When Adam Goodes was named a brand ambassador for David Jones, the racist abuse quickly followed. It proved what many have been saying: that the booing on the football field wasn't because of how he played the game, writes Patricia Karvelas.

Adam Goodes is being stalked in his post football career by a toxic and racially motivated mob campaign.

The mob does not represent Australia, but they are seeking to dominate our country's narrative about race, sport and power. They feed on the publicity of bashing Adam Goodes and are egged on by each other.

Their end game is clear - they want to run one of our most lauded sportsmen out of every institution, out of every place he turns to share his story and his success.

If we let them define the story, to perpetuate the notion that we are an unreconstructed racist nation, they will win.

They are no longer using their boos in the football stadium as the arena to bully and kick a man we once applauded with pride as our Australian of the Year. But their aim is the same - they want to silence, to humiliate, and to put Goodes in his place.

The retired AFL player and former Australian of the Year is one of six new brand ambassadors for the retail giant David Jones, featuring in its new It's In You advertising campaign.

It's not surprising that David Jones chose Goodes as a brand ambassador. He represents resilience, strength, longevity and achievement. He is the very epitome of survival, of class, a proud Aboriginal man who has fought for his place at the centre of the Australian story.

Despite the racists and stalkers seeking to paint him as a divisive and tarnished character, Goodes is anything but. David Jones has made a strategic marketing decision to stand with Goodes, and not against him. Their commercial and moral decision is based on the central premise that Goodes is NOT what a small and angry mob suggests he is. He is a national figure of strength, and that strength is a powerful marketing tool.

When news broke yesterday that the David Jones Facebook page was being flooded by anti-Goodes abuse, I wasn't surprised. It proved what those who have long argued that the booing of Goodes was racially motivated have been saying. The notion that Goodes was being booed because he stages for so called "free kicks" has been exposed.

The vile attacks against Goodes on the Facebook page are typical of the same spirit we saw at the footy stadiums. It is mass bullying - there is no other way to describe it.

"Didn't really like David Jones as a store or chain but can be sure I will never set foot or spend a cent in there now," one comment said.

"David Jones where all the sooks go," said another.

Others just wrote "boo", pointing to the repeated booing that haunted the last part of Goodes' football career.

And there were other comments so revolting, so dripping with racism, that I've deliberately chosen not to republish them.

In a statement, David Jones said it was disappointed with the reaction to their new brand Ambassador. The statement said:

David Jones is proud to have Adam Goodes, a powerful and inspirational Australian, join its family of ambassadors. Adam features in our recently launched campaign #itsinyou and will also work with David Jones on its reconciliation action plan and its broader corporate social responsibility program. We have received significant positive feedback from our staff, customers, vendors and other stakeholders regarding Adam's appointment and our latest brand campaign.

A fierce debate is now under way about whether the latest tragic chapter in this now ritualistic bludgeoning of Goodes proves that Australia is a racist nation. It is a circular conversation.

Descending into a hole of self denial does nothing to build a reconciled country with a capacity to thrive. Of course racism is pervasive, our task is to name it and unlearn it. Denying it exists doesn't make it go away, it prolongs it and keeps it in our contemporary national story.

Where there are racists, bullies, and morons using social media to denigrate one of the nation's greats, there are also Australians bursting with pride and committed to diversity and unity. Australians took to that David Jones Facebook page yesterday to overwhelmingly back Goodes.

The comments on that page not only supporting Goodes but backing David Jones for aligning themselves with him are where we need to look. Kill them with kindness, rewrite the national story, and send the clearest message of all - Indigenous Australians will not be booed by a noisy and vicious mob ever again. We must all stand up and end the stalking of Adam Goodes.

Patricia Karvelas is the presenter of RN Drive and has been a prominent senior journalist in the Australian media for 15 years.