Former Magpies AFL player and broadcaster Tony Armstrong has spoken out about the mistreatment of Indigenous Australians.
In response to the murder of George Floyd, Armstrong shared stories about being racially profiled on the show, Yokayi Footy.
“This week, we watched on in horror, as African-American George Floyd died under the weight of a white policeman’s knee.
“He called for his mother, he screamed the words ‘I can’t breathe’. Despite this, the policeman kept pressing, and eight minutes later, George Floyd was dead.
“The Australian response? ‘Thank goodness that stuff doesn’t happen here, right?’
Armstrong then went into detail about being racially profiled while playing for Collingwood.
“I went for a coffee with a couple of teammates. Two policemen followed me into the cafe,” he said. “They went on to ask for my ID. They wanted to know where I’d been and what I was doing.
“Why? There’d been a robbery nearby. When I proved who I was, they just scoffed and walked away.”
According to the former Magpie, just last week, he was walking through Carlton in Victoria where a similar thing happened.
“Speak to anyone from our mob and they’ll tell you the same stories,” he said, before saying that he was one of “the lucky ones — lucky that when I’ve been racially profiled, I haven’t wound up in jail, bashed, or found dead in custody.”
He also recalled stats of Indigenous peoples who died in custody in Australia. He said that of those who died since 2008, “half of the women and a third of the men did not receive appropriate medical care.”
Concluding the powerful message, the 30-year-old told the story of David Dungay Junior, a 26-year-old Dunghutti man who died in Long Bay Prison after being restrained.
“Amongst his final words? ‘I can’t breathe’.
“Thank goodness that stuff doesn’t happen here, right?”
Here, you can watch the full video of Tony Armstrong’s opening monologue for Yokayi Footy.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=584377662218792
The transcript of Tony Armstrong’s message
“This week, we watched on in horror, as African-American George Floyd died under the weight of a white policeman’s knee.
“He called for his mother, he screamed the words ‘I can’t breathe’. Despite this, the policeman kept pressing, and eight minutes later, George Floyd was dead.
“The Australian response? ‘Thank goodness that stuff doesn’t happen here, right?’
“Back when I played for Collingwood, I went for a coffee with a couple of teammates. Two policemen followed me into the cafe. They went on to ask for my ID. They wanted to know where I’d been and what I was doing.
“Why? There’d been a robbery nearby. When I proved who I was, they just scoffed and walked away.
“The same thing happened last week when I was walking through Carlton, in dress clothes, on my lunch break. Speak to anyone from our mob and they’ll tell you the same stories.
“They’ll tell you the same stories and much worse. I’ve been one of the lucky ones — lucky that when I’ve been racially profiled, I haven’t wound up in jail, bashed, or found dead in custody.
“Over 400 Indigenous people have died in custody since 1991. Of those who died since ‘08, half of the women and a third of the men did not receive appropriate medical care.
“One of those was David Dungay Jr, a 26-year-old Dunghutti man, from Kempsey. He died in Long Bay Prison hospital after being restrained, face-down, by up to five guards.
“Amongst his final words? ‘I can’t breathe’.
“Thank goodness that stuff doesn’t happen here, right?”