Heritier Lumumba had no choice but to endure shocking racial slurs at Collingwood
A young Heritier Lumumba had a policy at Collingwood: go-along-to-get-along. That all changed as a wiser Lumumba’s eye’s were opened.
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The racial slurs started only months into a 199-game Collingwood career that would ultimately last for a decade and eventually bring down a 22-year presidential reign.
For Heritier Lumumba, the comments were so much worse than the nickname “chimp” that he would endure from 2005 until 2013.
Lumumba had been selected by Collingwood as the No.20 selection in the 2004 rookie draft via Claremont — one spot behind a young Dogs rookie called Dale Morris.
But, immediately, a player then known as Harry O’Brien realised if he was going to fit into the rugged, blokey world of an AFL locker room, he had to learn to get along.
It meant enduring teammates shouting “n-----” at the top of their voices, making lewd references to his genitalia and being called a “black c---” and “slave”.
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In “jest”, mind you, and if Lumumba didn’t get the joke that was just his bad luck.
As Lumumba has said in multiple interviews including Russell Jackson’s detailed ABC report last December, he was battling for AFL survival instead of considering a path as a trailblazer against racism.
He dubbed it a “go-along-to-get-along attitude”, determined not to rock the boat as he grabbed a foothold in a Collingwood team only two years on from successive Grand Final appearances.
Much has been made in recent years of the “chimp” nickname that started in his second season and continued all the way through to 2013, when the club finally banished it.
An old AFL Record profile emerged this week and in it Lumumba states that “Chimp” was one of his nicknames at Collingwood.
The Herald Sun has confirmed that the profile is genuine, and in fact was one of three profiles run in which he used the nickname.
The one circulating on social media this week came from Round 7, 2007, with another profile used in Rounds 3 and 19 in the 2009 season.
Six teammates have independently corroborated that he was called Chimp: Andrew Krakouer, Brent Macaffer, Shae McNamara, Chris Dawes, Leon Davis and Chris Egan.
Questions have been asked: Did Lumumba accept the nickname and not do enough to object to a clearly racist moniker?
Why did he only complain in 2013?
Why didn’t he say anything when he and teammates lifted the 2010 premiership cup?
Lumumba, who left Collingwood at the end of 2014 for Melbourne but retired two years and 24 games later, has continually answered those questions.
He has said repeatedly that the public discourse over whether the nickname was said or not had become a smokescreen for deeper issues that included why Collingwood was the kind of environment where it was deemed acceptable.
It is some kind of warped logic to suggest a player subjected to early racism at Collingwood then beaten down enough to feel he should accept a racist nickname should accept the blame for that racism.
As the ‘Do Better’ report makes clear, Collingwood was exactly the kind of place where a protest over his nickname could have backfired.
As the report specifically states: “When complaints about racism are made within the club … Collingwood is perceived as being defensive, doubling down and denying allegations instead of taking an active and proactive approach internally.”
Lumumba, who ended his AFL career on 199 games, said last year: “Keeping the focus on whether or not the nickname was used has been a distraction from the real problem and from the impact it has had on me.”
For Lumumba, Collingwood was a place where he felt he needed to go along with the locker-room humour.
Until a cultural awakening, which included a trip to Brazil where his mother was born, and growing maturity about his identity gave him the courage to speak up.
Teammate Macaffer recalled: “It was always ‘H’ or Harry, and then ‘Chimp’. It was just one of those things.
“I never thought in my head, ‘F---, that’s racist’. I never had that thought but then once he got up and spoke to the group several years later — he had grown up a little bit more and actually understood what that could actually mean and how it could be interpreted — once he said that most of us were like ’Oh shit, yeah, we haven’t thought about it like that’ and then it stopped.”
Lumumba said again this week: “The nickname ‘Chimp’ began in 2005, during the pre-season and, no, I did not make it up myself.
1/ With so many leaders from First Nations & communities of colour calling for McGuire to step down, Daniel Andrews has shown us the boy’s club on full display. The pain & trauma of communities who suffer racism is more important than powerful white men and their friendships.
— Héritier Lumumba (@iamlumumba) February 9, 2021
2/ If Andrews wants to show real leadership, stand up for the communities who are hurting because of Collingwood’s public refusal to admit fault. He says Eddie is ‘equal to the task.’ 22 years is a long time for someone to decide if they want to understand what racism is.
