Robert Muir

[76woodenspooners]

This article was originally published by the ABC over the weekend. It’s a very difficult read. Some of it refers to CFC and Victoria Park back in the day ...

The persecution of Robert Muir is a story football doesn't want to hear

A decade-long campaign of racial abuse pushed St Kilda's 1970s star Robert Muir to the point of despair. Russell Jackson spoke to the man who football wiped from its Indigenous history.

www.abc.net.au

“...

For an Aboriginal player, it was an ordeal like no other. Thirteen years later, Victoria Park would be the scene of the disgraceful racial abuse of Gilbert McAdam and Nicky Winmar, to which Winmar responded with immortal defiance. Before the ball had even been bounced, Muir was being vilified wherever he ran.

"Certain people knew they could put me off my game," Muir says.

The heckling came in abundance from over the fence, but also from the mouths of Collingwood players.

"Most of the Collingwood players were into me right from the start," Muir would claim days later.

...”.

And it goes on, offering of police escorts, chanting by fans, smashing of car windows. Worth reading the full article IMO.

The persecution of Robert Muir is a story football doesn't want to hear

A decade-long campaign of racial abuse pushed St Kilda's 1970s star Robert Muir to the point of despair. Russell Jackson spoke to the man who football wiped from its Indigenous history.

www.abc.net.au

The club have responded with this statement today ...

Club statement: Robert Muir

Collingwood joins the AFL industry in apologising unreservedly to Robert Muir for the racist abuse he endured across a fine career with St Kilda

www.collingwoodfc.com.au

“...

Collingwood joins the AFL industry in apologising unreservedly to Robert Muir for the racist abuse he endured across a fine career with St Kilda.

His is a story that is sad, shameful and a powerful reminder of why, as a club and code, we have important roles to play in seeking to eliminate racism from our game and our communities.

Our club, and our game, failed some of its people in the past. The damage and hurt in Robert Muir’s story, and those of others, speaks of this.

We must and can be better, an acknowledgement at the heart of Collingwood’s current review of a period in its own past. We are seeking to understand our previous experiences of racism to ensure they have no place in the current Collingwood environment.

Robert ought to be commended for the courage it took to tell all Australians of how racism made an ordeal of his football career and of how, in graphic human terms, it affects lives.

...”

Club statement: Robert Muir

Collingwood joins the AFL industry in apologising unreservedly to Robert Muir for the racist abuse he endured across a fine career with St Kilda

www.collingwoodfc.com.au

Thoughts?

Anonymous poll above

 

[Leviathan Pie]

Racism is crap. As a society there's no place for it in 2020, no question. And attempting to right the wrongs of the past is ok.

Muir was also a violent thug by nature. Its interesting the parallels that are trying to be drawn.

 

[Chief Ten Beers]

Looking back on an old era with modern standards.

Not great to hear though of course but it's all from the old world. Go back further in time and it gets worse.

 

[Vicky Park]

Good move by the club. One more step in the right direction. We can’t right the wrongs of our history but we can at least show we are listening, learning and trying.

I was surprised but pleased at the quickness of our response, after the Muir interview and article was published.

 

[76woodenspooners]

For me, this stuff is important, far more important than who is in or out at the selection table, or winning and losing games of footy, or who our senior coach is.

I’m very proud of the club for acknowledging the issue promptly. I reckon that not so long ago it would have been swept under the carpet. We’re better than that. Good to see times have changed.

The statement is good, but I’m very much looking forward to see where it goes. Will it just get acknowledged then forgotten about? Or will the independent report the club has commissioned lead somewhere? Will it acknowledge our sins of the past? I’m optimistic with Jodie Sizer on our board.

So far, so good, but I’m reserving judgement until I see where it leads ...

 

[Markfs]

Muir's longterm injuries should have been fixed years ago. He should have been assisted when he was struggling to get a job a house...but at least do it now. The people who abused him and spat at him are disgusting human beings... if in fact they are human.

 

[Vicky Park]

Club statement was pretty generic tbh

It was. Maybe due to the haste with which it was written. But better than no response or acknowledgement?

 

[gouki88]

I think it was the right move considering the numerous blunders our Prez makes with issues like this (blunders is putting it quite lightly). The response was very cookie cutter though.

But conversely, Muir was a pretty violent bloke. No idea what to make of it just yet

 

[mike123]

It was. Maybe due to the haste with which it was written. But better than no response or acknowledgement?

After reading it again I think I may have been a bit unfair, it’s certainly good to acknowledge it.

 

[Vicky Park]

But conversely, Muir was a pretty violent bloke.

