Meet Otis Carey. Photo: Insight
“Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature.” - Salvador Dali
Last month, Australia Surfing Life printed an egregiously offensive sentence that never, ever should have gone to print. Period. It slipped past the editorial filters and safeguards that typically cage 99% of the words, phrases, and ideas that aren’t fit for publication, and, it escaped. It made a grand getaway.
Now, tabloids know what Australia Surfing Life is. Who Otis Carey is. Who Nathan Myers is. Now, surfers around the planet have become peripherally aware of sensitivities and inequities deep-seated in Australian culture. Now, there are defamatory lawsuits being bandied about. Now, we have open letters and deeply conflicting perspectives floating through lineups around the world. Many people (both within and beyond our small surfing community) are hurt and upset. And understandably so. But good will come of this. It must.
Disrespect towards another’s race, religion, sexual orientation, culture or heritage, be it accidental or intentional, carries with it grave consequences. These are not simple reparations – matters of the heart and heritage never are. And determining the appropriate legal recourse represents an infinitely more impossible task. Men and women much more qualified than me can split hairs into eternity attempting to assign a tangible value to emotional trauma. A fool’s errand, I’d argue. Incontrovertibly, hurt cannot be quantified.
But I am optimist eternal.
Obnoxiously, I think we can re-frame any and every adverse, painful scenario into a constructive opportunity where all involved benefit. We’re humans. We’ve got minds and empathy, so we’ve got an obligation to turn the corner. And the unraveling between Otis Carey, Australia Surfing Life, and Nathan Myers presents a precious opportunity for surfing as a community, to grow.
A similar scenario unfolded when Mick Fanning called Chas Smith a “fucking Jew,” a few years ago. Suddenly, cultural sensitivities were thrust into surfing’s limelight. And last year, an article on Surfline about Brazilians caused a similar stir. Surfing hasn’t historically handled these moments with grace.
I realize that moments like these are sensitive and often exploited for personal gain. For controversy. For pride. For attention. For cash. For reasons unknown. But I also know that moments like these are why writing, as a medium, and media, as a profession, actually matter.
Lazy writing and an editorial oversight may have created this unpleasant situation, but, in a roundabout way, they have lead to important, earnest communication that otherwise never would have happened – around a topic that’s frequently overlooked and ignored. Obviously, the hurt caused towards the Carey family and aboriginal culture is undeniably terrible. But the conversation it has inspired is not. Far from it. I’d like to think it will cause more good than harm.
My shower agrees. I have an industrial size bottle of soap in my shower called Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. The bottle is chock-full of quotes and borderline religious maxims. A lot of them are crazy, and the bottle’s religiosity makes me feel uncomfortable. The soap is peppermint. It’s tingly on the skin, which is nice. And while I was showering the other day, listening to Beyonce (as I do), a quote I had never noticed on the label caught my eye:
“More good comes from evil in this world than comes from good.”
It was a steamy scene, but I read it over several times and thought about it well past the duration of my shower. I thought first about the holocaust. Then about slavery. And once again I felt a bit freaked out about that bottle. Like maybe it was some weird cult soap that has no place in a sane man’s bathroom. Then I did some research.
It turns out, Dr. Bronner’s parents and extended family were murdered in the holocaust, and that senseless tragedy motivated him to develop a new philosophy that he plasters all over soap bottles. A lot of it is strange, but its basic tenet – born of a mishmash of quotes from a wide spectrum of religions and philosophies – seems to communicate that we’re all in this together, and until we embrace that idea, we’ll continue to tear each other down.
Disclaimer: In no way am I promulgating a new religion. I’m merely sharing an interesting thought that is especially poignant at the moment.
Was that sentence born of evil intent? Unlikely. That sentence, stripped from the wider context of the article, flickers with shades of evil as a vestige of attitudes and history from a different era that should have been acknowledged and respected – but regrettably were not. As a result, that sentence is dangerous, yes. And it’s precisely because of that danger that a pending lawsuit and a tempest in a teapot are raging. But as the soap bottle says, this communication is good. And The Inertia’s mission is to provide a space for that communication to happen in a safe – but honest and occasionally raw setting, where anyone and everyone is given a platform — as long as what they are voicing isn’t malicious or otherwise hurtful.
The whole affair has opened up a dialog. It’s caused a conversation that will lead to deeper understanding. Otis Carey challenged an organization and an entire culture to take its work and its cultural sensitivities more seriously. On that account, it’s hard to find fault with his decision to litigate. It’s his prerogative, and there is courage and a catalyst for change in such stands. In response, Nathan Myers used resources available to him to share his perspective. He felt vilified and misunderstood, and, for better or worse, he did as man does. He earnestly shared his perspective in this Gordian-knot-of-a-public-confrontation, and, in that there is honor too.
The resolution lies somewhere in the middle, but the humanity of it all is clear as day. It’s a transgression. It’s pain. It’s an apology and fear. It’s a desire for understanding and cultural sensitivity. And it’s refreshing.
Today, there is something to talk about in surfing. And today, unlike most days, it actually matters.
Whether you disagree with Carey or with Myers, through open, respectful communication on the matter, good will come of this. It already has. At least that’s what my soap says.