Earlier this year, St Kilda’s Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and Port Adelaide’s Jase Burgoyne were both targeted by racial abuse online.
Both players were subjected to racial slurs and violent threats on social media and called out the vitriolic messages that were sent to them.
But worryingly, with a rise in the popularity of social media, online racial abuse is getting worse and worse.
In a powerful new documentary series published by ABC, Australian television presenter Tony Armstrong has lifted the lid on how he was left feeling ‘helpless’ after both he and his family were subjected to racial hatred.
The former Sydney and Adelaide defender is now on a mission to discover how we can enact change to prevent people from all walks of life from being subjected to racial abuse.
‘Right now it feels to me like the problem is getting worse,’ Armstrong said, during the three-part docuseries entitled End Game, which was first aired on ABC on Tuesday evening.
Former AFL star-turned broadcaster Tony Armstrong (pictured right with partner Rona) has revealed that he felt ‘helpless’ after he and his family were subjected to racial abuse
Armstrong, 36, is now hoping to enact change to stop racism from ocurring online and in person, with the former footy star having launched a powerful new three-part documentary series, entitled End Game with Tony Armstrong
As part of the documentary, the broadcaster has interviewed multiple stars from the world of sport, including the likes of Sydney Swans great Adam Goodes (pictured)
‘Personally, I am sick of the way things are. Any chance I can make a difference, I’ll do,’ the award-winning TV host said.
As part of his journey to discover how we can stop athletes from being targeted by racial abuse, the former AFL star-turned-broadcaster has travelled around the globe speaking to some of the greats of world sport, including Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, Swans great Adam Goodes and West Indies cricket icon Michael Holding.
In February, a study published by Victoria University identified that more than half of Australians surveyed had experienced or witnessed racism. Of those canvassed playing community sport, 30 per cent of participants had directly experienced racism. A further 26 per cent had witnessed it.
Meanwhile, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner states that adults who have identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, sexually diverse or have a disability were 41 per cent more likely to see online hate.
‘These numbers show racism is occurring regularly in community sport, with incidents ranging from overt abuse to subtle exclusion and bias,’ researcher Professor Ruth Jeanes, head of the Monash School of Curriculum, said.
During the documentary, Armstrong revealed he had been sent a litany of hateful messages online just that week, before adding that he is horrifically racially abused on a daily basis.
‘No one would say this to my face. They feel so powerful sitting behind their phones. It’s weak as p***, cowardice and fearful,’ Armstrong said during the documentary.
Rio Ferdinand (pictured) also appears in the opening episode of the documentary, and opens up about how he has been racially abused in the past, noting that social media companies need to do more to clamp down on abuse
He told the ABC: ‘It’s incumbent on me [to make the series] with the position I’m in professionally, how I’m seen in Australia. I felt like I could have an impact.’
Worryingly, during the documentary, the broadcaster sat down with dual-premiership winner Callum Ah Chee with the pair opening up on how racism is having an impact on the families of those in the spotlight.
‘My wife had to see what they said about me,’ Brisbane Lions star, Ah Chee, said, before pausing briefly to take a moment.
‘Sorry it’s a bit hard to talk about. It’s a bit disappointing when you see it happen so many times.’
‘Seeing my wife upset was pretty hard to take. I guess the realisation was that her kids are going to have to go through it as well.’
Armstrong, 36, also revealed that his partner Rona has been subjected to racism, just because she is his partner.
‘The feeling of helplessness, it feels like there’s nothing you can do,’ Armstrong said on the End Game documentary.
Both he and Ah Chee were in agreement that the level of racist messages being sent to professional athletes is ‘getting worse’, but Ah Chee hopes that greater ‘restrictions’ could be established by companies that operate social media sites to stop the abuse.
But it’s not just AFL players who are being targeted. Athletes from all around the world have reported suffering racist abuse, including those in the Premier League. In August, Tottenham star Mathys Tel broke his silence after he was subjected to online hate in the wake of Spurs’ Super Cup final defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.
Brisbane Lions star Callum Ah Chee (pictured) also reveals during the documentary how his family has been impacted by racist abuse
Armstrong (pictured) belives that racism online is not slowing down, however, he is hoping his documentary can give people the right tools to
Armstrong also travelled to London to speak with former Man United and England defender Ferdinand, who opened up on his experiences of racism, revealing some individuals had targeted his mother by placing bullets in her letterbox at home.
‘There’s so many facets to it,’ Ferdinand said when asked how we can stop racism. ‘I think education is a huge factor, I think a lack of education. There’s a racist generation that we’re never going to change. We’re never going to get to.
‘But maybe the best people to educate them are their kids. If we equip that young kid with the right education and the right ability to be able to talk and communicate about racism in that room or environment where they can call it out and say: “That’s archaic thinking that”.’
On the subject of abuse online, the Champions League winner added: ‘I think the social media companies need to take more of a responsibility to put the little things in place to have consequences for bad practice,’ Ferdinand said.
Armstrong then spoke with Equalities Education Executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, Jason Lee, who delivered his view on how more can be done to clamp down on abuse taking place online.
‘We need to change the narrative,’ Lee said to Armstrong during End Game. We need everyone to join hands and show the social media companies how serious we are about it and trying to squeeze them a little bit about trying to enforce change.’
Armstrong is now hopeful that this documentary will ‘give people a set of tools’ to drive for change and eradicate racism within sport and in their daily lives.
You can watch End Game with Tony Armstrong on ABC iview now.
Contact police if you are the victim of a hate crime on 131 444
