Nurse taking charge for racial justice
Hockey star has ‘unique lens’ into the issue
Sarah Nurse had some uncomfortable days at the hockey rink when she was growing up.
“I just remember walking into a rink, and hearing somebody say, ‘ Oh, that’s that Black guy’s kid,’” she says. “And there’s just moments like that when you’re growing up and you’re young and you don’t even know how to process that or handle that and you don’t know what to say because you’re almost embarrassed.”
Nurse, now a member of the Canadian national team and an Olympic medallist, was the rare biracial kid who played hockey in Hamilton two decades ago. She says when unwelcome comments came, “My Dad just said, ‘ Shut them up on the scoreboard,’ and that was something I was able to do. That was something that, I think, kind of got us through everything.”
The issue of race in sports, and in wider society, has received much attention in recent months. The deaths of George Floyd and then Jacob Blake in the United States, and the attention that anti- racism messages were given in the return of professional sports during the pandemic, have meant that athletes all over the world are now speaking about issues that were not long ago only discussed by a certain few. People like Nurse and her family — she’s cousins with Darnell Nurse of the Edmonton Oilers and basketball star Kia Nurse.
“I think for me in the hockey space and specifically the women’s hockey space, I’ve kind of been thrust into this life because whenever people in the past have looked for examples for Black History Month or whenever they wanted to talk to somebody, they came to me,” she says. “And there are so few women of colour in our game that we take on a lot of the work.”
But the events of recent months have changed some of that.
“I’ve been so amazed at how our teammates have really leaned in, and wanted to learn more and educate themselves on social- justice issues and racism, and it’s made me hopeful for the future of our game.”
That message of hope is Nurse’s contribution to a campaign from sports- apparel giant Adidas, which includes short video spots from a number of athletes.
For Nurse, 25, being a biracial player in a predominantly white sport meant dealing with subtle questions about belonging. Why didn’t she choose basketball? Why wasn’t her hair in cornrows?
“I’ve been provided this unique lens into racism in hockey because I do have lighter skin and so I have this privilege in itself in that,” she says. She also had the benefit of being an exceptional player. “I was able to let my hockey do the talking for itself, and when comments were made, I could just go score a goal, and then the shut people up, whereas I know that other players of colour don’t have the same opportunity and they have to deal with proving why they’re there.”
Significant steps have been taken in recent weeks and months. The founding of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, and new inclusion initiatives at the National Hockey League level, can be a start to fixing inequities in the game, which go beyond the well-publicized incidents of racial slurs used by players and coaches. Even just the attitude around the sport has shifted. Where NHL players and staff almost entirely avoided the social- justice conversations that took place in the early days of Colin Kaepernick’s protests, they were much more outspoken in the recently completed playoff bubbles. It’s a start.
But it’s also just that. The return of sports and the various attempts to bring attention to racial justice issues — with signage and T-shirts and advertising spots — have been accompanied by complaints that athletes shouldn’t be bringing these issues into the workplace. These are the fans who insist that they want their games to be isolated from the problems of the world, a little oasis where everything is peachy keen.
“It’s definitely a little disheartening,” Nurse says. “When people talk about caring about the sport and just wanting to be able to watch sports, I wonder, ‘ Do you care about the players who are playing the sport? Do you care about the people who are providing you this entertainment?’
“The people who play sports and who are professional athletes are human beings, and there are certain things that they just can’t shake off and play games and perform for you to make you comfortable,” Nurse says.
It’s as succinct a repudiation of the shut-up-and-play argument as I have heard.
“And so I would say, if you love the sport, you really have to care for and respect the players who are playing.”
That starts with listening to what they have to say. Something like the Hockey Diversity Alliance, which includes current and former NHL players like Evander Kane, Joel Ward and Akim Aliu, will only have an impact if its mere existence is not treated by the hockey establishment as an accomplishment in itself.
“We need to continue to take action and provide education because we have a lot of catching up to do in terms of other major league sports,” Nurse says. “So. I think that we’re at a good starting point and I’m very optimistic about where we’re headed.”