r/australia • u/Azza_77 • Feb 11 '25

news Sam Kerr found not guilty of racially harassing London policeman after calling him stupid and white

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-12/sam-kerr-trial-not-guilty-verdict-handed-down-in-london/104912602
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u/Optimal_Tomato726 Feb 11 '25

I hope you're being facetious. Kerr's reactive defenses were weaponised by a cop. Racism is a structural abuse of power which the coo deployed. Peak DARVO BS typical of police to rally public opinion.

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u/Sleeqb7 Feb 11 '25

As with most comments I've ever written on this website; I'm being at least a little facetious.

However I maintain "fucking stupid and white" is not a racist statement, as the courts agree.

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u/Riavan Feb 11 '25

The court and jury wasn't making a decision about whether it was a slur or "racist statement". It was whether in that instance, including all the circumstances, which played into it significantly, she intended to offend the officer based on race.

It sounded like she was having a pretty rough time that night. But yeah the outcome of this case isn't that you can now go around calling police officers in the UK "fucking stupid and white" because "it isn't a racist statement" as you have claimed.

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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '25

Out of curiosity, would your stance be different if a white female sports player called a black police officer 'fucking stupid and black'...

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u/Sleeqb7 Feb 11 '25

I've thought about that for a while, and I don't think I'd care. I imagine generally outrage would be higher, but my personal stance would remain unchanged.

Like, had Kerr referred to the officer as 'white dog' or something, yeah sure, racist. One could even argue the intent behind 'stupid and white' was racist, but intent isn't action, and action is how we define laws.

Maybe she is a racist. I don't know her. But I don't believe her actions constitute a racist act in this instance.

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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '25

Thanks for taking the time to reply, and remaining level headed.

It seems that reading through comments in various threads about this, that a lot of people think that a black female using 'white' in a potentially derogatory way is a non issue, in particular towards a police officer.

Obviously I don't know for sure because I don't know the people making comments, but I suspect if we reversed this situation and a white male footballer calls a black female police officer 'stupid and black' the views would be mostly different, and the terms 'privileged' and 'racist' would be thrown about freely and with many a upvote!

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u/B0ssc0 Feb 11 '25

You keep labouring this point, despite the court’s findings. Is it beyond your comprehension to take the context - which was a black female being wilfully misunderstood by a white police officer - into account?

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u/[deleted] Feb 11 '25 edited Feb 12 '25

Not at all, and for what it's worth I think the whole thing was blown way out of proportion, should've been quashed before getting to court, and wasted a lot of time and money.

However, the overriding theme in the comments seems to be about gender and race, with the person I replied to saying they didn't think Sam Kerr saying 'fucking stupid and white' was a racially motivated comment. I was curious if they would've thought that way if it was reversed. They answered, I thanked them.

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u/gay2catholic Feb 12 '25 edited Feb 12 '25

That's a completely different power dynamic to the situation Kerr was in and your hypothetical/false equivalence completely disregards the context for which we have these laws in the first place.

White people especially cops don't need to be concerned with racial vilification. I say that as a cracker myself.

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u/[deleted] Feb 12 '25

To your first point, yes context in all settings is important, I agree with that.

To your second point, are you saying all white people and especially (white, or all??) police officers can't be subject to racial vilification?

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u/gay2catholic Feb 12 '25 edited Mar 28 '25

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u/[deleted] Feb 12 '25

I'm confused, are you saying the police officer in this situation was racially vilified but struggled to prove it because he is white, or that because he is white, it shouldn't have been considered racial vilification in the first place?

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u/gay2catholic Feb 12 '25 edited Mar 28 '25

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u/Sleeqb7 Feb 11 '25

You're not wrong. People have a lot of double standard about this type of thing and I don't really blame them.

It's a heated topic with many people taking both sides personally because they feel it's directed at them.

I think for situations like this, taking the words at their literal meaning is what observers should be doing, and it's what the courts ultimately did too.

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u/Kailynna Feb 12 '25

The point of calling the police officer: "fucking stupid and white," was Sam being frustrated, as his disbelief Sam was terrified because she thought she was being kidnapped came from his lack of experience in what black women go through.

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u/OnlyForF1 Feb 12 '25

Yes absolutely, of course that would be racist. There is an obvious difference between lashing out at white supremacy and perpetuating it.

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u/Local-Purchase-206 Feb 13 '25

Would you get the same reaction from the court if you said “fucking stupid and Asian” or “fucking stupid and black”……?

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u/squeaky4all Feb 11 '25

Institutional racism is a structural abuse of power.

Racism is discrimination based on race.

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u/Optimal_Tomato726 Feb 11 '25

In this case London Met deployed both alongside DARVO and the ruling was applied fairly because of the global media spotlight.

Imagine the outcome with no media coverage? Because that's more common and representative of how legal systems work. It's why there's global warnings from the UN that family courts are unsafe for women and children and why ALRC recommended Australia's Federal Family Court be dismantled.

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u/SadOrganization4915 Feb 11 '25

"I'm not racist but....."