Reality Check: Hockey Through The Lens Of Racism

Fan hurls racial slur at Black hockey player. Photo CTV News

by Bob Dawson,

OTTAWA, Canada – February 9, 2022 –

 By all accounts, hockey is more than just a game; it’s a microcosm of society. Judging from the racial incidents reported in the media in recent months, racism still remains an issue in hockey just as it does in the rest of society.

Without a doubt, racism in hockey, for the most part, is a complex problem. For starters, the sport itself does not induce racism. Rather, it provides an “emotional environment” in which basic emotions like fear, anger, frustration, and pride are displayed. These emotions, which are personal, powerful, dynamic, situational and often spontaneous, can and do bring out the worst in people.

Sadly, Blacks, Indigenous peoples, persons of Middle Eastern descent and South Asians are more often than not the target of racial slurs, inappropriate gestures and stereotyping by opposing players and their fans and even some hockey analysts/journalists and commentators. Such indignities deny the players of the right to be treated with respect, dignity and fairness in a safe and welcoming environment.

Understanding Racism

To better understand what is happening in hockey and why, it’s important for one to understand the nature of racism. Such understanding is essential in order to recognize and counter it successfully. To begin with, racism is the result of a complex interplay of individual attitudes, beliefs, social values as well as institutional culture and practices. According to Michael Dodson [pictured] , Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, “It is expressed in the actions of individuals and institutions and is promoted in the ideology of popular culture. It changes its form in response to social change.”

In understanding racism, one must also come to terms with notion of race. Many scholars view the concept of race as a “social construct”, not a scientific one. Simply put, the term has no inherent meaning. Rather, it’s an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society.

As a point of interest, racism has its roots in Social Darwinism a term coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in his review of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1895. Darwin and other proponents like Herbert Spencer, Thomas Malthus and William Graham Sumner espoused beliefs that some people are superior to others because they belong to a particular race, ethnic or national group. They even went so far as to organize human beings according to racial characteristics (e.g., intelligence, industriousness, morality, etc.) and created a hierarchy where Whites were positioned at the top and racialized groups like Blacks, Indigenous people and others at the bottom. As such, certain racialized groups were compared to animals such as monkeys and deemed not fully human or sub-human.

The irrational beliefs and theories, which were inspired by the aforementioned White European scientific thinkers, received widespread acceptance and were embraced throughout North America. To this day, they continue to a large extent to shape the course of intergroup relations between Whites and racialized ethnic groups in all areas of society including the sport of hockey.

Racist attitudes and beliefs are misconceptions about people based on perceived racial lines and often founded on the “fear of difference”, including differences in, among other things, customs, values, beliefs, religion and physical appearance. Racist attitudes, for example, may be manifested in a number of ways including common accepted expressions of racial prejudice towards and stereotyped assumptions about people from other cultures. Accordingly, these attitudes and beliefs find expression in racist behaviours, both in the actions of individuals and in the policies and entrenched practices of organizations.

Generally speaking, what we believe about people from different racial backgrounds is usually learnt from our parents and family members. From an early age, we hear their opinions and views and accept them without asking questions. Moreover, as we get older we are exposed to other influences like friends, the news media and social media that shape our perceptions as to how we view and treat others.

Deconstruction of Racial Incidents in Hockey

To help put the forgoing context into perspective with what’s going on in hockey, I’ve attempted to deconstruct a few of the media accounts of racial incidents involving players of colour. 

Krystof Hrabik  (Photo: Christopher Mast / Getty Images) 

In the first incident, Krystof Hrabik a White hockey player with the San Jose Barracuda, during an American Hockey League game, initiated the movement of a “monkey” in a taunt that targeted Tucson Roadrunners’ Boko Imama, who’s Black, while in the second, a 13-year-old Mohawk player by the name of Phoenix Lahache, along with his teammates, were called “savages” on more than one occasion during the season by opposing White players. To learn more:

Hockey player Krystof Hrabik gets 30 game suspension for racist gesture at another AHL player

‘I don’t want racism in the sport I love’

It goes without saying the racist acts in both incidents, unintentional or not, were highly inappropriate. In fact, they characterized the players of colour as somehow not being human which closely aligns with the racist scientific thinkers’ so-called ‘hierarchy of human beings’.

In another incident, 16 year old Mark Connors, who is Black and plays with the Halifax Hawks, during a hockey tournament in Charlottetown was called the N-word and told by White spectators “This is a White man’s sport”. By all accounts, the espoused myth is erroneous. It implies, on one hand, that Blacks and other people of colour have no place in hockey and should stick to playing basketball, baseball and football and on the other, they don’t have the athletic ability and intelligence to play hockey. To learn more:

Halifax goalie, 16, says he’s again faced racial slurs, this time at P.E.I. hockey tournament

In recent times, one of the most common remarks directed at players of colour is that “Hockey is a White man’s game.” This myth has evolved over time and is the furthest from the truth.

