News Review into racism at Collingwood

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Page 7

A key observation from within the Collingwood Football Club community is that when complaints about racism are made within the Club, they have not been responded to in an effective manner; more attention is given in response to media reports as opposed to matters raised internally.

Must make for a great workplace culture.
 
Eddie needs to go, as that press conference was a disaster. Talk about failing to read the room and the wider community.

When he took on the job we were a basket case and his initial years were strong. It started to go pear shaped with the Caroline Wilson and Adam Goodes incidents, and now we find ourselves in a situation where he refuses to say the word 'sorry' in a one hour press conference in the face of a report that found 'systemic racism' inherent within our footy club. Eddie tries to spin it to a 'proud' day for CFC. It has occurred under his watch.

Time for Eddie to walk away.
 

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Page 16

All of this comes back to the leadership of the Collingwood Football Club — particularly its Board — and the need for them to set the vision and values of the Club and to drive structural change within the organisation. The changes need to be driven from the top if they are to address racism and set the tone for the culture within the Club.

There will be no change with the current Board in place - they have been there too long, and have overseen and encouraged this culture.
 
This is a day of shame. For all who hold Collingwood close to heart.
For the leader of the club to state this as a day to be proud of really shows how detached from reality he has become.
I don’t know where we start to rebuild our great club, but right now, on field success is the furtherest from my mind.
Like all organisations that find themselves in these situations, it’s a complete rebuild at the top that begins the process.
If our President truly loves the club, he will start that process by falling on his sword and not forcing us to wait.
 
Page 18

In conducting this review, it became apparent that when incidents of racism arose, the work fell to individuals to both raise it and resolve it. It appeared that there was no systemic process that could support individuals that were involved. Similarly, 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. A more inclusive and collegiate leadership approach can better realise the potential of all and help live and implement values.

I wonder who they are talking about there..................
 
When I saw the headline I assumed they had discovered the secret basement where the KKK outfits were kept alongside the large crosses and cans of petrol.

Nope?

More offensive than 'sex with a horse': Larissa Behrendt's Twitter slur against Bess Price (news.com.au)

Imagine if Eddie had said that about an indigenous woman, Bess Nungarrayi Price, the chairwoman of the Northern Territory Indigenous Affairs Advisory Council.

Apparently Behrendt later apologised-well so has Eddie for far less, yet he is still branded a racist by Mark Robinson and many others in the Twittersphere.

This was the woman who carried out a review of Collingwood with regard to racism?

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”.

So, an indigenous academic also believes Behrendt to be contemptuous of indigenous people with less education.

Such a fine resume for someone investigating systemic racism.

I don't like Eddie McGuire. I think he got what he deserved for hiring such hypocritical, radical advocates to investigate the club. But that is not relevant.

I am bemused by the comments of many on this forum. We have not learned anything new from this review. We all knew about Lumumba, Syd Jackson, The Gold Coast player, Nicky Winmar and every other incident mentioned. Why haven't supporters distanced themselves from the club long before a review if they believed their club was systemically racist?

The report found there was a perception that lead some to conclude “Collingwood has become synonymous with off-field and on-field racism in Australian sport”.

“As one person we spoke to said: ‘If you look at every high-profile incident of racism in the game, Collingwood is there somewhere’.”

Perceptions can be fed by an unscrupulous media who know their guarantee of a headline and reaction was always a given by simply using the word Collingwood in the headline. For all of the sanctimonious supporters bemoaning their racist club just stop for a moment and ask yourself if the culture at Collingwood in the 60's through to the mid 90's was any different to any other VFL club. Dermie Brereton openly talks about the vile racial abuse he meted out to indigenous players, in particular, Lewis from the West Coast. Was he ever censured? Spider Everitt said the same during his time at St Kilda. Robbie Muir was as angry with his teammates as he was the opposition.

Only an ignorant fool would dare suggest things were somehow different in the outer at Windy Hill or Princess Park.

Does anyone truly believe McGuire knowingly presided over a racist culture for twenty years and deliberately turned a blind eye to it all or in fact encouraged it? Bull shit.

I am so tired of this finger pointing and branding of people and organizations. I would like to ask Quaynor about his experiences at the Collingwood Football Club. If the club is riddled with systemic racism he must have experienced it in the past three years. The media is ever hungry for another excuse to pump up the hysteria and division in our society.

