Turning a blind eye to racism doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Recent inaction by one of the province’s highest-level minor hockey leagues sets a rather alarming precedent when dealing with racist behaviour — or rather, not dealing with racist behaviour.
A young hockey player with the Lethbridge Pronghorns shouted a racial slur at a St. Albert Sports Raiders player during a game in St. Albert at the beginning of the month.
A member of the Lethbridge team’s coaching staff overheard the transgression and simply told the player not to say those words — an act that this staff member has since denied.
The Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League’s top representative continues to state that racial slurs will not be tolerated in the sport, however, he blatantly fails to support this claim.
He certainly talks the talk stating that this kind of language is not acceptable, but has so far failed to walk the walk by launching an investigation into the incident.
The common phrase “actions speak louder than words” is evident in this situation.
If derogatory comments are not tolerated in the league, the coach who witnessed the offence has a responsibility to report the actions of his player, rather than deny the accusation after it was brought forward by the media.
If this kind of language and behaviour is truly unacceptable, an investigation should be conducted with an appropriate punishment subsequently dished out.
Instead, the head of the league continues to turn a blind eye to the incident.
He initially stated an investigation can only be conducted if an on-ice official hears the offence. If this is the case, that puts an awful lot of pressure on the referees and leaves them with an immense amount of ground to cover.
He later stated that he simply has “better things to do” than look into the offence.
Despite his excuses, the simple fact of the matter is that derogatory language is not excusable.
It is a shame that, in this day and age, an individual with the power to effect change would rather plead ignorance to an issue that is extremely detrimental to the target of the slur and to his teammates.
The league, however, is not incapable of taking action. In fact, just two weeks prior to this most recent event, a Leduc player was handed a 12-game suspension for a similar offence in Edmonton.
This punishment sent a clear and powerful message to players, parents and team officials that racism is not tolerated. The league has demonstrated its ability to take action by punishing three players in as many years for uttering racial slurs on the ice.
With the most recent incident being ignored, it raises the question of how many more instances have occurred but were simply overlooked by the league. How many more players have been subjected to racial slurs with the offenders getting off scot-free?
With no action taken, it leaves the targets of such language completely isolated. These players are unable to reach out to the league for support because the league has proven its indifference.
Instead of sweeping the problem under the rug, presumably out of fear that the league will garner a tainted reputation, league officials should take the opportunity to stand up against racism and, ultimately, practise what it preaches.
