Racism rampant among Canadian hockey fans
In a recent NHL game, a banana was thrown on the ice by a fan as a racist gesture toward one of the players who is black. This may be an isolated incident by one idiot in the stands, but make no mistake there are a lot of hockey fans, at least in Canada that are racist towards black athletes. I hear this racism all the time by many people when talking about sports. I often like to point out that the proportion of black players in the NHL is growing, as it has in other major North American sports in the past and this never fails to upset them.
When criticizing sports that already have a large number of black athletes like the NBA for example, hockey fans in Canada often discard the sport in a very racist way specifically because of the proportion of black players in professional basketball. In fact, a very strong case can be made that the popularity of hockey in Canada versus other sports is highly correlated to racism towards black athletes. It is something that those racist individuals will eventually have to deal with as more and more black athletes are becoming exposed to hockey and thus, the proportion black NHL players grows as well. As this trend continues, it should come as no surprise that sports like the NBA and others begin to close the popularity gap in Canada.
People generally think about Canadians as inclusive, kind and accepting people. For the most part, this is true. However, behind the game that many Canadians live and breathe by lies a nasty undertone that will eventually blow up for the world to see.
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[...] Racism rampant among Canadian hockey fans | Wiz At Business • March 2010: A pair of fans at a game in Montreal between the Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers are spotted with black face paint, Afro wigs and T-shirts that say “Subbanator” in an apparent reference to Habs player P.K. Subban, who is black. • November 2010: Coach Greg Walsh pulls his team off the ice during a minor hockey game in Peterborough when an opposing player hurls a racist slur at a 16-year-old black player on his team. Walsh is later suspended by the Ontario Minor Hockey Association for his actions. • December 2009: A player for the Thomas A. Blakelock High School hockey team from Oakville, Ont., shouts a racial remark during a game at an opposing player of Middle Eastern descent on the Milton District High School team. The principal of the Oakville school cancels the rest of his team’s hockey season in reaction to the incident. • December 2005: Fans in Chicoutimi, Que., yell racial slurs and make gestures at coach Ted Nolan, who is of aboriginal descent, during a junior hockey game when Nolan’s Moncton Wildcats are playing against the hometown Sagueneens. • May 2002: Black goaltender Kevin Weekes has a banana thrown at him as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes while playing in Montreal against the Canadiens. Read more: Timeline: Racism on ice __________________ for the Lefty Hall-of-Shame: Spoiler [...]