I believe – and it might not be a view shared by all – it is possible to make a racist remark without being a racist.

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People sometimes make mistakes and do things that confuse even them before learning harsh lessons. Ask St Kilda’s Jimmy Webster why he bumped Jy Simpkin last week and I bet he would still be trying to find a logical answer.

The key for me is whether people can learn from their mistakes and demonstrate their values in their future actions.

On the one occasion I was racially abused in my career I contacted my opponent, with whom I shared mutual friends, and explained over coffee why what he had said had hurt. He listened and understood.

Addressing the issue face-to-face helped me overcome the hurt the comment caused and I also had the satisfaction of educating a peer. We are now on friendly terms.

The other component of the class action that troubles me is how much responsibility the code should bear for the damage individuals inflicted on others during particular eras.

I understand the game’s governing body could (and should) have, in retrospect, moved more quickly to reflect the intent of racial vilification legislation introduced in the ’70s, but hindsight always allows for more perfect decisions.

And of course, I’m not arguing it should wash its hands of the issue, but solutions can be reached that bind people involved in the game rather than divide them.

In the end, through the force of a generation of players such as my heroes Michael Long, Michael McLean, Chris Lewis, Nicky Winmar and Adam Goodes, who built their careers on the back of the courageous Krakouer brothers Phil and Jim, progress started in 1995 when the anti-vilification and discrimination rule was introduced.

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Slowly but surely – and thankfully – racial vilification has effectively been removed from the field of play in the AFL and the code has had an enormous impact on reducing racism around the game (even though racist online attacks still sadly occur and have a terrible effect on those who are on the receiving end).

Perhaps the class action forces the game’s administrators to think harder to find ways to support those affected and traumatised by the racism they suffered.

Perhaps it forces the game to concentrate on having more Aboriginal people with football experience in positions of influence rather than devoting too many resources to symbolic acts that make many people feel and look good rather than changing much.

If it achieves that in a way that supports Aboriginal people who have been so good for this game, then great.

My fear, however, is that the game, which has been such an important way to bring people together, is in danger of being used as a vehicle to promote division as yesterday’s problems are viewed through the prism of today’s standards, which the game and many Aboriginal players have worked hard in the past 30 years to improve.

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