Ugliest voices always the loudest and the last heard
Weneed to stop being bystanders and call out the racists, because hatred starts small and quickly embeds itself in communities,
If you were one of those people shouting abuse at Sake Aca and his family last weekend or screaming hate at Peni Manumanuniliwa a few weeks earlier I have a message for you: You are not welcome at our sports matches, rugby finals and playing fields.
Because they are our rugby matches, our club finals, our sports fixtures and our people: not yours.
I’m speaking on behalf of everyday New Zealanders, the silent majority of us who are good sports, who coach and volunteer and cheer our athletes on without attacking them.
We are the people who don’t swear at opposition teams or abuse our own kids when they make mistakes.
We don’t get rolling drunk when we go to cheer our teams on.
We’re not as loud as you but there are many more of us than you. And we have had enough.
Because people like you give our sports a bad name. The ugliest voices are always the loudest and the last heard, even if there are only a few of you.
You have no future in our sporting codes in this country. The culture you represent is one that none of us want embedded in our communities. And there are enough of us to ensure that people like you are kept out of our sports.
I hope that every code works out ways to ban you and people like you from our sports grounds.
Stopping you from entering any sporting fixture while you are so intoxicated you can hardly walk is a good start.
Bumping up security is another good start.
But the most important and powerful way we will get rid of people like you from our sidelines is if the rest of us stand up and refuse to let you ruin our beautiful games.
We need to stop being bystanders and call you out, because hatred starts small and if it’s ignored it quickly embeds itself in communities.
Everyday New Zealanders need to stand up for others when we see innocent people being abused and called racist names in front of us.
We need to let people spewing hate know that we will not sit quietly by and let them take over our sports grounds, suburbs and communities.
New Zealand Rugby has a great initiative in place to educate people about sideline abuse but whether or not people are using it is another question. No doubt the Canterbury Union, Lincoln University and Southbridge Rugby Club have their own rules as well, but the behaviour we are witnessing along some sidelines of our sports fields remains pretty appalling. Everyone needs to show leadership and courage.
If you are part of the problem you need to pull your head in because the rest of us will not let you ruin the games and sporting codes we love.
I amincredibly grateful and humbled by athletes like Sake and Peni who refused to silently accept racist abuse and instead stood up for their – and all of our – human rights. Vinaka Vaka Levu.
I’d also like to pay tribute to sports managers like Chris McMillan from Southbridge Rugby: it’s not easy to be the guy who blows the whistle on racism.
It’s not always easy to stand up for others: sometimes it may feel an unsafe thing to do. But it’s always the right thing to do.
But what saddens me is wondering about Sake and Peni: did anyone stand up for them while they were out there playing the game they love? I hope so.
You have no future in our sporting codes in this country. The culture you represent is one that none of us want embedded in our communities. And there are enough of us to ensure that people like you are kept out of our sports.