— Héritier Lumumba (@iamlumumba) February 9, 2021
3/ The fact that Andrews can ignore a former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, former Indigenous players and their families, academics and community leaders, shows he cares more about one white man’s ego than fighting racism.
— Héritier Lumumba (@iamlumumba) February 9, 2021
“Despite the nickname being overtly racist, unfortunately, it was not the worst facet of the interpersonal racism that I encountered during my 10 years at CFC.
“Within two months of me being at the club, I had already been exposed to a culture where racist ideas, in the form of jokes, stereotypes and direct abuse was prevalent.”
So with McGuire gone and Lumumba, who now lives in Los Angeles, not even close to satisfied by the review, what is next for Collingwood?
Clearly a specific apology from senior club figures that include coach Nathan Buckley would be a welcome start.
Lumumba deserves an apology not only for the nickname but for the club’s attempts to brief against him, for the lack of a workplace where he could call out racism, for what he sees as the continual attempts to discredit him through veiled references to his wellbeing and mental health.
Collingwood has a clear opportunity to take up the 14th of 18 recommendations in that report and apologise to Lumumba.
Recommendation 14 states: “That the Collingwood Football Club develop a strategy to address and reconcile past acts of racism in a way that is proactive and seeks to reward, not punish, people who speak out against racism”.
Imagine the power in Buckley and captain Scott Pendlebury — who we are not suggesting used the nickname — combining to read a statement that apologises for the club not doing enough to create a culture of inclusiveness.
Lumumba says Buckley emailed him several months ago asking him to come back to the club to see what it had become.
But for Lumumba, so distrustful of Collingwood and its motivations, that public and profound apology is surely the first step to any meaningful dialogue.
Lumumba himself tweeted on February 2 that his pending law suit against the Pies shouldn’t preclude an apology.
“I have instructed my lawyers to file a writ to protect my legal rights. This does not preclude Collingwood from engaging with my claims or offering a comprehensive acknowledgment. Only then will they be able to make a genuine apology.”
That law suit filed in the Victorian Supreme Court last October alleges he “suffered trauma, humiliation, distress and loss of enjoyment” and was subjected to racial abuse or racially offensive conduct.
Collingwood will have to be prepared to expose itself legally to start the healing because a review announced last July has done nothing to bring about a rapprochement.
Collingwood can be part of the AFL’s racist problem or it can be part of the solution, and no list of wordy recommendations will satisfy until Lumumba’s individual claims have been dealt with to his satisfaction.
Lumumba slams Dan Andrews over Eddie comments
– Michael Warner
An open letter calling on Collingwood to remove Eddie McGuire as president has been circulated among community leaders, including senior Indigenous figures.
But Victorian premier Daniel Andrews won’t be signing it, again throwing his support behind McGuire on Tuesday morning.
The state leader’s support wasn’t enough to save McGuire, who on Tuesday afternoon stood down from the Magpies top job.
Andrews’ support for McGuire puts him at odds with two federal Labor MPs, Peter Khalil and Anne Aly, who are among a group of about 100 to have signed the open letter, and drew sharp criticism from ex-Magpie Heritier Lumumba.
“With so many leaders from First Nations and communities of colour calling for McGuire to step down, Daniel Andrews has shown us the boy’s club on full display,” Lumumba tweeted.
“The pain and trauma of communities who suffer racism is more important than powerful white men and their friendships.
“If Andrews wants to show real leadership, stand up for the communities who are hurting because of Collingwood’s public refusal to admit fault. He says Eddie is ‘equal to the task.’ 22 years is a long time for someone to decide if they want to understand what racism is.
“The fact that Andrews can ignore a former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, former Indigenous players and their families, academics and community leaders, shows he cares more about one white man’s ego than fighting racism.”
Other signatories include Professor Gary Foley, former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda, Greens Senators Lidia Thorpe and Mehreen Faruqi, St Kilda welfare officer Nathan Lovett-Murray and a host of prominent academics and writers including Celeste Liddle, Dr Tony Birch, Chelsea Bond, Ghassan Hage, Randa Abdel-Fattah, Maxine Beneba-Clark, Benjamin Law, and poet Omar Sakr.
McGuire’s brother, Frank, is the state Labor MP for Broadmeadows.
Senator Thorpe, the Greens spokesperson for Sport and First Nations people and a proud Gunnai Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman, said Collingwood had to take real action “from the top down” to address racism.
