ABC mocked for constant deployment of incredibly accurate ‘racism detector’

[00:00:00]The ABC has once again deployed its most reliable investigative tool, the racism detector. It's a remarkable device.

[00:00:09]Given enough taxpayer funding, and it can locate systemic racism anywhere. In workplaces, sporting clubs, universities, and I assume with just a little more funding inside ham sandwiches. This week the ABC announced a troubling discovery. Indigenous AFLW players rate their workplace culture lower than their teammates. So, the headline, well, it practically writes itself.

[00:00:34]Racism remains a key issue for AFL players, while indigenous AFLW players rate workplace culture low.

[00:00:42]Fine, but there's a small problem. The numbers.

[00:00:47]According to the report, indigenous AFLW players rated their workplace culture at 6.95 out of 10.

[00:00:55]The average rating among all AFLW players was 7.28 out of 10. So, that's a difference between indigenous and non-indigenous female players of 0.33 out of 10. Now, >> [clears throat] >> to ordinary human beings without access to an ABC grade racism detector, this might appear to be a fairly modest difference. But that's because you don't have an ABC racism detector. If you did, you'd know there's no such thing as a statistical anomaly, and there's certainly no such thing as just a number.

[00:01:27]0.33 out of 10 is more than enough for the ABC to fire up the racism emergency siren.

[00:01:36]By this standard, every office in Australia is just one awkward coffee order away from a royal commission.

[00:01:41]Now, no one would dismiss anyone's personal experience. If a player feels unsupported, well, that matters. And there are genuine instances of racism, and they should be confronted.

[00:01:53]But when you splash a headline suggesting a cultural crisis, the evidence, ideally, should look, you know, like a crisis.

[00:02:01]What's interesting to me is not that the ABC reported the figures. The figures are the figures.

[00:02:06]What fascinates me is this relentless search for the darkest possible interpretation of ordinary human variation.

[00:02:14]A survey of AFL players becomes a treasure hunt where the prize, well, it's always the same, isn't it? Another reason to announce Australia has failed a morality test.

[00:02:25]Now, of course, the article does mention other concerns, including reports of racism, abuse online, and dissatisfaction with responses to such incidents. Those issues deserve attention.

[00:02:36]But there's a difference between identifying a problem and inflating every statistical wrinkle into a national indictment. Sometimes a number is evidence of injustice.

[00:02:47]Sometimes a number it's just, well, you know, a number. Unless, of course, the ABC's racism detector is nearby, in which case even a decimal point can become a national emergency.