Stars must speak up to make a difference
White hockey players have a voice and it’s important that they are beginning to use it
Jonathan Toews has never been pulled over by a police officer because of the colour of his skin.
As the Chicago Blackhawks captain wrote on Instagram on Monday, “I can’t pretend for a second that I know what it feels like to walk in a black man’s shoes.”
Neither can Blake Wheeler, John Tavares, Alex Ovechkin, nor any of the white hockey players who have spoken out in the last few days about the racial injustices still plaguing our society. That’s fine. This isn’t about whether a white person can relate to the type of ugly experiences that their black teammates have had to endure.
For the most part, they can’t.
But they still have a voice. As white hockey players, it’s a particularly loud voice. And now they are using it to speak up and ask some hard questions.
If there’s some good that has come out of the mass protests that have been held across American cities it’s that more and more people of power are using their platforms to shed light on an issue that’s been kept in the dark for far too long.
George Floyd, 46, died a week ago after a now-fired Minneapolis officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck while three other officers watched.
When the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018, Devante Smith-Pelly boycotted the ceremonial act of visiting the White House because “the things that (Donald Trump) spews are straight-up racist and sexist.”
Those comments made headlines in Canada and in the U.S. But with all due respect to Smith-Pelly, who is now playing in Russia after 395 games in the NHL, the message would have had a bigger impact had Alex Ovechkin delivered it.
That is how real change occurs. It’s not enough for a fringe player to speak out. If you really want to get people’s attention, you need the stars of the game — players like Toews and Blake Wheeler, who previously might have been worried about saying anything too inflammatory because they didn’t want to risk endorsement dollars — to use their influence and stand beside those who are afflicted.
“The value of that is immeasurable to us. And it’s so impactful,” said retired NHL goalie Kevin Weekes, who is an analyst for the NHL network. “Unfortunately, it takes other people who aren’t impacted to give credibility to what’s happened. It’s empowering to see Jonathan Toews and Blake Wheeler and so many guys behind the scenes who don’t have a horse in the race speak up. I celebrate those guys.”
Weekes, who grew up in Scarborough, Ont., and spent most of his pro career in the
U.S., added this is not strictly an American problem.
Sure, the issues regarding race and discrimination might be worse in the U.S. than in Canada. But let’s not pretend that black hockey players are welcomed with open arms north of the border.
Weekes had a banana thrown at him during a 2002 playoff game in Montreal. The same things happened to Wayne Simmonds during a pre-season game in London, Ont. While playing for the Windsor Spitfires, Akim Aliu was the target of racial discrimination disguised as rookie hazing.
It happens more frequently than we’d like to admit.
“I know people in Canada say it’s not happening here, but that could not be further from the truth,” Weekes said. “I got ‘driving while black’ more at home than anywhere. More than in Carolina, more than in Florida, more than anywhere in the U.S.”
We’d like to believe that times are changing, that what Weekes endured as a pro is less than what Willie O’Ree endured when he was the first black player in the NHL, and that the league today is more welcoming and more inclusive than it was 10, 20 or 30 years ago.
And yet, it was in April when New York Rangers prospect K’Andre Miller held an online Q&A with fans that quickly was overrun with someone typing the N-word over and over again. Earlier in the year, Bill Peters was forced to resign as head coach of the Calgary Flames after Aliu revealed that his former coach had uttered racial epithets in his direction when both were in the minors.
The problem hasn’t gone away. It just keeps getting swept under the carpet and reappearing somewhere else.
“I said this when the Bill Peters (incident) came out: this is going to happen again in six months. What are we going to do about it?” said retired NHL forward Anthony Stewart, who is an analyst for Sportsnet. “It’s unfortunate to see the county being burned, but lost in the message is they kneeled and they had a silent protest and nothing happened. Let’s actually make a difference now.”
To the NHL’s credit, it has been working hard to try and make the league as inclusive as possible. Kim Davis was hired a couple of years ago to spearhead social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs. And in December,
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman unveiled a multi-point “zero tolerance” appropriate conduct plan.
As of Tuesday, almost every team had issued some form of statement expressing support for peaceful protest.
Weekes, in particular, has received text messages and phone calls from players, general managers and agents telling him that he is not alone and asking him how they can help make the league a better and safer place.
It’s a start, he said.
“I love our sport,” said Weekes. “I’m proud of the sport itself and the values that the sport teaches. I love hockey. But we have a lot of work ahead of us.”