Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has reaffirmed that the club won't be brushing aside Heritier Lumumba's racism accusations.
Lumumba says he has “no intention” of taking part in Collingwood’s “insulting” investigation into systemic racism dating back to his playing days.
Collingwood announced this week that it would be referrering Lumumba's claims to its integrity committee.
The 2010 premiership defender says he was nicknamed “Chimp” during his 10 years at the club, a claim backed up by former teammates Brent Macaffer and Chris Dawes.
"Clearly my character is being questioned in terms of race and I know where I stand in that regard. But we will do this the right way and we will do it with the right people and we will do it with integrity," Buckley told reporters on Wednesday.
“We are not about sweeping anything under the carpet here. We want to learn about it and we want the truth to be told because that is the basis of the investigation.
“There are obviously a lot of details that need to be unearthed and shared and spoken about with an open mind and an open heart so that we can address this situation, we can address Heritier’s experience.
“Not to sweep it under the carpet and not necessarily to just resolve it, but to learn from it and hopefully to be better from it.”
“That is why we have undertaken this process.
“It’s crucial … some of the truths of some have been shared publicly but it’s our job as a football club to listen to our people, to learn from our people and to respect and value our people.
“That is why this process is critically important because everyone that comes into this place is critically important to us and it needs to be an environment which respects all.”