Remember THIS?
Nothing ever came of it. The President of BC Minor Hockey sent us a rather lame letter that said because it was not addressed on the ice, there was nothing that could be done about it. We did find out that the coach was fired by the parents later in the year. That made us feel better.
It happened again. TONIGHT. Fort St. James Bantam Rep Hockey Team. This time it was Greg. He told his coach ON THE ICE and DURING the game. The coach told the ref. ON THE ICE and DURING the game. The ref refused to do anything.
This time, the President of BC Minor Hockey is HERE. As in IN our town and AT our rink.
I maybe, kinda, sorta lost it on the coach of this other child. But if that kid touches the ice the rest of the weekend, I might be blogging from jail. Spray painting "Racist Twits" across the side of their bus is probably inappropriate and illegal but wearing a placard that says "Racists Have No Place In Hockey" isn't.
I hate racism. I hate it with a passion that causes my blood pressure to rise, my heart to race and my mind to go blank. I love my sons with an even greater passion. You combine the two? You have a mom that loses her freaking mind.
I will keep you updated. And if anyone wants to join a placard wearing mom at the rink tomorrow, let me know. That town, that team, that coach, that ref, that child and that child's parents need to know that there is NO PLACE for such stupidity in society. In hockey. Or in my town. I hate racism and sadly, right now, I hate racists.
5 comments:
Oh that makes me SO mad! I would love to join you in kicking some serious butt. Anyway you can call the press and get them there? Make a showcase of what ignorant *&%@$%&^ these people are?
That sucks. If we were closer, we would totally be joining you.
Jen, give 'em hell! You're right, this has no place in the sport, among kids and in the community. In terms of handling it, a couple of months ago a story broke out of New Brunswick about a high school girls hockey team. Apparently a couple of the girls came out as gay. Their teammates were supportive, but other teams began to make homophobic slurs, wouldn't shake their hands after the game and so on. The girls' team and school addressed it on their own through making and wearing buttons that said "homophobia" with a line drawn through the word. Apparently the support became such a hit that other teams took on the issue and started wearing the buttons too. I don't know if this is an idea for Greg's team and for your community - but maybe getting the other kids involved in saying "no" to racism will have an impact. Here is the link to the NB story:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/09/15/nb-woodstock-hockey-human-rights-714.html
Like I said, give 'em hell!
Oh man.... I cannot believe it happened again!!!!
I hope this time something is actually done about it!!!!!
I also hope that the team and the other parents join in on the complaints also!
I read your story tonight and took some comfort in knowing that there is someone else fighting the same fight that my son has been forced to endure. He is a senior on his high school varsity hockey team and is the only Hispanic on the team (or in the league for the matter). He often has to put up with other players saying horrible comments on the ice - but what is worse is the coach. He recently humiliated our son when he was speaking to the team before a game. He asked all of the players if they understood what they needed to do - He then looked at my son and in a sick, mocking voice said "Do you understand that - or should we HABLA ESPANOL for you". Of course all of the players laughed at him - he just let it go. But the behavior has encouraged all of his "team mates" to feel very comfortable abusing him. Last night a player called him a "filthy Mexican" and then asked him if he wants to mow his lawn. The player then threw his equipment at my son. My son is MUCH bigger than this kid and knew he would be punished for reacting - so he kept his cool and told the kid "At least I'm a good player unlike you". Well - you can guess - the coach called ME to talk about MY SONS abuse of this player - and said that he didn't really think that what the other kid said was racist....???
We honestly don't know what to do but just tell him to keep his head up and ignore it...
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