Racism is once again the biggest issue in the world.
America looks like it's in another civil war.
Yet, as Australians we are complacent.
We look at America and shake our heads in disbelief. We act as though racism is an overseas issue.
Don't get me wrong, we are very lucky to live in this beautiful country.
But if you think racism isn't an issue here you haven't been paying attention.
Recently, I sat down with former Sydney Swans captain Kieren Jack on the 'Refuse to Lose' podcast to speak about his career, his charity work and life after football.
It was one of the most honest and thought-provoking chats I've ever had with an athlete.
As an Aboriginal man, our conversation about Adam Goodes and the entire 2015 booing saga struck a deep chord with me.
Since the ordeal, two documentaries have been made about the issue, one of which included Goodes' commentary.
What I've never heard before is his teammates' raw experience of the situation; what it was like to witness, what was spoken about while it was occurring and how they reflect on what was one of Australia's greatest racial shames of this century.
"We didn't do enough for Goodsey," said Jack on the podcast.
"What the AFL were trying to do to make it stop, they were like let's not give this any air, don't talk about, let's hope that it dies down and in hindsight it was the absolutely wrong thing to do. It doesn't work, it actually got louder.
"There was an iconic image from 'The Final Quarter' where Goodsey is at a recovery session down in Clovelly and he's standing there with about 20 journos and he was there on his own.
"We should have been there, we should have even stood behind him.
"At some point we had to make a stand because inevitably it was going to break him and it did in the end."
The incessant booing reached breaking point at a game against West Coast in Perth.
"West Coast is hostile at its best, but I've never experienced anything like the hostility that was at that game that day," Jack said.
"Lewis Jetta was almost getting in fights with people who were yelling the most outrageous stuff at him and after that Goodsey took some time away."
Goodes eventually returned to play a handful of games with the Swans before deciding to retire at the end of the 2015 season.
He chose not to attend the traditional retiring players parade on Grand Final day.
"He didn't go on the parade on Grand Final day because he actually felt like he would be booed in front of everyone, that's disgraceful," Jack said.
"It's absolutely disgraceful, it's been a blight on the game.
"I fear that we're just going to forget about it because he's retired and moved on, but we should never forget about it."
Jack developed a strong social conscious in the latter stages of his career after looking outside of what many athletes refer to as the 'sports bubble'.
He now tries to use his profile to speak about various issues and injustices he sees in the community.
"To be honest I was pretty narrowed minded," he said.
"Sport was everything to me but now that football's over I feel like this weight is off my back.
"It wasn't really until later in my career where my eyes were opening up and I was starting to see the inequalities that are going on.
"I find myself now, as a white, straight male, I'm in this great position of privilege but why?
"I shouldn't be any different to anyone else. Everyone deserves equal opportunity."
Jack is now working with 'The Food Pantry' at the Addison Road Community Centre in Marrickville, helping to deliver food hampers to people all over Sydney.
"Last week we went to a Mosque in Lakemba and delivered 200 hampers to Muslim families and any families who wanted to come down," he said.
"It was just about connecting people from different, religions, race, sexual orientation, doesn't matter.
"Let's just get everyone together and sport can be a great connector for that."
In recent days we've seen how important athletes' voices are when it comes to creating social change.
Countless sports superstars, black and white, have been speaking out about the race riots engulfing the United States in recent days.
We in Australia need more guys like Kieren Jack and Adam Goodes who are using their profiles and power for a purpose as well.
Listen to Jake Duke's full interview with Kieren Jack on the Refuse to Lose podcast, here
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/jake-duke-adam-goodes-booing-saga-racism-in-australia/e576a89d-67e8-4a03-9463-803d36fff865
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