Individuality or Politics?

It's not just Sally the runner, but Sally the Australian runner. For this reason, sport and politics will always be intertwined. Politics, I believe, does not have a place in sport. Maybe if we celebrated a persons individual achievements rather then the achievement of a nation politics wouldn't be an issue. But we take tremendous pride in our nation when someone from our country wins. We feel the triumph of a nation.

Some topics are more important than others and that of the Aboriginals is of utmost importance. Aboriginal culture is one of the most important parts of Australian heritage. I don't see a problem in Damien Hooper wearing an Aboriginal flag in the games, other than it's not the regulation. For this they had reason to reprimand him in some degree, but I think punishment for wearing the flag itself would have been unnecessary. Individual athletes should be able to celebrate their individuality. Same as a man wearing an Italian flag in the Olympics is most obviously Italian. To some degree his heritage is right there for you. But for Aboriginals who identify with their flag more than the Australian one, it should be acceptable for them to display this. For some this land wasn't always called Australia. You can look at what Damien Hooper did two ways, as a political statement or an expression of individuality.

If nations can make the games all about politics though why can't an individual? When we tell friends and family that live other seas about Australia we tend to leave out the bad stuff. We say it's sunny and there are lots of beaches and everyone's really nice. What we leave out is the minute details. The stuff we choose to leave out because we're afraid that they will disapprove. The Stolen generation was widely covered up by the Australian government. So for some non Aboriginal Australian people the flag has a some what negative connotation because of past events. I think because of this we're afraid of the Aboriginal flag. We're afraid what people who aren't Australian will make of it because of our own concerns. Individuality has a place in sport, but for some that individuality is of political concern. But the Aboriginal flag isn't ours, it simply represents a group of people. It isn't something to be covered up, it's something to celebrate.