Hockey, Racists and God's Sense of Humor

Overall, we have been relatively incident free when it comes to racism and our kids.  There are some significant exceptions, and some I have handled better than others. 

You might remember the incident that happened earlier this hockey season where a boy on another team implied my child was an animal normally found in tropical climates.

Greg was offended, and did what he was supposed to do by reporting the incident to the referee on the ice, to his coach and then again speaking up bravely when we had to meet with the President of our local hockey association and the BC hockey league itself. 

The outcome was that more education was offerred to refs throughout the province to deal with these specific sorts of situations and the child in question was talked to.  It was the outcome we were hoping for.  (although momentarily I did fantasize about forcing the offending child to skate around the rink with a sign stating he was an ignorant racist hick while I threw tomatoes at him.)

Fast forward six months or so.  Selections are made for the best hockey players in that age group to attend the U16 BC CUP. 

We were VERY proud when Greg made that team.

Then the team rosters came out. 

Sigh.

On the same team as Greg was THIS child. 

Sitting next to us a the rink on our first day there?  His parents.
And the next day?  and the day after that?  Again, his parents.

The young boy Caden befriended and played with the entire weekend?  His little brother. 

They were, in my completely judgemental opinion,  pretty much what you would imagine people to be like whose child would utter racist slurs.  I smiled, I was nice to their little boy but for the life of me I couldn't be friendly. 

I wish there was a better ending to this than to say we sat 5 seats apart but in different worlds, but there isn't.  I hope they saw us as a family  - a REAL family - with human children who just happen to have different color skin than their own.  I am not sure they did.  But I did see them as a mother and father who love their children, even if they have taught ignorance.

Killing racism with reality one hockey game at a time.

By the way my kid did good. We will hear more later about that!

Mad Momma Update

I am VERY happy to report that we have an extremely supportive hockey association and team mates that viewed the events with the same sense of shock and horror as we did.

Greg feels supported and validated in his feelings about the event and believes our assertion that racism in any setting is wrong.

We are also happy to report that the concerns were taken very seriously, and most importantly there will be an educational component for all disciplinary actions taken.

Racists are NOT welcome in hockey, or society, and I am glad that we could help to be the change to ensure that this becomes progressively less and less acceptable in EVERY circle.

For those that would argue that racism is "harmless" on the sporting field, I would assert that complacency in the face of wrong doing is simply acceptance. If you are not part of the solution to ending racism, then you yourself ARE the problem.

I know the cost to Greg to stand up and report this event at the time it occurred to his coach and the ref. I know the cost to him to stand before the Directors today and share what happened to him. It would have been much easier, at least today, to stay silent.

But the cost if he had stayed silent and simply accepted the fact that people will sometimes behave this way? Far Greater. He believes that he is worth being treated with the same respect as any other player. Any other person.

He stood up for what is right this weekend, and he had our support. Not only that but he had the support of the coaches and Minor Hockey Executive that, without our knowledge, also spoke to the Directors on Greg's behalf attesting to his honesty, integrity and honor both on and off the ice.

So thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being as upset as we were. Thank you for understanding that if we fail to react when this happens, we are giving our consent for it to continue.

Racism, Hockey and Mom Goes Mad

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.