Our nation will again celebrate the Martin Luther King holiday. If he were alive, Reverend King would probably be proud of America’s progress.
Hockey is no exception.
Despite problems that remain, there is no denying that significant improvement has been achieved.
The racial intolerance that forced Willie O’Ree to be locked in a closet for his protection from irate Chicago fans is a distant memory.
It is a fact that there are more minority children playing some form of hockey than ever before.
More minorities also have grown up playing recreationally. Enthusiasts such as Mr. Mike Beavers, Anthony Davis and Ricky Gist, who has played since he was a youth growing up in Detroit, continue to lace up their skates at the age of 51.
Thanks to Canadian hockey researchers like George Fosty, founder of SONAHHR (The Society of North American Hockey Historians and Researchers) and his book, “Black Ice,” we have discovered that black players have been playing the game on ice for over 100 years.
Few also know that Herb Carnegie, who never made it to the NHL because of the racial bias of th ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Warren Shaw
The NHL, Like The Nation, Has Made Great Progress Like MLK Dreamed
January 17th, 2011 by Warren Shaw Leave a reply »
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