Social justice warriors have not been successful in eradicating racism in politics like they claimed they would be. So now, their next battleground for attempting to destroy hate is the NHL.
The Hockey Diversity Alliance, which includes a combination of current and former players such as Toronto Maple Leafs winger Wayne Simmonds and Colorado Avalanche winger Nazem Kadri, has launched a “Tape Out Hate” campaign that will sell rolls of hockey tape inscribed with the message “Racism has no place in hockey.” Additionally, members of the HDA created a two-minute video highlighting their racist experiences to serve as a “rallying cry” for their cause.
"The biggest thing we want to do is spark a conversation. It's a rallying cry. We know we can't do this on our own. We need our allies behind us, and that's the white community supporting us," Akim Aliu, a former NHL player and a founding member of the HDA, told ESPN. "We want to share our experiences and come together as one, no matter race or gender. We want this game to reach its full potential."
Here’s the video:
We are proud to announce our partnership with @TheOfficialHDA. Watch their unfiltered experiences & how we are working together to make this game for us all. #TapeOutHate
— Budweiser Canada (@BudweiserCanada) January 8, 2022
@Simmonds17 @43_Kadri @Dreamer_Aliu78 @matt_dumba @aduclair10 pic.twitter.com/TRvvV37Bqc
Now obviously, even the uncensored video does highlight some real and disturbing instances of verbal abuse that these players have experienced, and that should not happen.
But so much of the philosophy and reasoning behind the campaign highlights a race versus race, communist way of viewing the world. Statements from the video such as, “It’s completely different when you’re a white player, people still don’t understand that,” “When you get more diversity in the game, it’s only going to make it better,” highlight that they think the only way that racism can be eradicated is if people “understand” their pain (whatever that means), and getting more black people in the game.
But the problem is, all of those solutions have been tried in every other sphere of our culture and yielded nothing good. Racism and hate are not something you can fix with hockey tape and fancy slogans, because all people (regardless of skin color) have the capability to be hateful towards each other. After all, white hockey players receive a lot of abuse too.
After the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens in five games to claim the 2021 Stanley Cup, Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev said that he, his teammates, and his teammate’s families received death threats after his teammate Nikita Kucherov insulted Canadiens fans after the title-clinching win (a classless move but not worthy of death threats). Where are the cries championing the Lightning’s cause? Where are the marketing campaigns supporting hockey players who have their lives threatened? Nowhere, because white players suffering injustice does not fit the social justice narrative, rendering them meaningless in its eyes.
We need a change of human heart to eradicate racism, and nothing the HDA does will do that.
