Is ‘white bastard’ racist? The divided reactions to Sam Kerr racism allegation

Former Socceroo Craig Foster has called on Football Australia to strip Matildas superstar Sam Kerr of her captaincy if it is confirmed that she called a UK police officer a “stupid white bastard”,to show how seriously the sport takes racism.

But some experts argue that labelling the alleged remark as racist simplifies and trivialises the true definition of racism.

Kerr was reported to have been sick in a cab after a night out in London on January 30 last year before she was alleged to have racially harassed a police officer who had been called to the scene to intervene. The 30-year-old,who is of Indian descent,fronted a London court on Monday to plead not guilty and is fighting to have the charge of racially aggravated harassment of the officer thrown out.

She is accused of using insulting,threatening or abusive words that caused alarm or distress to an officer in Twickenham,south-west London.

Kerr’s alleged remark,first reported in UK tabloidThe Sun,has sparked a broader discussion about the definition of racism,with Australians politicians,sports figures and racial discrimination experts weighing in on Thursday.

Victoria University professor Mario Peucker,an expert in multiculturalism and far-right extremism,said that while there was no doubt that Kerr’s alleged remark contained a racial element,it could not be classified as racist.

“Racism,in its briefest form,is prejudice plus institutional power,” Peucker said.

“It’s very hard to communicate the complexity of systemic racism. She did[allegedly] call him a ‘stupid white bastard’ – so isn’t that wrong? Yes,that is wrong. She shouldn’t have done this. But it’s not what the term racism covers. It’s more than just this simplistic and trivialised idea that racism is just bad behaviour.”

Shireen Ahmed,a prominent Canadian sports activist and journalist,echoed this sentiment,writing on social media platform X:“A white policeman from London does not have the same systemic power of a racialized lesbian from Australia. Power dynamics,anyone?”

Peucker added:“You will trivialise racism by only referring to it as something that is an unequal treatment in a behavioural sense,” he said. “You can still discriminate against a white person,and you can also racially abuse someone.

“The racial element is there,I acknowledge that … but not everything that is racial is racist.”

Australia’s race discrimination commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman,who started in the role this week,was approached but declined to comment on the issue.

Foster,the former Socceroo,who is also an anti-racism ambassador,said in a lengthy statement on Thursday that,as well as the incident being an opportunity to “think about the issue of racism”,if the allegation against Kerr was found to be true,she should be stood down.

“In this context,if the comments are verified,and independent of the criminal presumption of innocence,in my view Sam would have to be stood down to indicate the seriousness with which the sport takes racism … and as difficult as it will be,Sam would have a great opportunity to learn,understand and become a very powerful symbol of anti-racism in Australia,” he wrote.

“If we are comfortable as a country with discussing and confronting racism,we would be able to avoid hysteria and politicisation[and] recognise that everyone has biases and prejudices,and that we all need continual education.”

Foster also weighed in on the definition of racism,writing:“Talking about race relations and relative power and representation is not racism. Comments which are discriminatory,demean or harass based on membership of a race or religion,are.”

However,when NSW Premier Chris Minns,a white man,was asked whether he believed it would be racist if someone called him a “stupid white bastard”,he said “no”.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said in response to the same question:“I’ve been called a lot worse.”

Sports diversity expert Rana Hussain believes the reaction to the alleged incident has been intensified because of the way the public perceives women’s sports.

Hussain said:“There was an undercurrent of that feeling of ‘how could that possibly be true’,and that sense of disbelief. I found that really fascinating because to me,that does partly come from that place where we view women’s sport with this moral high ground. And I just think we need to examine that – why do we think women can’t behave badly?”

“It’s also how the culture views women – I think it is says something about our expectations of women,and the freedom we do or don’t give them to be who they are.”

Meanwhile,independent senator Lidia Thorpe celebrated Kerr’s alleged comments,writing on X:“Replace all statues of Captain Cook with statues of Sam Kerr,our one true captain.”

Kerr’s English club,Chelsea,had not commented on Kerr’s court case since the news emerged,but ahead of their League Cup semi-final against Manchester City on Thursday,manager Emma Hayes said Kerr had the club’s backing.

“Sam has our full support,she knows that. It’s a difficult time for her,” Hayes told reporters on Thursday morning.

Football Australia,the body governing the women’s national team,held crisis talks with Kerr’s Australian-based agent,Niki White,on Wednesday,after chief executive James Johnson and Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson said they first learnt about the alleged incident this week.

With Rob Harris