Racist comment OK, but only from friends: Symonds

Ahead of the Perth Test against India, Symonds declared he could tolerate racism 8211; but only from those he knew.

8220;I8217;m not a sensitive person about it,8221; he said.

8220;If you know me well you can have a joke to me about anything and any part of racism and I8217;ll laugh,8221; he was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.

8220;I mean, I8217;m not sensitive about it but if I8217;m not your friend, if you8217;re an opposition player or something like that, it is unacceptable.8221;

However, Symonds said some rival cricketers could afford to make a racist comment without raising his ire.

8220;Even with opposition players, if I do know them well and they want to joke about something like that, it doesn8217;t stir me up so what8217;s happened is something I and the Australian boys have taken very seriously. It the racism affair is a really difficult thing for me to comment on as it hasn8217;t been totally resolved,8221; he said.

8220;Obviously, people are very interested in what8217;s happened but they probably won8217;t actually know exactly what8217;s happened for quite some time, until the dust has settled,8221; Symonds said.

But he claimed Harbhajan8217;s actions, during a Test match, had annoyed him because it breached the boundaries of social acceptability.

8220;I8217;m very relaxed about life and I understand there are many different types of people,8221; he said.

8220;You know, I used to have a bit of fun and people used to have a bit of fun with me in the playground when I was at school so I understand that kids are very blunt about that sort of thing. But it racism is one of those things that, in the modern day, is obviously very publicly unacceptable,8221; Symonds added.