Muir was a very violent and angry man.

Having read about the brutality he experienced as a child, at the hands of his father, I can at least understand the anger.

 

[gouki88]

Muir was a very violent and angry man.

Having read about the brutality he experienced as a child, at the hands of his father, I can at least understand the anger.

No doubt, I feel like given his early life and his race he never had a chance being a footy player in that era. He was treated as a barbarian

 

[Kappa]

Muir's longterm injuries should have been fixed years ago. He should have been assisted when he was struggling to get a job a house...but at least do it now. The people who abused him and spat at him are disgusting human beings... if in fact they are human.

Did you attend Vic Park in the 80's Mark?

 

[Obese Arachnid]

Absolutely disgusting the racism he copped & all non whites copped at Vick Park.

Make no mistake though he was/is a violent scumbag, thief & alcoholic that regularly stole cars & drove so drunk/paralytic that it's only by chance he didn't kill people. Also lucky he didn't one punch kill someone.

 

[whiskeytown]

Fair and reasonable response by the club. What else can they do? Apologise, recognise Muir’s feelings, reaffirm the club no longer accepts this behaviour

A different situation from Lumamba’s.. Muir’s (and Winmar’s) situation was outright hostility and racism. H’s was part of a insensitive and oafish lads culture that meant no direct harm to him as he was a part of the playing group.

Still the club, the league, society, is to blame for not at the time having a clearer code of conduct on these things in regards to H’s time at Collingwood.

In time the club will issue an apology for H’s too.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

I’m genuinely staggered that the club feel the need to comment on racism involving a player at another AFL club while ignoring to talk publicly about the current issues at this club.

Why is this appropriate to comment publicly on Muir but the club wouldn’t release a similar statement for Lumumba, when he voiced his concerns?

This is might seem a little cynical but I think the club is trying to be a little mischievous to Lumumba by putting this statement out. Heritier has long stated he wants a public apology. Club wants to deal with Lumumba behind close door and orders an internal review. Then when racism becomes a current AFL issue with the Muir story, they feel it’s necessary to release a public statement on a player that never played for the club. It doesn’t seem right.

 

[76woodenspooners]

Looking back on an old era with modern standards.

Not great to hear though of course but it's all from the old world. Go back further in time and it gets worse.

They were different times, however ...

... the referendum that recognised that indigenous folks could be counted as citizens of their own country was 1967 - that had only been a few years earlier And it passed with 90% of the vote.

Imagine today if footy fans and opposition players hurled homosexual insults and smashed car windows at gay players, only a few years after the SSM plebiscite?

 

[76woodenspooners]

I’m genuinely staggered that the club feel the need to comment on racism involving a player at another AFL club while ignoring to talk publicly about the current issues at this club.

The article referred to many issues that involved Collingwood directly and specifically (ie: in much the same way as the Nicky Winmar incident involved Collingwood, eventhough Winmar didn’t play for Collingwood)

Why is this appropriate to comment publicly on Muir but the club wouldn’t release a similar statement for Lumumba, when he voiced his concerns?

In Lumumba‘s case, it’s not unreasonable for the club to investigate if and what they’re acknowledging / apologising for, before they release a statement. Otherwise it’s a bit hollow?

I never went to Victoria Park in the 70’s and 80’s, but the claims that are being made aren’t a million miles away from the place’s reputation. I don’t see anybody denying that it would have happened. The club‘s statement makes it clear that it may not be the end of the matter.

This is might seem a little cynical but I think the club is trying to bit a little mischievous to Lumumba by putting this statement out.

We have an indigenous leader on our board and in the integrity committee that has commissioned the independent review. Although the Lumumba issue isn’t an indigenous one, I just don’t believe an indigenous leader would take this opportunity to troll a Premiership player for shits and giggles.

Heritier has long stated he wants a public apology. ... It doesn’t seem right.

Heriter wants a public apology, but he doesn’t want to cooperate with an independent investigation into the matter. That doesn’t seem right either?

 

[Markfs]

Did you attend Vic Park in the 80's Mark?

I did in the 70s. I left melb in about 1980. In fact, it was 1980 as I can still remember being at a party in perth for the 80 grand final.

And yes, it was rough in the Rush stand. I'm not sure about the members but they were probably pretty feral too. It was a working class game in those days, but there's no excuse for some of the behaviour of the crowd in those days. The colour thing was the first thing that a lot of the crowd grabbed for when the opposition were winning.

 

[Stripes B and W]

Yes 76, was a difficult and very sad read. I have tried to think about if from a number of angles and I wonder if we should limit our thoughts from our own Clubs viewpoint, should we think more broadly about the issue from an AFL/WAFL etc perspective, should we limit the issue solely to Robert Muir etc.