“For too long this club, led by Eddie McGuire, has been at the forefront of systemic, discriminatory racism,” she said.
“Sports clubs and their leaders are meant to be role models in our community. How are we allowing people like Eddie McGuire, in such high positions of power, to continue with his leadership role? Eddie’s got to go.”
“Collingwood should not be avoiding the truth — they need to acknowledge their failures, respond to the Do Better report’s recommendations, and act to stamp out systemic racism.”
The letter claims Collingwood’s response to the leaked ‘Do Better’ racism report has been “unacceptable and insulting” and “a dangerous example of how victims of racism should be treated”.
“We believe Eddie McGuire has proven himself incapable of leading the Collingwood Football Club through any meaningful transformation. We call on him to step down immediately,” the letter says.
Andrews said he believed the Collingwood president was “up to the task” of tackling racism.
“I made it pretty clear last week that you don’t run from challenges,” he said.
“You do everything you can to be equal to them.
“The Eddie McGuire I know is up to that task.
“I can tell you in my discussions with him he is very, very committed to doing that work.
Andrews said racism was toxic.
“We have to, not accept, but acknowledge that it is in many different places,” he said.
“Owning it, acknowledging it and then doing something about it. That’s what most important.
“The Eddie McGuire that I know is very committed to that and I believe capable of doing that.
“The last thing to do is to run from this. That’s not going to benefit anybody.”
The letter also takes aim at the AFL’s response to the leaked report and demands Collingwood’s sponsors — Nike, CGU Insurance, Emirates Airlines, La Trobe Financial and Coles — “make clear and unequivocal statements rejecting racism”.
“We believe that there are administrators, staff, fans and members of the Collingwood Football Club who truly wish to see it transcend history,” the letter says.
“That can only happen with a radical shift in leadership.
“A finding of systemic racism is not an excuse for powerful individuals to avoid accountability by blaming a lack of policies or procedures.
“It is an indictment of a fundamentally dysfunctional culture that develops when powerful individuals fail to act responsibly.
“Since both Collingwood and the AFL have demonstrated they are not capable of responding to this report and its findings in an appropriate way, we as a community have no choice but to act. We say enough.
“Racism is dangerous. To the First Peoples of this country, racism means a long, violent and bitter history of invasion, occupation, displacement and genocide. To this day, it remains a matter of life and death. For immigrant communities of colour, it means harassment, marginalisation and trauma.
“For us, racism is not a series of gaffes or ‘mishaps’ that can simply be brushed aside.
“We stand with Heritier Lumumba and his call for Collingwood to acknowledge its failure to prevent him from being subjected to racism by his teammates, as well as the decision by senior club figures, including Eddie McGuire and Nathan Buckley, to punish and discredit him when he spoke up against racism and came forward with his experiences.
“We stand with Nicky Winmar, Michael Long, Adam Goodes, Joel Wilkinson and all those who have been subject to vilification by the club, its fans, and within the club itself. We support their right to acknowledgment, apology and compensation as recommended by the ‘Do Better’ report.
“We call on the Collingwood Football Club to appoint a person or people with significant and widely recognised credentials in truth-telling and reconciliation processes to oversee the implementation of all 18 recommendations of the CFC ‘Do Better’ report.”
McGuire has been under mounting pressure since the emergence of the damning independent review, which found there was “systemic racism within the Collingwood Football Club”.
The Pies supremo, who has served as club president since October 1998, poured fuel on the fire by describing the release of the report as “a day of pride” for the Magpies.
He has since apologised and insists he is the right man to lead the club through season 2021.
The 35-page report was tabled with the Collingwood board last December – the same week McGuire announced his decision to vacate the job at the end of this season.
It asserts that the club’s response to repeated incidents of racism “has been at best ineffective, or at worst exacerbated the impact”.
“There is a gap between what Collingwood Football Club says it stands for and what it does,” the report says.
“While claims of racism have been made across the AFL, there is something distinct and egregious about Collingwood’s history.”
In a veiled swipe at McGuire, the report added: “There is a culture of individuals, if not quite being bigger than the club, then at least having an unhealthy degree of influence over club culture.”
McGuire has since said he does not know if that was a reference to him.
Originally published as Heritier Lumumba had no choice but to endure shocking racial slurs at Collingwood
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