has deep-rooted racism and hatred for blacks, including an international icon such as Nelson Mandela. They regard him as one of the kaffirs."
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the Australian Government would not be responding to Komphela's remarks.
Meanwhile, a Wallabies insider strongly denied Komphela's suggestion that the Australian team had not shown sufficient respect for the Mandela Plate.
"They send their B side over here to play for it and they say we're not showing it respect!"
*Do you know what the Wallabies did? Or...actually...what they didn't do??
Upon accepting the Mandela Plate after their match against the Springboks 2 weeks ago, apparently Captain Stirling Mortlock did not hold it high enough over his head.
Forget the fact that he had just played 80minutes of very tiring Rugby. Forget the fact that after playing a match like that, after playing a game of Rugby or any physically demanding sport, it does not matter how fit you are...you can barely stand let alone lift a fairly heavy plate above your head.
...and I suppose Komphela thinks that Gregan's tan comes out of a bottle?
I'm not going to address the comments made about Australians. I believe Australians on the whole are equal opportunity bigots...after all Dubya ain't black. He's a redneck.
Please understand...this is not a post about South Africans. To say that all South Africans are racist is like saying that no one else is.
Nor is it a post about racism.
Racism does exist and I will not deny that I haven't had to face it throughout my life and unfortunately I have noticed that ever since the events of September 11, 2001, there are many people who cannot tell the difference between terrorists and any brown skinned person...and I have been told that "my kind" is not welcome here to which I have replied...
"What? Intelligent?"
...then I get accused of being racist. Go figure.
This is not a post about racial attitudes nor is it a post about patriotism. This is merely a post to point out the stupidity of weak people in power. Regardless of their colour.
It would be a damn tragedy if the Springboks could not go to the World Cup...for the team, for their fans, for Rugby, for South Africa and for the world.
This was the slogan of the Rugby World Cup 2003:
The only colours that exist in Rugby are the team colours.
Actually it's rather funny to think of each team being the 'main colour' (eeek sorry that sounds awful) of their nation.
The All Blacks would be 2 Whites, the Wallabies would be Wannabees, the English team be Irish, the Japanese team would be Japanese....
***************************** ******
There is a big issue at the heart of this all and I apologise for the semi frivolous tone of my post. We kill ourselves, each other because of our skin colour yet sales of fake tan continue to go through the roof. Others hate The White Man yet prize fair skin as a sign of affluence.
Racism is the cause and reason why Jedis will never make contact with Earth.
However...nothing is ever black and white and whereas I agree that a South African team should represent it's demographic, I do not agree with it being forced like this. This is, in my humble opinion, is a form of Apartheid.
An eye for an eye makes us all blind.
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Comment by Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
I would lay my opinion out on the table... but being a white Zimbabwean... that reference alone stamps a big racist sign on my forehead.
Pity how narrow-minded the world is. May the best men win the spot that`s all I have to say.
ash
Comment by David
It's such a ridiculous concept. If a law like that was introduced in Australia, the Wallabies would have to drop all but one Anglo-Saxon to make way for an Aboriginal, a Torres Strait Islander (to keep Centrelink happy), a Greek/Australian, an Italian/Australian, a Lebanese/Australian, a Japanese/Australian, a Chinese/Australian etc.
And then they'd have to further divide the Anglos into Irish/Australians, Scottish/Australians, English/Australians, American/Australians etc.
Then they'd have to make sure every religion was represented.
And after that make sure every political party was represented.
And make sure it wasn't sexist, so females would have to be included.
And make sure it wasn't anti gay, so gays, lesbians, bisexuals and tranny's would have to be included.
And if someone gets injured? They have to make sure they have a backup player who is a Japanese / Australian, Greek Orthodox bisexual female member of the Greens with a white pigment shade of no-more than 48.7%, and a current passport?
I agree with Ash. Just pick the best players.
David ...
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
*****************
Hi Ash hon....
That's exactly how it should be and how it's supposed to be.
Going off tangent...I saw a gorgeous feature on Zimbabwe last night on 'Foreign Correspondant' (ABC). Travels along the Okovango Delta...the river is full, the wildlife everywhere...it was beautiful. .
If you didn't see it, I think you can view it online
www.abc.net.au/tv
Streotyping is the enemy of integration. I know how you feel Ash. ...and nothing could be further from the truth (that 'stamp')
Will come back re your comment.
big hugs...Dusk
*************
David....
Underneath all those make me laugh stats...is a fundamental truth...
It is ridiculous....but the SA government is trying to make something right by doing wrong...and that's what maks it more ridiculous...You cannot force equality.
I'll be back.
mah warmth sugah...Dusk
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Check this out...
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Exactly!...and where do they all go...?
Thanks for your comment.
DuskDevi