Racism in Australian Sports: a Focus on Indigenous Australians

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Racism is defined by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1999) as “ an ideology that gives expression to myths about other racial and ethnic groups, that devalues and renders inferior those groups, that reflects and is perpetuated by deeply rooted historical, social, cultural and power inequalities in society”. Racism is a byproduct of people believing that they are superior to others because they belong to or are associated with a particular ethnic or national group or race. Racism generally reflects stereotyped beliefs and attitudes surrounding particular groups of people for their ethnicity, culture, background, religion and skin colour etc (NSW Government, Education & Communities, 2013). Racism can appear in a variety of behaviors such as verbal abuse/name calling, excluding certain people from something due to their race, physical abuse due to race etc (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2013). Racism complaints have rocketed in the past 5 years and more than 1 in 20 Australians have confessed to being physically assaulted due to their race. Research has shown that there are an array of negative outcomes that result from or are linked to victims of racism; these include, poor mental, physical and psychological health, poor productivity, reduced life expectancy and employment as well as educational disadvantage. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people are generally more exposed to and are victims of racism in Australia. The majority of Indigenous Australians have been effected by some form discrimination due to their race or colour. Racism towards Indigenous Australians is often increased due to the negative portrayals that the media often presents. Indigenous people are often portrayed in a negative manner by the media, there is constant media attention and scrutiny surrounding negative issues involving indigenous people, however there is

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