Insults Are Skin Deep

Newcastle Herald

Thursday July 10, 2008

jeff Corbett

I'VE been called a monkey often and at least as publicly as has Penrith footballer Petero Civoniceva. I've also been called a pig, a goose, an ape, a dog, a dingo, a donkey, a jackass, a drongo, a turkey and a vulture.

Moving on from animals, I'm often called an idiot, a moron, a goon, a fool and much, much more. While those terms of abuse refer to my mental shortcomings, others go for my physical curses, the adjective ugly preceding any of the above being the most common. One fellow who engages me frequently goes brutally straight to one of my disabilities, a voice reduced to hoariness by surgery, when he calls me Cat Choking on Furball!

And names pointing to one of my more prominent physical points, my red hair, have been hurled at me as an insult for much longer than monkey has been hurled at Petero Civoniceva. And if monkey is a racial insult because it refers to the dark colour of his skin, then I suppose insults referring to the colour of my hair are racial because my hair is a racial characteristic.

Aaah, you might say, I choose to be in the public eye and so must accept what comes my way, and I do accept it. And Mr Civoniceva chooses to be in the public eye, on a football ground surrounded often by hostile louts.

So why the fuss? Civoniceva's Panthers club, the other team in Sunday's game, Parramatta, the NRL and the police, no less, have been involved in tracking down two Parramatta fans they allege called Civoniceva a monkey during the game, and in the photos at least one of the fans looks to be a wog. A dago to be more specific.

Sure, I understand that by calling him a monkey these fans are not saying in a friendly way that Mr Civoniceva is from a more primitive society than their own and that his athletic skills reflect this. No. They're saying that he's subhuman, that he's just out of the trees.

So if that's what is so insulting, isn't it just as insulting then to called him a dumbo?

Last October we saw the pot calling the kettle black when Indians repeatedly taunted dark-skinned Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds with monkey chants!

In one sense what matters is the intent of the person calling the names. Clearly when football or cricket fans call a player a monkey they are seeking to insult him, to upset him. Just as clearly when the fans call a player a fat-arse moron they are seeking to insult him, and they're not seeking to insult him to a lesser degree.

But what should matter more is the effect on the person who is the object of the name calling. The term monkey is a put-down only if it puts someone down, and Civoniceva is not and knows he is not subhuman. Even if a couple of yobbos believe he is subhuman, that shouldn't bother him.

Some people believe I am an idiot, a moron and worse, and since that doesn't reduce me I'm impervious to it.

Still, why is it more acceptable to call me an idiot or any other name that accuses me of low intelligence or stupidity than it is to call Petero Civoniceva a monkey? The intent is the same, to humiliate or offend us, and the effect is presumably the same, given that I don't believe I am an idiot and Mr Civoniceva doesn't believe he is subhuman. The disrespect is the same.

The insults would be offensive, and effective, if I were an idiot and if Mr Civoniceva were subhuman. If we were we would be vulnerable to such name calling, but Mr Civoniceva is not vulnerable nor is he at a disadvantage. So it beats me as to why the clubs and indeed the police have pulled out all stops to catch a couple of yobbos, a response that seems to go beyond the racial vilification component of the Anti-Discrimination Act.

Racial vilification is unlawful if it "incites hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of" a person, and it is highly unlikely that a couple of ignorant morons shouting monkey will change anyone's opinion of the respected Petero Civoniceva.

The response is silly. And even disturbing, given that there seems to be much greater concern about insults levelled at people with a dark skin than people of other skin tones.

Blog with Jeff @ www.theherald.com.au

Should dark-skinned people be more provoked from insults than people of other skin tones?

jcorbett@theherald.com.au