Pearce revealed the incident ahead of the AFL’s Indigenous Round, which Pearce hoped would continue to promote awareness of Aboriginal culture and help stamp out racism.
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Pearce declined to reveal specific details of the incident, which occurred while playing for Sturt against Woodville-West Torrens at Adelaide Oval in round three.
"It kind of caught me by surprise at the time," Pearce said of the incident.
"You get some naïve and narrow-minded people out there and you just have pity for them.”
The 25-year-old is not the first player to be racially abused this year.
Last month, Hawthorn star Lance Franklin expressed disappointment at racial taunts made by a spectator in the club's round-four win over West Coast at Aurora Stadium in Launceston.
The AFL and AFLPA condemned the abuse, and the Hawks launched a campaign to try and identify the man in question.
The League has made significant inroads towards eliminating racism in football and also the wider community through its racial and religious vilification policy, but Pearce said his experience proved there was still work to be done.
"I won't say it [racism] is dead…but from where it was to where it is now it's 10-fold different and that's the good thing about having the Indigenous Round.
"You can help educate and give people a bit more knowledge and, hopefully, it gets rid of [racism] sooner rather than later."
Pearce was sent back to the SANFL after suffering an early-season form slump before being recalled to the team to play Hawthorn in round seven.
"Matty [Primus] just wanted to see a lot more speed from me around the ground, chasing the ball forward and chasing the ball back,” Pearce said of the reasons behind his demotion.
“My speed is my greatest strength and Matt just wanted to see a lot more of it.
"[I didn't have] the right understanding of exactly what Matty was looking for. I have a role in the team, but the communication wasn't there and I wasn't exactly 100 per cent sure what Matty was looking for.
"As soon as he sat me down and told me, 'this is what I want', I started working towards that."
Pearce is one of several senior players, including All-Australian pair Chad and Kane Cornes, and leadership group members Jacob Surjan and Steven Salopek to be dropped in the opening eight rounds of the season.
The goalkicking onballer said Primus had put all players "on notice".
"You're not looking over your shoulder, but you're definitely aware that one bad game and you're a lot closer to getting dropped," he said.
"You couldn't get away with [bad games last year], but Choco [former coach Mark Williams] backed you in that little bit more. He'd put you on notice and then tell you to make sure you played well the following week.
"Now, we've got so many young players coming up and starting to play well in the SANFL that you don't really have that luxury and if you don't play well, you're gone."
Pearce has been linked to the new Greater Western Sydney franchise, where Williams is now an assistant coach under Kevin Sheedy.
The former NAB Rising Star is contracted to the Power until the end of 2012 and said he was "shocked" by reports linking him to GWS.
"Footy is definitely a business and you weigh up your options when you get to that point…but I haven't even thought past next week. I've only just got back in the side and I've got to make sure I play well, so I don't end up back at Sturt," he said.
Katrina Gill covers Adelaide news for afl.com.au. Follow her on Twitter: @AFL_KatrinaGill
