Collingwood ‘a leader in racism’: Heritier Lumumba ‘disturbed’ by club’s attempts to minimise review that found it suffered from systemic racism
Heritier Lumumba says Eddie McGuire needs to step down and the club must confront its racist history.
Former Collingwood player Heritier Lumumba says longtime club president Eddie McGuire needs to step down as he is unable to “radically transform” how he engages with racism.
The Brazilian-born player said Collingwood needed to confront its racist history, saying it had been a leader in racism among Australian sport.
“The Collingwood Football Club must accept that it has been a racist club, it has been a leader in racism when it comes to Australian sport and it must own that history,” he told the ABC.
Lumumba said Mr McGuire needed to step down as Collingwood president following a press conference on Monday where he disputed the findings of a report that found systemic racism within the club.
“What we’re seeing and what we saw yesterday in the media was a complete lack of ownership … for, as the report states, the serious damage or the serious pain that is inflicted on others,” he said.
“Individuals as leaders, people who are faces of the club, such as Eddie McGuire, are unable to radically transform the way they are viewing, interacting with the history of racism in the public and privately and I think it is absolutely time for them to step down.”
Earlier, Lumumba said he was “disturbed” by Collingwood’s attempts to minimise a damning review that found the club suffered from systemic racism.
Taking to Twitter, the Brazilian-Australian player said Collingwood’s response to the report, released on Monday, was “bizarre”.
“It was painful to watch the club dig itself deeper into delusion and dishonesty at today’s press conference,” he said.
“Eddie McGuire’s inability to let go of the illusion he’s constructed of himself does not serve the club, the code, or the community … It’s a pity his final year looks like it will be marked by yet another self-inflicted racism scandal.”
1) I’m grateful to all the people who have reached out to me in support - including CFC members and supporters - as well as all those who have challenged the Collingwood Football Club’s bizarre response to their own report finding them guilty of systemic racism.
— Héritier Lumumba (@iamlumumba) February 1, 2021
The report was triggered by complaints of racism by Lumumba, who is suing the club after leaving Collingwood in 2014. He has alleged he was subject to casual racism from fellow players and club employees, and was given the nickname “chimp”.
Lumumba, who said he experienced casual racism at the club on a daily basis, told ABC’s Radio National on Tuesday that “the report does indicate all the things that I’ve been saying for almost eight years now”.
“Systemic racism pervades the Collingwood Football Club … it’s embedded within all of the systems that they have for the way that they operate from the administration level to the board level to the football department, and that encapsulates all people throughout the club,” Lumumba said.
The Project co-host Peter Helliar has apologised to Lumumba, saying he should have believed the former Collingwood player’s players claims of racism within the club.
Describing the report that found Collingwood suffered from systemic racism as “heartbreaking”, the comedian urged all fans and members to demand better from the club.
“This report is heartbreaking,” he said.
“To [Lumumba] I am truly, unequivocally sorry. I should have believed you. I will do better.”
Helliar, a longtime Collingwood supporter, accused Lulumba of “smearing” the club during a 2017 episode of The Project, saying no one would confirm the Brazilian born player was given the nickname “chimp”.
It followed the release of an SBS documentary on Lumumba’s experience of racism in AFL.
I urge all fans & members to demand better from @CollingwoodFC. This report is heartbreaking. To @iamlumumba I am truly, unequivocally sorry. I should have believed you. I will do better.
— Peter Helliar (@pjhelliar) February 1, 2021
‘A proud day’: McGuire
Mr McGuire defied pressure to resign immediately after the scathing report found the football club suffered from systemic and egregious racism.
Instead, he declared it a “proud day” and said Collingwood was ready to embrace a leadership role in the battle against racism, saying the club would be a “leading light in our community”.
His comments came after an independent review found racism at Collingwood resulted in “profound and enduring” harm to Aboriginal and African players.
“This is a historic and proud day for Collingwood Football Club … eight teams represented by a myriad of life, all drawing on our collective identity of Collingwood,” he said on Monday.
“Today we embrace a leadership position on the most fundamental of rights equality: to be who you are based on your abilities and character and nothing else.”
The review by University of Technology professors Larissa Behrendt and Lindon Coombes, first reported on by the Herald Sun, found Collingwood’s response to racism had at best been ineffective and at worst “exacerbated the impact”.
“It is clear players and fans have experienced incidents of racism and Collingwood’s response to these incidents has been at best ineffective, or at worst exacerbated the impact of the racist incidents,” the report said.
“The continual failures in this regard speak to a systemic racism within the Collingwood Football Club that must be addressed if things are to change.”
Mr McGuire disputed that Collingwood suffered from systemic racism, saying the club had just not had the right processes in place.
“OK, there are plenty of things at the moment that you look back on and go ‘Gee, I wish we could have done much better’,” he said.
“But at the time we did them as well as we thought we could.
“So it was not systemic racism as such, we just didn’t have the processes in place … as we look back now … to do the job like it’s done in 2021.”
Lumumba said on Twitter that McGuire’s “inability to let go of the illusion he’s constructed of himself” meant his final year as Collingwood president would be marked by accusations of racism and scandal.
“The report clearly states that during Eddie’s tenure as CFC president, the club’s racism resulted in ‘profound and enduring harm’ to many individuals, families, & communities,” Lumumba said.
“It was disturbing to see how easily Eddie and the CFC board members reduced the severity of this “profound and enduring harm” to mere ‘mishaps’ – as if they were talking about spilling tea on a couch rather than being found guilty of years of systemic racism.”
4) The report clearly states that during Eddie’s tenure as CFC president, the club’s racism resulted in “profound and enduring harm†to many individuals, families, & communities.
— Héritier Lumumba (@iamlumumba) February 1, 2021
The report said Lumumba’s complaints were not reviewed as the former player did not want to participate, with Mr McGuire saying on Monday he wanted to engage with Lumumba as he was “one of our guys”.
“He (Lumumba) doesn’t feel that way at the moment and it breaks our hearts,” he said.
“We’re not a mean-spirited club, we’re not a racist club, we’re a club that tries to do well.”
Lumumba called for the report to be made public in December last year, saying the club punished and discredited him after he aired his complaints in public.
Federal Labor MP Peter Khalil threw his support behind Lumumba, saying racism has run through Collingwood since he was a kid. “Racist remarks were rife in the 80s when I used to watch footy at Vic Park,” he said on Twitter on Monday night. “On the occasions I ventured to it call out, I was treated like an alien, patronised, or worse had the bile redirected at me.
“And of course when I played junior and amateur footy I copped the sprays regularly and directly during pretty much every game I was on the receiving end copping vile racist abuse.’’
The report said there were no mechanisms within Collingwood for people to make complaints about racism, forcing them to go to the media. “Individuals have paid a high cost for speaking out against racism at the club,” it said.
“What is clear is that racism at the club has resulted in profound and enduring harm to First Nations and African players.”
The report made 18 recommendations including that the concepts of anti-racism and inclusion be integrated into the club’s values, the development of a framework for responding to racist incidents and the establishment of an expert anti-racist policy and advisory group who would share their insights with the AFL community. The report said Collingwood had made “important and positive” steps in the past few years, including appointing Djab Wurrung/Gunditjmara Jodie Sizer to the board.
AFL chief Gillon McLachlan said he would review the report and consider what steps the governing body should take.
“The mistakes of the past show that racism in any form or on any level is a serious issue and should not be interpreted in any other way,” he said.
“This report is an important step in the change Collingwood is implementing and demonstrates the seriousness in which the club takes the issue.”
Despite the report’s findings, Mr McGuire said he would not stand down ahead of his planned retirement at the end of the 2021 season.
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