Former AFL footballer Heritier Lumumba has commented on Taylor Walker’s racial slur, saying he wasn’t surprised by the incident.
Walker was banned for six games and fined $20,000 for a slur aimed at SANFL player Robbie Young during a quarter time huddle of a game last month.
Lumumba, who dealt with his own racism issues while playing at Collingwood, also called out Eddie McGuire after he spoke about the issue on Footy Classified.
“(Taylor) Walker - based on my on-field experience with him - this recent incident doesn’t surprise me,” Lumumba said on Twitter.
“Talk of him being well educated on racism for 10-15 years proves just how broken the system is. Being ‘educated’ on racism by the AFL is like being taught how to drive by a toddler.
“Walker is not alone. Many, many, others employed within the AFL’s football departments behave and think in the exact same way.
“This is just the incident that made the news. Racism is endemic in this industry at all levels.
“Eddie McGuire’s comments here were (also) unsurprising. Of course in Australia, someone who stands down from their job over decades of racism scandals can be paid to sit on national television and tell us what is or isn’t an appropriate response to racism."
Lumumba went on to call for “beyond privileged” AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan to stand down, blaming him for not showing real leadership on racism.
“It’s time for Gillon McLachlan to stand down and for the AFL to be led by someone who has the credentials and vision to address the systemic issues it has,” he said.
“McLachlan is an individual whose family has inherited massive generational wealth from stolen land. He‘s beyond privileged.
"The AFL has constantly hidden behind the failures of clubs instead of showing real leadership. McLachlan was incapable of responding effectively to the Adam Goodes saga and continually avoided any direct criticism of (Eddie) McGuire.”
1/ I’ve been thinking of Robbie Young a lot in recent days. I hope he and his family are doing ok through the intense attention that has followed him.
— Héritier Lumumba (@iamlumumba) August 14, 2021