YOU can tell by the way he plays that Bruce Djite doesnât mind putting his head into some uncomfortable places.
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TOM SMITHIES
March 20, 2014
A centre-forwardâs job isnât for the faint-hearted and heâll prove that once more against Sydney FC.
But flying boots arenât the only thing the Adelaide striker is prepared to risk. As an ambassador for the anti-racism charity All Together Now, Djite wants to shine a light on some elements of society we might prefer to ignore.
The message is simple â that while Australia is by and large not overtly racist, there are still attitudes to change and incidents to confront, and we all have a responsibility to do so.
The timing is particularly apt, with Harmony Day marked today and Ali Abbasâs claims of racial abuse to be heard next week.
âIâve been pretty lucky,â Djite said. âWith the privileges of playing a high-profile sport and especially playing overseas, people make life as easy as they can for you.
“Iâve been the beneficiary of that, but Iâve had friends and seen people treated differently and approached differently.”
“For example, you could have some people of Middle Eastern appearance hanging out in the west of Sydney, and the police might approach them and start questioning why theyâre there.”
“Other people, the Âmajority, wouldnât necessarily be the subject of that kind of judgment call, that assumption based on Âappearance.”
Djite is happy to make clear he has never encountered racist abuse on the pitch â the issue is either a more subliminal kind of discrimination, such as walking into a shop and being treated differently, or the cesspit that social media can be.
âPeopleâs true thoughts come out when they think they have no risk of getting caught or getting in trouble,â he said.
âTwitterâs a perfect example. It gives you a true reflection of the kind of society we live in. In 2014, itâs not socially acceptable to be openly racist or anti-ÂSemitic in public.”
âBut if you have a fake profile on Twitter, or youâre talking to your mates when no one else is around, those true thoughts come out.”
“Thatâs why the biggest challenge is to educate people, to change the way they think in the first place.”
âThe society we live in today would look very, very different if people in the past didnât stand up and make a stand for what they believe in. Without those heroes of the past, thereâs no way we could live as we do now.”
âIt needs people to say: âNo, Iâm not taking this, itâs not acceptableâ.”
âItâs when you say youâre used to it, or you donât want to cause trouble, thatâs when you will always have problems.â
On Monday, Abbas will tell a tribunal that he was abused by Wanderers striker Brendon Santalab for his religion and race â thereâs an obvious limit to what can be said about that, but Djite does applaud anyone who takes a stand when they perceive something wrong.
âItâs not just words, or having an Erase Racism round to tick the box of social responsibility,â he said.
âItâs about people doing tangible things that make people feel times are changing and that they should change their thinking accordingly.”
âItâs my firm belief that in Australia the vast majority arenât racist and do believe in a multicultural society.”
âBut it is still an issue, and making people aware of that can certainly help. Iâve got a lot of Anglo-Saxon mates, all very good people â theyâre cool, I love them.”
âBut they are privileged. They donât understand.”
âI donât know anyone whoâs been racially abused for being white, or having blue eyes and blonde hair.â