from the land of the 'fair go ' a ‘racially offensive’ description

Magazine sorry for ‘racially offensive’ description of Indigenous surfer

Surfing Life issues unreserved apology for article that describes Otis Carey’s face as ‘apeish’

Helen Davidson

An Australian surfing magazine has apologised “unreservedly” after publishing an article which described Indigenous free surfer Otis Carey as having “an apeish face”.

Surfing Life ran an interview with the Coffs Harbour surfer, who now lives on Sydney’s northern beaches, in which the writer describes how “with his apeish face and cowering hair-curtains, I expect little more than Cro-Magnon grunts from his mouth. I am caught off guard by the clarity and eloquence of his speech.”

The writer, Nathan Myers, was recounting the final stages of filming a surf movie, Se7en Signs, which featured Carey.

In a statement to Guardian Australia, Surfing Life said it failed to pick up racist connotations on the original edit of the story, rather interpreting it as a “jibe at the stereotypical surfer”, and apologised “unreservedly” to Carey and his family when his offence was brought to their attention on Tuesday. Surfing Life said the family “were gracious enough to receive” the apology.

“At Surfing Life we absolutely abhor racism of any kind and actively work to eradicate it from our culture,” it said.

“In the same issue, we extended five pages of free advertorial space to a charity active in remote Indigenous communities and while our respect for Otis is primarily driven by his incredible talent as a surfer, we also admire the fact he is a role model for many Indigenous Australians.”

Editor Wade Davis, who has African and Indigenous Australian heritage, is “devastated that a thoughtless misread could have allowed an insensitive and damaging term to have slipped through to publication”, said the statement.

“Unfortunately, none of this changes Otis’s or his family’s hurt. We have since amended our digital edition of the magazine, published this apology online and continue to offer our apologies to the Carey family and Indigenous community overall.”

Carey’s family requested the magazine not make contact with the young surfer and the staff will respect their wishes, it concluded.

News Corp Australia reported Carey may be talking with Australian of the Year and AFL player Adam Goodes about the incident.

Goodes has been an outspoken opponent of racism since he wasracially abused by a teenage girl attending an AFL game.

“Our concern is Otis’s wellbeing,” Carey’s father told the Daily Telegraph. “We just have to support him.”

Carey, 23, is a sponsored free surfer and a well-known competitor in Indigenous surfing competitions.

“I’d love to put more effort into being able to teach young and old Indigenous people how to surf,” he told Bowery magazine.

“I get so friggin’ stoked when a young Koori kid or any kid of any heritage approaches me on Facebook or wherever and tells me how cool it was to see a picture of me surfing with the Koori flag on my surfboard.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/12/magazine-sorry-for-racially-offensive-description-of-indigenous-surfer