Part of me wanted to, not defend our club, but try to rationalise that the article mentioned RM suffered abuse in every game he played, indeed from every club and in this way the AFL statement ought to be all encompassing and the most appropriate response.

Another stance may be that the club he played for tolerated him being urinated on by a fellow STK player and also did not support him nor return his call regarding past player get together. Could it be that the club he played for was in a unique position to support, protect and provide pastoral care and failed catastrophically.

The more broad issue is marginalisation and intolerance for anyone based on race, ethnicity, sexual preference etc, should this be yet another door opener to attempt to nail these prejudices once and for all?

We have probably all heard our own indigenous players abused, indeed all club supporters would raise their hand to this.

Ultimately, the issue is of such importance that any and all apologetic responses just have to be for the good.

Bravo Finnis!

 

[TheGreatGrundy]

Syd Jackson also says he was racially abused as well as discriminated against in society, including some golf courses where “they didn’t let blackfellas on some courses, fair dinkum”. I imagine every indigenous player copped racial abuse from opposition players. Do we apologise to every indigenous player who played against us? Perhaps we could request a public apology from Carlton for the accusations against Lee Adamson by Syd Jackson in 1970. Where does it stop? Or alternatively, where does the club start?

Robert Muir wouldn't be top of my list of indigenous players deserving an apology from the club.

 

[76woodenspooners]

Robert Muir wouldn't be top of my list of indigenous players deserving an apology from the club.

Robert Muir has clearly struggled for reasons that Collingwood contributed to in some part, and in a way that we recognise as being wrong ...

... so if we can own it, sincerely apologise, and help a bloke find peace, then that’s got to be a good thing?

But what is of far far greater value is that we find peace within ourselves. And that has got more to do with who we are today than who we were back then.

 

[WalterBlaknWhte]

Absolutely disgusting the racism he copped & all non whites copped at Vick Park.

Make no mistake though he was/is a violent scumbag, thief & alcoholic that regularly stole cars & drove so drunk/paralytic that it's only by chance he didn't kill people. Also lucky he didn't one punch kill someone.

He had a go at you in a bar from memory OA?

Robby coached me in junior footy for several weeks - came down to Frankston Primary and ran training etc because we were in StKilda's zone

Was the gentlest guy

(Told Mum this but she couldn't stand him because he was from StKilda)

 

[Daicos Torpedo]

Racism is crap. As a society there's no place for it in 2020, no question. And attempting to right the wrongs of the past is ok.

Muir was also a violent thug by nature. Its interesting the parallels that are trying to be drawn.

Do you have proof Muir was a violent thug by nature? That's a gross generalization and lazy at best.
Robert Muir got violence from early in his life. He had amazing skill as a football player with the hope of it as salvation. The 2 year tribunal farce would have made anyone angry. He fought back and made it to the best league in the land playing 2 years without much issue. Racism, fan violence and terrible shameful anti social behavior towards him, with NO ONE to watch his back or help him...
He would have thought it's me against the world.
He got stitched up repeatedly and we all just accepted that he was to blame for being a so called violent thug...
Fortunately none of us have had to endure anything like it. We have not walked a mile in his shoes, but we have read the sadness of a man broken by a racist era and labelled as a mad dog when the perpetrators were the true awful dogs

 

[HeadInTheSand]

Racism is crap. As a society there's no place for it in 2020, no question. And attempting to right the wrongs of the past is ok.

Are Jewish schools that receive government money and turn away non Jews racist?

 

[Leviathan Pie]

Do you have proof Muir was a violent thug by nature? That's a gross generalization and lazy at best.
Robert Muir got violence from early in his life. He had amazing skill as a football player with the hope of it as salvation. The 2 year tribunal farce would have made anyone angry. He fought back and made it to the best league in the land playing 2 years without much issue. Racism, fan violence and terrible shameful anti social behavior towards him, with NO ONE to watch his back or help him...
He would have thought it's me against the world.
He got stitched up repeatedly and we all just accepted that he was to blame for being a so called violent thug...
Fortunately none of us have had to endure anything like it. We have not walked a mile in his shoes, but we have read the sadness of a man broken by a racist era and labelled as a mad dog when the perpetrators were the true awful dogs

Really?

I don't think anyone disputes the horrific nature of what went on throughout his life, especially childhood.

But I'm not sure his interaction with Robbie Flower, for example, does anything to harm the 'violent thug' tag.

'Sorry Robbie, I've had a rough life, so I'm going to have to violently assault you without cause'