‘First Contact’ Participant Sandy Quits Show Following Racist Remarks [VIDEO]
“First Contact” participant Sandy has quit. The 41-year-old mortgage broker has been dubbed a racist online for her negative views about Aboriginal people in the show.
The SBS’ new program, hosted by Ray Martin, sees six white Australians volunteering to meet Aboriginal communities around the country to challenge their prejudices and views. They were brought to a remote community on Elcho Island, where the largest Aboriginal community is located.
Although Sandy first appeared to be interested with the new experience, but has remained adamant about her views about indigenous people throughout the first episode of the show on Tuesday.
“God gave black people rhythm and soul. They can dance and sing and all are hot while they dance, but when it comes to brains, white people have better brains,” the unapologetically provocative mother-of-five said in the show. And if viewers think that she’s racist, she didn’t “f------- care.”
In the show, Sandy irked viewers when she refused to sleep on a child’s bed because it’s “too dirty.”
“I’m not staying, I can’t. I know what happens on those mattresses, they all sleeping on it with all their sweat, their drinking and their partying. I’m not doing that,” she said.
Sandy and her fellow participants came to the island with strong opinions about the indigenous, thinking that the Aboriginals were “lazy” and they get a free ride with benefits. However, while the other five admitted they were ignorant about their views, Sandy’s views didn’t falter.
According to news.com.au, she pulled out of the show shortly afterwards. She said she had “a lot of stuff going on at home,” and so she thought that it’s already time to leave the show.
“No matter what colour we are, or where we’re from, we all have opportunities to change our lives,” she told the paper. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Aboriginal or come from overseas on a boat, everyone has opportunities here to live a different way.”
She continued, “A lot of the Aboriginals choose to live (in poverty), I think it’s what they’re used to. Sometimes it’s hard to change. In Alice Springs, they’re all drunks, and then there’s other areas where there are dry communities, no alcohol. However, they’ll find another way.”
While the others have soften their views after 28 days, another participant, Jasmine, admitted that her strong opinions are “still up in the air.”
“Definitely the whole welfare thing, you know the money, I feel like that wasn’t properly answered,” she told the Daily Mail Australia. “And how they can automatically get a place in uni degrees. Obviously because I’ve got children too I feel it affects me, they might be taking my children’s place in uni.”
After watching the first episode of the three-part series, viewers took to Twitter to post their thoughts, with most expressing their outrage.
Woman says she thinks all Aboriginal people just eat bugs. Is this for real? #FirstContactSBS
— Andrew Burrell (@AndrewBurrell7) November 18, 2014
Would Sandy also say "get over it" to veterans, disaster survivors, people who were abused? #FirstContactSBS — Kelsey (@sortofkelsey) November 18, 2014
What a vile piece of work that Sandy is from #FirstContactSBS your karma is going to be just as vile as you.
— anthony adams (@antinoz) November 18, 2014
Scrolling through #FirstContactSBS feed and its sad we need to expose such prejudices 1) still exist and 2) are still wrong #auspol — Will Camphin (@WillCamphin) November 18, 2014
“First Contact” will air its remaining episodes on Wednesday and Thursday on SBS One.