Kant, Public Reason and Damien Hooper's T-Shirt

Earlier in the semester, in the context of Kant's analysis of Public Reason, there was a discussion about whether or not it was appropriate for boxer Damien Hooper to wear non-regulatoin clothing in the form of an Aboriginal Flag t-shirt.  In an analysis of the event, Alex McAulay, writing in the Socialist Alternative, argued:

The rank hypocrisy of Hooper’s censure is put into relief by the constant celebration of all things British at the Games. The opening ceremony was an epic three and a half hour whitewash of history’s bloodiest colonial empire which was widely applauded as an “irreverent, but never disrespectful” celebration of the “quirky” Brits. Damien Hooper’s celebration of his people’s survival of a genocide initiated by Britain flies in the face of this cosy image."

Hooper's actions are perhaps not as important as the intellectual histories that we draw on to explain whether he was correct or incorrect.