Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has invited ex-Magpie Heritier Lumumba back to the club following claims earlier this week that he was racially mistreated during his playing days.

Buckley responded to Lumumba's comments in his post-match press conference of Thursday night's draw with Richmond at the MCG.

The Magpies leader spoke about the impact of the The Black Lives Matter movement and admitted he felt 'uncomfortable' with Lumumba's passionate plea.

"I think everyone has been impacted and had their eyes opened by the events over in America, and it's definitely shone a light on the same issues of systemic racism in our culture," Buckley told reporters.

"Clearly the thing that needs to be spoken about is โ€ฆ we have a disgruntled ex-player in this particular issue of racism.

"I speak for the club generally but I have to speak for myself. I'm not comfortable with the fact Harry, sorry, Heritier, feels like he's been belittled and diminished in our environment.

"I haven't spoken to 'H' since 2014 (but) I'd love to speak to him again."

The former defender departed the Pies at the end 2014 after a falling out with Buckley and president Eddie McGuire in the aftermath of the latter's controversial radio comments about Indigenous star and Sydney Swans champion Adam Goodes.

McGuire told Channel 9'sย Footy Classifiedย on Wednesday that he had previously made attempts to reach out to Lumumba.

Buckley praised the 2010 premiership player for helping create a new-formed culture at Collingwood and welcomed his return to the club to show how much they have evolved.

"I'd love to have him come to his old football club and to see what we have become," he said.

"The culture of acceptance, the celebration of difference โ€“ no matter your colour, your religion, whatever your upbringing has been โ€“ we've actually been able to grow as an environment.

"We were growing when he was there โ€“ and he was a big part of it โ€“ and we're still growing.

"I'm really proud of the club we are now and I'd love to share that with him, because he's been a big part of that.

"I'll continue to try and reach out to listen to him, to see if there's something we can do about how he has felt about his experiences at the club."