So, a nine year old Australian girl is being pilloried for her peaceful protest in not standing up for the national anthem. She sounded quite sensible in her newspaper interview – concerned about the government’s treatment of Australia’s indigenous people, as demonstrated in their anthem “Advance Australia Fair” ie may the white people prosper, and also references to it being a young country when actually people had lived there for many thousands of years before the Johnny come latelies and convicts of the last few centuries. Is peaceful protest not a civilized behavior, and a right, in a democratic country? Apparently not, according to a number of politicians who are happy to be quoted as being horrified and wishing they could kick her in the backside. “It’s disrespectful to our soldiers!” Oh! I didn’t realize that’s what they were fighting for. “Don’t worry about what those Nazis are up to, boys – let’s make sure our grandkids are forced to stand for the anthem!” Is that what democracy is about? I like Australia, it’s a nice place to visit (apart from the heat and the flies), and some of my best friends are Australian (not really), but you have to agree, it’s a hotbed of sexism, racism, and nationalism. The former two were clearly on display this week in the cartoon published twice in an Australian newspaper (once inside, and then again, after the international uproar, defiantly on the cover) of the tennis champion Serena Williams. OK, she was having a bit of a temper tantrum, but I well remember the days of John MacEnroe (“You cannot be serious!”), and in the words of the immortal Tana Umaga “It’s not tiddlywinks mate!”. OK, not an entirely relevant quote but i like it and it does show that when it comes to top sporting events, the players blood is up and they’re really feeling it.
The most famous peaceful protester around the world at the moment is of course Colin Kaepernick (sorry, Ghandi, but you haven’t been signed with any internationally recognizable sports team in even longer than two years – I’d hate to think what any sponsorship deal you managed to pull might look like). I’ve been wearing my Nikes proudly all week. Not that I think the company has developed any sort of super ethical corporate awareness all of a sudden (I’m sure sweatshops are still a thing), but hopefully they can see which way the wind’s blowing. Colin is a hero for today, and heroes sell shoes.