If the truth be told, our knowledge of the roots of Canadian hockey has been almost entirely based on the historical records maintained by early White historians. Because of this, the myth and narrative that hockey is a White man’s invention has persisted over time. According to Canadian historians George and Darril Fosty, co-authors of the ground breaking book Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925, “We know today, such an assumption could not be further from historical fact. The roots of early Canadian hockey originate with the North American Indians.” They further stated, “The roots of modern Canadian hockey originate in large part from the influence of an even more surprising source, that of the early African-Canadian hockey. For it was Black hockey players in the later half of the nineteenth century whose style of play and innovations helped shape the sport, effectively changing the game of hockey forever.”

Further to the above, in an era when many believed Blacks could not endure the cold, possessed ankles too weak to skate effectively and lacked the intelligence and ability to play organized sport, the men of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes defied the established myths. Their innovations like the butterfly style of goaltending and the slap shot, which are the main aspects of today’s game, were pioneered in the league some 25 years before the establishment of the NHL. 
Racism’s Impact on Aspects of Hockey

For this writer, if the issue of racism in hockey is not addressed in a collaborative, more strategic and sustained manner it could, as noted below, have serious and in some cases long term ramifications in the following key areas.

The Players

Racism can have serious consequences for players who experience it. For example, it can humiliate, isolate, exclude and hurt players emotionally, particularly members of racialized groups (Blacks, Aboriginal peoples, persons of Middle Eastern descent and South Asians) who are more often than not the targets of acts of racism.

At the very least in hockey, racism exposes racialized group members to additional and undue stress that they often experience in their daily lives. It can affect their mental health and well-being and lead to low-self esteem, anxiety, frustration and in some cases even depression. It can shatter their confidence and sense of worth. Not only that, racism in turn, can affect the players’ mind-set, morale, and ultimately undermine their on-ice performance and hockey development.

Here, it’s important to note that on December 17, 2018, the Canadian Public Health Association, in collaboration with seven Provincial/Territorial Public Health Associations, declared racism as a public health issue.

Local Communities

Hockey continues to play an important social and cultural role in Canada. Moreover, it provides a form of “social glue” which binds communities and people together.

Racial incidents in hockey, however, can have devastating effects on the “social and sporting life of communities” as well as the race relations within and between members of diverse communities. Sadly, such situations have in fact occurred a few years ago as a result of minor and junior hockey games in Manitoba and Alberta involving Aboriginal and White communities. This could arise again given the passion for hockey in many communities across the country and the ever-increasing emphasis placed on winning by parents, coaches and fans or supporters.

The Sport of Hockey

Needless to say, racism in hockey can, among other things, lead to or result in:

· Unhealthy or toxic hockey environments in which increasing tensions affect players, coaches, parents and team officials. Such situations, if not addressed and resolved effectively, could create a public-relations issue and sully the team or league’s image.

· Difficulties in hockey organizations attracting, recruiting and retaining players of colour, which would not bode well for fluctuating player registrations.

· Talented players of colour aspiring to play in the NHL deciding instead to pursue other career areas thereby affecting the potential “talent pool” from which NHL teams could recruit future players.

· The departure of players of colour from hockey to take up other sports could put hockey’s future and survival at risk.

Notwithstanding the forgoing, if people find their involvement in hockey enjoyable and welcoming then they will be much more likely to continue this sport from childhood into their adult lives. A positive experience increases the chance of lifelong participation be it as a player, coach, administrator, game official or even a fan. Hockey officials and organizations, therefore, need to ensure that the hockey environment is safe and welcoming. Moreover, they need to make sure their policies, programs and practices are inclusive and respond to the changing needs of people of all backgrounds who play the game.

Closing Thoughts

Despite views to the contrary, racism is a by-product of learned behaviour. Those that participate in the playing, organization, operations and management of hockey bring their racist attitudes and beliefs about people of colour with them into the sport. As we’ve seen time and again, it often plays out in acts of racism, physical and verbal abuse by opposing players and their fans and even some hockey analysts/journalists and commentators.  There is little doubt that the problem of racism in hockey is going to disappear anytime soon. In fact, it’s likely to increase as more people of colour participate in all levels of the sport.

If hockey is to survive, the culture of the game has to change drastically and requires the sustained commitment and involvement of all the relevant stakeholders. For me, changing the culture starts right at home with the education of the players and on through the local minor hockey organizations and professional hockey ranks. In the words of Yolanda King, “What we need to do is learn to respect and embrace our differences until our differences don’t make a difference in how we are treated.”

Bob Dawson is a former hockey player, diversity management consultant and a senior writer for Boxscore World Sportswire. For additional information, you can visit his website at http://thebobdawsonway.weebly.com