‘That is a form of systemic racism’: Buckley admits he was dismissive of Lumumba

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says he was unintentionally guilty of a form of systemic racism in being dismissive of Heritier Lumumba’s experience and claims about the club.

Buckley admitted he regretted his demeanour in a 2017 press conference when answering questions about the premiership player’s claims about the club, saying it was the type of moment the recent Do Better report was talking about when discussing a culture of systemic racism at the club.

Pies coach Nathan Buckley spoken for the first time about Collingwood’s Do Better report.Credit:Getty Images

The Collingwood coach and former long-term captain of the club said the Do Better report had been “well overdue” and shone an important light on behaviours at Collingwood, which he admitted had for too long denied a voice for those who had felt marginalised, vilified or diminished.

“There was a presser when I look back in 2017 and it was dismissive and I needed to be better than that,” Buckley said in an interview with the AFL website.

“What I now understand is that is a form of systemic racism, the dismissing and denial of experience is not a direct act, but in many ways it reinforces the pain and trauma that Heritier felt and that [other former players] Andrew [Krakouer] and Leon [Davis] have spoken about. It’s feeling like they don’t have a voice and they don’t have somewhere to go and that’s the systemic aspect of it.

“When you reflect on that you [think] ‘OK, how can we do this better?’ because you’ve got to be aware and conscious of it, and there’s a lot of listening [to] and learning [from] that needs to take place from the people that have felt for a long time that they don’t have a voice. I feel like we’ve taken pretty good strides as a club.”

Former Pie Heritier Lumumba. Credit:Pat Scala

He added: “We don’t want people to ever feel like they’re diminished or vilified or seen as less than in our environment. If that is their experience then it needs to be acknowledged and for that I think the club has said it apologises unreservedly and obviously I have been a part of this club for a long time so I don’t like the fact that people have felt that way and I’ve got to – we’ve all got to – listen and learn more to the experiences and acknowledge them rather than dismissing them.”

In a candid interview with the AFL website, Buckley said it was “long overdue for us to acknowledge this [past] and to acknowledge the experiences of some of the people in our environment and the fact that we need to improve”.

He said when players and staff finally had a chance to read the report, the first question was to ask what systemic racism really meant “and what have we been a part of and what work is there to do”.

He was pleased the club had committed to all 18 recommendations in the report and had already convened an expert panel to oversee the recommendations.

“There was a big part of ‘what does this actually say about us? What do we need to learn? What do we need to listen to? What do we need to acknowledge?’ to be better,” he said when asked what the players’ response had been.

“There was an element of ‘OK, what does this mean for us?’ even if you’re a young player at the club, if you’re a senior leader, if you’re a staff member, even myself. Where do we go from here? There was a lot of questions, a lot of conversations, and those conversations are the right ones to have.

“It’s about the experiences of those that feel like they have been marginalised and discriminated against and felt lesser in the environment and that’s over a long period of time.”

Buckley said the issue was about him, or others of a privileged white background, being open to listening to those whose had been vilified or had a bad experience at the club.

“Obviously I have been a part of this club for a long time. I don’t like the fact people have felt that way and I have got to listen and learn and and acknowledge experiences rather than dismissing them,” he said.

On former president Eddie McGuire’s decision to stand down from the presidency and the board Buckley said McGuire had done much for the club.

“I think Ed came to that decision because he felt it was time for him and time for the Collingwood Football Club. Yes we will focus on the events of the moment or of the day and I think they are real but the fact is that everyone’s time comes and Ed felt it was time for him to move on … it is time for the club to regenerate.

He admitted McGuire had chosen his words poorly when he described the release of the Do Better report as a day of pride for the club.

“The more you put yourself in this position [in front of a microphone], the more likely you are to say something that’s not quite going to hit the mark and I think that was one of them,” Buckley said of the comments.

“He’s owned that, we’ve owned that, and once again that reinforces potentially the trauma that Indigenous people or minorities have felt through the Collingwood Football Club’s contribution. That simply has to stop now.”

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