Our game is one made up of moments.
Some of them are fleeting and are forgotten almost as quickly as they unfolded. Others last far longer, but in time, eventually blur in with the rest.
Very few endure for decades. Even fewer transcend the sport and speak to an entire nation.
Today marks 30 years since Nicky Winmar’s proud and defining stand against racism at Victoria Park: one of those moments that hasn’t diminished in time, and regrettably, is still just as relevant today.
There’s been progress made, but evidently, not enough. Recent instances of racial abuse directed at players still tarnish the game and our society.
The fact Winmar’s gesture from that fateful day three decades ago is still being talked about in this manner – not as a beginning of the end for racism, but instead as a reminder of the perpetual fight against it – speaks volumes.
That thought cuts deep. For Winmar, it’s a complicated mix of emotions. But it shouldn’t overshadow or take away from the power of the movement that it has since generated.
Wherever or whenever you were born, football fan or otherwise, everyone knows Winmar’s stand and the significance it bears to both a nation and a people.
The game itself and the Saints’ win in 1993 courtesy of he and Gilbert McAdam’s brilliance that day are wholly secondary when it comes to what happened post-game.
One hand pulling up his Saints jumper to reveal his black skin, the other pointing to his flesh with pride in response to the vile abuse that was hurled from the crowd that April afternoon.
“I’m black and I’m proud,” Winmar said.
It was captured by Wayne Ludbey in the iconic photograph that has been intrinsically linked to the battle against the scourge of racism, later immortalised in bronze in Western Australia just outside of his native Noongar Country as a reminder of its impact and importance.
The moment was again honoured during yesterday’s match, with St Kilda and Collingwood uniting on-field pre-game in acknowledgement of Winmar’s stand, and will be again onTuesday evening with a Ngarra Jarra Noun Healing Ceremony at the scene where this powerful act took place. A moment never forgotten.
Winmar’s stand is twinged with both the ugliest and proudest elements of humanity.
Reflecting on this moment, and those of the past few weeks, reminds us, there is still more to be done from everyone. A lot of listening, of learning, of understanding and of doing better.
Racism is a stain. If recent events demonstrate anything, it’s that it will take a lot more to eradicate this.
Thirty years on, we each have the choice to be better. Thirty years on, it’s up to the next generation to make it happen.
And thirty years on, Nicky Winmar is still black and still proud.
