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This story originally appeared on afl.com.au
PORT Adelaide forward Chad Wingard has issued a passionate call to arms over racial vilification.
Speaking to AFL.com.au on Tuesday after alleged racial slurs from fans aimed at both the Power's Paddy Ryder and Adelaide's Eddie Betts during Saturday's Showdown at the Adelaide Oval, Wingard said it was time for Australians to take a stand.
AFL.com.au has chosen to publish his comments in full.
"As a club and as a person and as a nation, we need to stand up and say that's not acceptable, not just in football but in life in general," he said.
"To be discriminated against for something that you're born with, that people are proud to be, is pretty low. But as a club and as a community, we're hopefully going to educate people about it and how much an effect it has on people. Hopefully it's a learning curve and it doesn't happen again.
"The first and foremost thing to say is that it's not OK to be racist or to have those remarks said about anyone ... whatever culture you're from, it's not acceptable. That's the first stance we need to make.
"I haven't had a chance to talk to Paddy, but obviously it's pretty raw and we'll give him time to deal with what he wants to do with it, and we'll back him 100 per cent of the way.
"The sad thing is, this has happened to the majority of indigenous players throughout their careers. The ones we really need to stand up for are the local communities. At an AFL level, it gets pointed out. At a local level, people from the boundary slurring people from the forward pocket, they're the people that we need to stand up for.
"That's the real sad truth, that it happens a local level and nothing gets done about it. We need to make sure we make a big stance because the kids that are 12, 13 years old just want to enjoy playing football, [but they] cop it and they've got no-one to stand up for them.
"I haven't copped it playing AFL yet, I've copped it as a junior and it's pretty confronting. They're the people I'm trying to stand up for, those people that don't have a say, that don't know what to do, [to say] that we're there for you and we're going to make sure this doesn't happen again.
"Eddie Betts has copped it; this is his second time in AFL. It's pretty sad to see that. He's going to deal with it in his whole way.
"It's bigger than sport. It's not Crows v Port, it's not AFL v NRL, it's people v people; we've got to be there for each other as a community and as Australians, we're in this together. It doesn't matter where you are from. We're a culture that is very diverse and we have to make sure we are accepted and that's not going to bind us who we are."
