'Fighting just for a fair go': Elite sport failing on racism, Olympian says
The first Aboriginal woman to represent Australia in Olympic boxing has told a federal racism inquiry she was threatened with "repercussions" if she carried the Aboriginal flag at an Olympic Games qualifier.
Former Today show presenter Brooke Boney testified before the federal racism inquiry that she left the media industry due to menacing threats, including the doxxing of her personal information. Olympic boxer Marissa Williamson Pohlman also spoke at the inquiry, stating that Boxing Australia threatened her with repercussions if she carried the Aboriginal flag at an Olympic qualifier. The inquiry is set to conclude and release its final report by the end of the year.
Boney expressed that racism forces First Nations people to weigh the cost of speaking up, leading to diminished perspectives in public discourse. She also criticized media reporting on Indigenous issues, noting that it often relies on racial narratives that perpetuate harmful stereotypes and portrays Aboriginal children as symbols of disorder.
Narelda Jacobs, a Network Ten journalist, revealed that news coverage frequently utilizes negative stereotypes when discussing Indigenous people, such as depicting squalid living conditions and individuals in handcuffs. She admitted to being complicit in reproducing these harmful narratives and criticized the media's regulatory system for lacking accountability.
Boney and Jacobs both emphasized the need for increased accountability and anti-racism training within media organizations. They highlighted the role of social media in amplifying racist content and advocated for greater obligations on platforms to remove harmful content.
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