Collingwood Football Club is guilty of systemic racism

[Dry Rot]

The Collingwood Football Club is guilty of systemic racism, according to an independent review commissioned by the club and which has been leaked today.

While reference was made to claims of racism across the AFL more generally, Collingwood's history with racism was described as "distinct and egregious", with the club's leadership, "particularly its board", needing to drive structural change.

Key points:

The review found Collingwood's response to racist incidents was "at best ineffective"
Collingwood has had the report since December, but has not released any details from it
It makes 18 recommendations, including a process of "truth-telling" and support for talent from diverse communities

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-...finds/13055816

[Happy Days]

Hardly surprising. The real question is what exactly will Eddie’s thoughtless and dismissive response be to the findings?

[bornadog]

Hardly surprising. The real question is what exactly will Eddie’s thoughtless and dismissive response will be to the findings?

For starters, he should be stepping down

[Topdog]

Eddie says it is a proud day for the club

[Happy Days]

Eddie says it is a proud day for the club

Unbelieveable, awe inspiring response from the King. There really is no one on his level.

[soupman]

"In our netball team we have Asian people coming through".

Truly amazing press conference. A master-class in how not to handle this scenario.

At this stage he is not stepping down. It would be pretty harsh to move him on I guess seeing as he has only been in charge of the club for the last 20 years.

[GVGjr]

The bullet points in the ABC article are damning

There is a gap between what Collingwood Football Club says it stands for and what it does

The club is more likely to react to media coverage about a racist incident than complaints made within the club

Collingwood's response has often been perceived as one where claims of racism are dealt with in terms of damage control and protecting the brand

Those who have raised issues felt they paid a high price for speaking out

It diminishes the ability of the Club to resolve the dispute internally, and

It heightens the risk of public grievance and negative publicity that impacts the Club, its staff, its players and its supporters

None of those are defend-able but if people are paying a high price for speaking out the culture will never improve

I'd love to see the specific details behind this and I'd be interested to know who leaked it

[Rocket Science]

The bullet points in the ABC article are damning

There is a gap between what Collingwood Football Club says it stands for and what it does

The club is more likely to react to media coverage about a racist incident than complaints made within the club

Collingwood's response has often been perceived as one where claims of racism are dealt with in terms of damage control and protecting the brand

Those who have raised issues felt they paid a high price for speaking out

It diminishes the ability of the Club to resolve the dispute internally, and

It heightens the risk of public grievance and negative publicity that impacts the Club, its staff, its players and its supporters

None of those are defend-able but if people are paying a high price for speaking out the culture will never improve

I'd love to see the specific details behind this and I'd be interested to know who leaked it

You know what else is pretty damning?

McGuire, desperately squirming and deflecting today "if we're going to get anywhere, we've got to get past the idea of tearing down people", breathtakingly spoken like a man whose club hasn't just spent the past few years doing precisely that to Lumumba both openly and behind the scenes to discredit him, quiet him and win a PR war.

That went well.

At least the league's shown some vocal leadership on the issue at a time when it matters most.

Oh wait ...

[jeemak]

Here's a piece from Eddie outlining his views in further detail:

https://www.titusoreily.com/afl/eddi...FglTu6fwqO9rko

[Mofra]

Ned Guy must be glad that his train-wreck on Fox Footy isn't the worst Collingwood press conference of the past 6 months anymore.

[Axe Man]

McGuire Acts Swiftly Following Racism Report And Hires Sam Newman As Head Of Racial Harmony



As the fallout from the damning report into the culture of racism at Collingwood continues, Eddie McGuire has today moved to quickly set things right.

The decades-long boss of the club at the centre of the majority of racism scandals in the AFL revealed that he is going to be leaning on an old mate to get him out of this pickle.

“We at Collingwood are pleased to announce that Sam Newman will be joining the club to lead our new Racial Harmony Initiative and our Cultural Pathways Program,” said McGuire today.

“But I just must quickly say what I said yesterday.”

“Despite this report finding that we have a deep and entrenched culture of appaling racism, we are not a racist club, and we don’t have racist people in our organisation.”

McGuire then explained that Newman will begin by implementing his traditional policy of dealing with accusations of racism, by telling people to stop being sooks and harden up.

“Sam has decades of experience dealing with accusations of racism, and he’s great at saying he’s not, and telling people to have a cup of cement because they are offended by the things he says and does,” continued McGuire.

“And that fits in perfectly with our club culture.”

“So it’s a great move for us moving forward I think.”

[Rocket Science]

Hark, the league has something resembling an opinion!



And in a shocking development it's not lament that Ed's first instinct was to spin the thing, it's that's he didn't spin it quite well enough.

[SonofScray]

Damning.

No surprises in terms of their history and current leadership.

[bornadog]

Prediction

Following on from Board meeting tonight - Eddie departs

[The bulldog tragician]

Now Eddie apologises for again mis-speaking. For a guy who is a journalist and with so many years in the media and with access to the best PR and crisis management he sure gets it wrong a lot. However while there’s the usual desire to poke fun at Eddie and the Pies our club doesn’t have a great record in recruiting and nurturing Indigenous players and we can never feel over confident that racism isn’t just as rife within our 4 walls as any other environment.

Meanwhile let’s hear from Eddie:

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/...02-p56yvz.html

Collingwood Football Club president Eddie McGuire has apologised for calling the tabling of the historic report into racism at the AFL club a “proud day”.

On a Zoom call held for the club’s annual general meeting, the long-standing president said he had “got it wrong” in describing the contents of the report that was prematurely leaked to the media.


“Over the course of an hour, we answered every question, but in my opening, I got it wrong,” Mr McGuire said.

“I said it was a proud day for Collingwood, and I shouldn’t have.”

“Under the pressure of the day, the use of the word proud was wrong.

“I did not, I did not mean we were proud of past incidents of racism and the hurt that had caused.

“It’s been interpreted widely that way, and I regret that deeply.

The 35-page independent report found that Collingwood had an unhealthy culture of protecting individuals ahead of the club and was prompted by former player Heritier Lumumba’s claims of racism.

The report suggests the club’s actions have been at best ineffective and at worst have exacerbated problems of racism at the club.

Mr McGuire said on Tuesday night, after reports of his initial statements were criticised, that the club is “humbled”and “galvanised” to dismantle any structures racism that remain at the club.

“Collingwood seek to acknowledge its failings, to learn from them, to grow, to improve in all areas of the game, and to heal. We may not be able to undo conduct of the past but we can certainly make the future balanced and inclusive for all people,” Mr McGuire said.

“I’m sorry that my error has acted as a distraction from the importance of the finding of racism and the work that lies ahead.

“[We are] apologetic, we are humbled, and we are also galvanised to dismantle any structures of systematic racism.”

The report was tabled with the board before Christmas, days after long-standing club president Eddie McGuire said he would stand down as at the end of this year.

“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,” the report allegedly said.

Lumumba refused to participate in the report, doubtful of Collingwood’s rigour in addressing the issues.

Lumumba has lodged a claim in the Supreme Court alleging an unsafe workplace at Collingwood but those papers are yet to be served on the named defendants, Collingwood and the AFL.