On Friday, we reported on the embarrassing incident at Melbourne’s prestigious Scotch College, where a teacher was forced to resign after making a racist (and sexist) remark in front of a class of year 11 boys, one of whom was Nathan Djerrkura, an indigenous boy who’s part of the school’s football scholarship program. Physical education teacher Simon Hood was explaining mnemonics to a class when he suggested they have a go at thinking up a memory aid for BBRWW. The students all offered suggestions, but when it came to his turn, Hood shocked the class with his own off-the-cuff example: “Black b*stards r*pe willing women.”

The story was followed up in Britain – in The Independent and on an Irish news source called Unison.ie – as well as making it into the Herald Sun, The Adelaide Advertiser and The Australian (archived).

But one place where the story failed to get a run was in Melbourne’s own paper of record: The Age.

Crikey readers weren’t mute on the subject, though:

Subscriber David writes:
Crikey, as a 1st year electrical apprentice in 1990, I was taught the memory aid for remembering resistor values based on the coloured bands on the side. It went “black b*stards r*pe our young girls but virgins go willingly” or BBROYGBVGW or black brown red orange yellow green blue violet grey white. Perhaps Simon Hood was thoughtlessly sharing his own version with the class. It’s not as if he called anyone a “black c*nt” like fellow role model Darren Lehman. More like playing “Eenie Meenie Minee Moe” and forgetting to replace “n*gger” with “tiger.”

Kerryn Goldsworthy writes:
Just in case anybody missed this point, “rape willing women” is an oxymoron. Obviously the vile racism was the worst aspect of Simon Hood’s remark in the hallowed halls of Scotch College, but the mind also boggles at the sinister implications of a grown man – in 2005, in a position of authority, and holding (presumably) qualifications of tertiary training in how the human body works – whose words demonstrate an inability to grasp the distinction between rape and consensual sex.

A subscriber writes:
Scotch College Australia’s most prestigious school? It’s not even the peak among the Victorian schools, let alone Australia. One would generally rank Melbourne Grammar and Geelong Grammar at the head of the pack. Anyway, I am fascinated at the moment about indigenous sensitivities. An Aboriginal footballer can get upset by Rex Hunt’s “Black Dog” call – with its origins back to 19th century London – but then rally around to celebrate the Aboriginal Aussie Rules team of the century. I have big sympathies to our indigenous people – we should say “sorry” just for the record – but how would they feel if we had a white person’s team of the century? Equality is equality I say.

Andrew Lewis writes:
Did a Scotch College parent really say: “The teacher’s behaviour was unforgivable and I think Dr Donaldson has showed the whole school community that racism and sexism won’t be tolerated.” I’ll say it has showed him! It has showed him good and proper, like! There’ll be no more doings a-transpiring in Scotch College. I haven’t been to school for a while. Has the word “shown” been shown the linguistic door?