The video of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was horrific.
Recorded by Pulitzer Prize-winner Darnella Frazier, the murder took place in Minnesota– the self-proclaimed “State of Hockey.”
But the NHL, and many of its franchises, continues to lag behind other sports league when it comes to identifying and celebrating holidays and issues important to fans from non-traditional hockey spaces and marginalized communities.
Historically, some white people view racism as an isolated issue that’s experienced occasionally over time, akin to a blizzard or the Olympics.
But in hockey, the challenge of dealing with racism persists.
Earlier this week, the San Jose Sharks tweeted a tone deaf photo celebrating Juneteenth with of a Shark breaking chains. The team continues to be lambasted for the now-deleted tweet.
In January, feminist hockey players unilaterally made the decision to lean on their whiteness when one of their colleagues, Metropolitan Riveters defenseman Saroya Tinker, a Black woman, challenged the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) for their partnership with Barstool Sports.
As I’ve said before, hockey, like life, is often rigged against Black and brown kids.
But Bryant McBride, Burst CEO and co-founder, and co-producer of the Willie O’Ree documentary, “Willie: How the Descendant of Slaves Changed Hockey Forever,” is trying to balance the scales.
Bryant, who founded the NHL diversity task force in 1995, is partnering with Bernice Carnegie (daughter of hockey legend Herb Carnegie) to form the Carnegie Initiative. An independent not-for-profit group, they aim to promote growth and change in terms of hockey accessibility.
The Carnegie Initiative, named in honor of Herb, will also establish and award academic grants for those who are changing the look and feel of the sport in Canada and in the U.S.
Despite the NHL hiring Kim Davis (NHL executive vice president, Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs), and their dustups with the NHL player-formed Hockey Diversity Alliance, what will make the Carnegie Initiative different from what we’ve seen?
McBride told me that the Carnegie Initiative won’t wait for hockey’s gatekeepers to figure out something they should’ve understood decades ago.
“The window following George Floyd everyone reflected, and I think and hope that everyone took the time to say: ‘OK, what can I do to move things along and be better?’ And that led to conversations with a lot of people they see on board; a concerted effort to be really intentional for the next however long it takes,” McBride told me. “There were three players of color in the [NHL], and that number over 25 years has grown. 10x to 30 to 40 players, — but that took 25 years. How do we do that 10x again in 10 years? And how do we bring that to bear if you have momentum from the social awakening? The [Carnegie Initiative’s] intent is to be very focused, to be very diligent about serving as a clearinghouse and serving as an entity that will ask for transparency.
“By the year 2044, the majority of people in North America will be visible minorities, so it’s a business imperative as well for the sport. But at the root of it, it’s also ensuring that all kids get a chance to play. It’s about opportunity.”
The Carnegie Initiative’s board of directors includes Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Grant Fuhr, NHL executives Brian Burke and Ted Nolan, Hockey Night in Canada broadcasters Ron MacLean and Harnarayan Singh, Team Canada Olympian Sarah Nurse, and women’s hockey pioneer and Hall of Famer Angela James, among others.
McBride wants to leave no stone unturned, meaning he’s going to pull receipts when the hockey stakeholders come for the Carnegie Initiative.
“Let’s get the data. Let’s really understand the barriers, there’s a lot of anecdotal information out there,” said McBride. “Let’s really dig in and work with universities like Harvard, MIT, the University of Waterloo in Toronto. Let’s let’s dig in and really understand with the help of some of the smartest minds in the world, and give them grants to help us really dig in and get the data.
“What are those barriers and what’s those areas where people don’t feel included. Where they there’s that cultural sense of not belonging. So how do we attack that first? The second is how do we tell stories at scale that normalize that teach and humanize everyone in the game so marginalized people are not an anomaly in a hockey setting that it’s become that it becomes the norm?”
McBride says, due to his time with the NHL’s diversity task force, he would like to call on any person or organization who wants to be truly collaborative when changing hockey — and hockey culture — for the better.
That starts with recognizing systemic racism in hockey.
The “we,” McBride says, includes the NHL, USA Hockey, and Hockey Canada.
“When have you ever seen a team when in pursuing an effort to win where they were divided? Not going to happen,” said McBride. “I think the [NHL] has come a long way. I mean, I started these efforts at the NHL; it’s near and dear to my heart. I want to see it grow, right? I want to see it prosper, and they made it a priority. Yeah, in my heart, I think they have made it a priority.
“We all to be held accountable. If we don’t do a good job if others that are attacking these issues don’t do the job. They should be held to accountable — it’s a huge responsibility.”
