Aboriginal boxer, Damien Hooper wears a t-shirt with the Aboriginal flag on it before his fight in the Olympics and gets reprimanded for it and forced to apologise. The Aboriginal flag is considered a political statement so wearing the shirt is offensive at the Olympics. The fact that he represents Australia and our flag acknowledges British ancestry but not his own Indigenous ancestry? Yeah, that’s totally not offensive.
I’m Aboriginal, I’m representing my culture not only my country, but all my people as well. I’m very proud and that’s what I wanted to do. I’m happy I did it. I wasn’t really thinking about that. I was just thinking about family and all that. That’s what really matters to me. Look what it just did, it just made my whole performance a lot better with that whole support behind me.
I would love to see the whole country embrace the flag more. It’s not just something for Indigenous athletes and Indigenous people to embrace. All Australians can embrace it. We’re not there yet, but we’re on the way. And I reckon we’re on the way to our sporting teams saying ‘You know what? We’re proud of it’.
blue milk 
I hope he wears that shirt everywhere he goes and never takes it off (except to wash it) until the games are over.
Oh ffs, not again! It’s one of the official Flags of Australia, as proclaimed in 1995.
Wait, seriously? That’s longer than my brother has been alive! /mindblown
Exactly!
I don’t understand the title. What else would be offensive?
Have a read of the last two lines of the first paragraph.
Good on him for standing up for his right to wear an official flag of Australia. If it is official he has the right to wear it and should never have been forced to apologise. *rude words about clueless Olympic officials*
Besides which, it is also an awesome flag. Goodonya Damien.
Aesthetically, I so much prefer the Aboriginal flag to the Union-Jack-Australian flag. And ethically, I also prefer it. I didn’t realise Aboriginal people were okay with this immigrant-from-a-European-country-Australian adopting it, I might take them up on it!
And if political statements are not allowed at the Olympics, they can just cancel the entire shebang now. The hegemony is no less political for being the hegemony.
I thought the “hitting each other until we bleed/are unconscious” game being classed as sport was the offensive part.
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