Collingwood race report should be taken with a grain of salt

The Collingwood race report should be taken with a grain of salt. It was written by people who see racism everywhere.

Silly, silly Collingwood.

What did they think was going to happen when they appointed a couple of virulent race-obsessed activists, who see racism everywhere, to conduct a report into allegations of racism at the club?

The result is about as surprising as sand on the beach.

As revealed in Monday’s Herald Sun the 35-page report found “systemic racism within the Collingwood Football Club that must be addressed if things are to change”.

“A consistent pattern with the Collingwood Football Club is what has been seen as its failure to adequately address incidents when they have arisen,” the report said.

The report into ‘systemic racism’ at Collingwood should be taken with a grain of salt.

“What is clear is that racism at the club has resulted in profound and enduring harm to First Nations and African players. The racism affected them, their communities, and set dangerous norms for the public.”

At this point I was eager to hear about these damaging, dangerous incidents of racism and the club’s failures in the modern era.

But the report simply rehashes a few isolated cases from decades ago, including fans booing Carlton great Syd Jackson during the 1970 grand final, without uncovering a single new incident, exposing any patterns of behaviour or structures that are discriminatory.

Indeed ‘recent’ incidents from the past 20 years are few and far between and involve Heritier Lumumba, whose allegations were not investigated due to his unwillingness to participate in the process, and Gold Coast Suns’ Joel Wilkinson’s claims that Collingwood did not adequately respond when a Pies fan racially vilified him during a 2012 game.

Lumumba during his time at Collingwood.

Then of course there is President Eddie McGuire’s infamous brain fade on Triple M in 2013 where he shockingly said Adam Goodes should be used to promote the King Kong musical.

McGuire apologised profusely for the on-air gaffe and has said he was affected by “heavy-duty” prescription drugs when he made the unfunny, offensive remarks.

It beggars belief that McGuire, who will be stepping down as president at the end of the year, along with the board thought appointing identity politics-obsessed activists to review the club’s conduct would result in anything other than a finding of “systematic racism.”

Professors Larissa Behrendt and Lindon Coombes from the University of Technology in Sydney handed in their damning report late last year.

It’s was foolish for Collingwood to try to keep the report secret; it was always going to leak out.

The findings will cause the club significant reputational damage and may lead to further legal action from former players.

Report co-author Larissa Behrendt.

Back in June McGuire and the board made the “unanimous decision” to have the Collingwood Integrity Committee investigate Lumumba’s claims.

Two weeks later the Integrity Committee, chaired by club director Peter Murphy, appointed Behrendt, whom they described as “a distinguished barrister, researcher, writer and filmmaker” to head the inquiry.

At the time I warned the club that this would end in tears.

Writing in the Herald Sun I reminded Collingwood that the Sydney academic they’d appointed was a highly divisive activist who made headlines in 2011 for describing respected Indigenous anti-violence campaigner Bess Price as more offensive than bestiality.

The comments devastated Price and prompted Indigenous academic Marcia Langton to describe Behrendt as assuming “the role of superior thinkers whose grand education and positions in the metropolis qualify them to heap contempt on the natives”.

The report is also co-authored by Coombes whose Twitter page gives an insight into the victimhood culture and racial politics he subscribes to including regular attacks against Indigenous leaders including respected academic Dr Anthony Dillon, former national president of the Labor Party and SBS board member Warren Mundine and anti-violence campaigner and Centre for Independent Studies scholar Jacinta Price.

Either the Integrity Committee didn’t do their research into the appointments or this is precisely the results they wanted so they could clear out certain individuals from the club.

Or perhaps they have drunk the woke Kool-Aid and believe that Australia and everything in it, including their club, is inherently racist.

If there is systematic racism at Collingwood this report fails to detail the incidence, practices and culture that makes that finding valid.

The report will no doubt provide plenty of fodder for the semiliterate Lefties in some parts of the sports media but anybody familiar with the authors would take the findings with a grain of salt.

A grain about the size of Uluru.