This report, I noted, demands Collingwood begin employing indigenous coaching staff. What a slippery slope. The next indigenous player or official to be appointed to such a position will look like a token symbolic gesture rather than a talented individual who won the job on the basis of their ideas and skills.

When you start mandating positions on boards or coaching panels based on anything other than the desired skillset, you are inviting problems.

If anyone truly believes our club is a racist institution then surely they would not have been passionately supporting it these past decades.

Systemic racism definition
Rooted in a racist foundation, systemic racism today is composed of intersecting, overlapping, and codependent racist institutions, policies, practices, ideas, and behaviors that give an unjust amount of resources, rights, and power to White people while denying them to people of color. Definition of Systemic Racism

To me, that would mean indigenous players were not provided with the same equipment, clothing, physiotherapy, massage, skills sessions, money and respect proffered to other players. If the use of a nickname which offended a player is the only source of complaint then I would suggest many footballers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, including anglo saxon would have grounds for complaint. That is not a sign of systemic racism but the typical ruthlessness of male sports teams who jump upon any perceived vulnerability and use it against their teammate as a weird from of bonding. If you can laugh it off you are fine, if you react, you will be continually provoked. This happens at local level right up to the big league. Not always nice but hardly a sign of racism. As I've said before, if the review revealed white players had refused to eat with or shower with black players they might have been onto something. T But the players enjoyed the company of their indigenous and coloured teammates, ate with them, socialized with them, laughed with them and demonstrated deep affection for them both on and off the ground.

You can't have it both ways. Lumumba was a very popular and revered player at the club in the eyes of the Collingwood supporters. The same can be said for Leon Davis and Krakauer. The crowd erupted in a way usually reserved for Swan, DeGoey and a handful of other stars whenever they touched the ball. have a look at Harry's goal in the last term of the Grand Final. Does Lumumba acknowledge that? He was given huge coverage in the media and was popular with the commentators and journalists. He received far more exposure and positive media coverage than most in our team. He was able to meet the Dali Lama and did extensive interviews in which he spoke about his personal journey and use of his "thinking chair." One would thing Lumumba was reviled and despised wherever he went in Melbourne during his time in the AFL from the way he writes about his experience. I would suggest he has a very selective memory.
 
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Doc1763 said:
Page 18

In conducting this review, it became apparent that when incidents of racism arose, the work fell to individuals to both raise it and resolve it. It appeared that there was no systemic process that could support individuals that were involved. Similarly, 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. A more inclusive and collegiate leadership approach can better realise the potential of all and help live and implement values.

I wonder who they are talking about there..................
Click to expand...
Ed actually had the gall to deny that was a reference to him.
 
Page20

Recommendations

4. That the Collingwood Football Club Board ensure the development of a framework for responding to incidents of racism that reflects its values in a way that is pro-active, not reactive.

This should be standard procedure for any workplace in Australia (it is in mine). The fact it is not at Collingwood is a reflection of the current Board and administration.
 
Doc1763 said:
I havent watched the Presser yet, saving that for later. Still going through the Report - its heavy going for anyone who loves this Club.
Click to expand...
The press conference is actually worse. It’s hard to believe anyone could be so out of touch with reality.
 
Black_White said:
This is a day of shame. For all who hold Collingwood close to heart.
For the leader of the club to state this as a day to be proud of really shows how detached from reality he has become.
I don’t know where we start to rebuild our great club, but right now, on field success is the furtherest from my mind.
Like all organisations that find themselves in these situations, it’s a complete rebuild at the top that begins the process.
If our President truly loves the club, he will start that process by falling on his sword and not forcing us to wait.
Click to expand...

Why is today a day of shame? What did you learn today that you didn't already know?

Stop being so bloody disingenuous. McGuire is spinning as usual but for you to pretend he is claiming he is proud of the label 'systemic racism" is pathetic. He was attempting to say he was proud of the steps the clubs has taken to investigate claims of racism and looking at ways to eradicate it. I think this overreaction from so many is just another symptom of the endless hysteria and rage you find on Facebook and Twitter, any time you take brief tour of those fetid pages of endless victimhood, finger pointing and outright hatred. We seem to require a new object to rant about and vent our fury at least once a week.

Our club is not in need of a rebuild. I believe our leaders are all good, decent men and women. Some issues could have been handled better or with more sensitivity but name a workplace where the same can't be said.
 
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Page 20

The values of the Club set the standards that the Club aspires to. The policies ensure there are guidelines for the Club to follow in relation to how to deal with issues that are raised internally.

This is not just a requirement in terms of changing the culture of the Club; it is also an incorporation of various legislative protections that the Club, as an employer, is required to comply with. Everyone at the Club needs to understand their obligations under the policy. It was a matter of concern that, during the review, large sections of the Club did not know about the policies or their legal obligations under them.

We are an armature organisation, from top to bottom.
 
Tulip said:
Lumumba has asked not to be called Harry anymore. Is it any coincidence that the people denigrating him are the only ones ITT who won't call him by his real name?
Click to expand...
With Racism has shown up he still a Knob
 
jmac70 said:
The press conference is actually worse. It’s hard to believe anyone could be so out of touch with reality.
Click to expand...

Agree. Eddie pumping up has made the Club look like a Total Joke
 
Page 26

the Club should consider a reparative justice model, where the goal is not bringing an end to public declarations of racism or exonerating the Club of it, but airing it, acknowledging it and making material gestures to righting and healing the harm that occurred. This includes proactively making amends that could include, but aren’t limited to: reparations, compensation, public apology, and commitments to reform.

There should be nowhere to hide for the troglodytes that have brought us to this point – I cant see how any of the current Board can remain. McGuire, if he were a decent human being, should have resigned today, or at the AGM at the latest.
 
domus said:
Why is today a day of shame? What did you learn today that you didn't already know?

Stop being so bloody disingenuous. McGuire is spinning as usual but for you to pretend he is claiming he is proud of the label 'systemic racism" is pathetic. He was attempting to say he was proud of the steps the clubs has taken to investigate claims of racism and looking at ways to eradicate it. I think this overreaction from so many is just another symptom of the endless hysteria and rage you find on Facebook and Twitter, any time you take brief tour of those fetid pages of endless victimhood, finger pointing and outright hatred. We seem to require a new object to rant about and vent our fury at least once a week.

Our club is not in need a rebuild. I believe our leaders are all good, decent men and women. Some issues could have been handled better or with more sensitivity but name a workplace where the same can't be said.
Click to expand...
Well said.

Total mass hysteria by a lot of people today, especially the media who loves a big headline.
 
Doc1763 said:
Page 26

the Club should consider a reparative justice model, where the goal is not bringing an end to public declarations of racism or exonerating the Club of it, but airing it, acknowledging it and making material gestures to righting and healing the harm that occurred. This includes proactively making amends that could include, but aren’t limited to: reparations, compensation, public apology, and commitments to reform.

There should be nowhere to hide for the troglodytes that have brought us to this point – I cant see how any of the current Board can remain. McGuire, if he were a decent human being, should have resigned today, or at the AGM at the latest.
Click to expand...
His attempt to spin this also hurt then reputations of Sizer and Anderson.
 
PonsfordMagpie said:
Well said.

Total mass hysteria by a lot of people today, especially the media who loves a big headline.
Click to expand...
The masses will speak. Ed will be gone before then week is out.
And that would be absolutely the right thing for the club. He is responsible for this mess.
 
Tulip said:
Lumumba has asked not to be called Harry anymore. Is it any coincidence that the people denigrating him are the only ones ITT who won't call him by his real name?
Click to expand...
I see Lumumba as a separate issue given that his claims have not really been considered in this report and will be fought in court. Many posters, myself included, believe Heritier's behaviour at the club to have been contentious and are not convinced by the genuineness and veracity of his claims or the motive behind the action he has both taken and not taken.

Fortunately, the issues he has raised will be dealt with by the courts. I will await the outcome before making a final assessment of the man. No doubt the report's findings will help his cause. Should people wish to refer to him as Harry in this forum, I do not see as a big issue. He is not being directly addressed nor, if he has any sense, would he be reading threads in here.
 
TheGreatGrundy said:
I see Lumumba as a separate issue given that his claims have not really been considered in this report and will be fought in court. Many posters, myself included, believe Heritier's behaviour at the club to have been contentious and are not convinced by the genuineness and veracity of his claims or the motive behind the action he has both taken and not taken.

Fortunately, the issues he has raised will be dealt with by the courts. I will await the outcome before making a final assessment of the man. No doubt the report's findings will help his cause. Should people wish to refer to him as Harry in this forum, I do not see as a big issue. He is not being directly addressed nor, if he has any sense, would he be reading threads in here.
Click to expand...
Would the report have been commissioned without Hertier’s allegations?
 

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News Review into racism at Collingwood

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