Back in his Saturday Night Live days, Chris Rock brought us the short-lived and underappreciated Nat X. An afro'd, hyper-paranoid caricature of black outrage, Nat was introduced to us as the host of "The Dark Side," a low-budget talk-show that, on one occasion, found him spouting off on "The Top 5 Reasons Brothers Don't Play Hockey." ("Why five? 'Cause 10 would make The Man nervous.")
The list was, of course, completely facetious - the first reason offered was that "it's cold out there." But watching the fallout last week from the National Hockey League's latest racial incident, I couldn't help but think there might be fodder for someone who wanted to take a more serious stab at the topic than Nat X.
We have no way of knowing for certain whether the L.A. Kings' Sean Avery taunted the Edmonton Oilers' Georges Laraque on the ice by calling him "a monkey," as Laraque has alleged - although it's difficult to see why Laraque would choose to make it up, and the version of events he relayed on a national radio program seemed credible. But regardless of what specifically transpired, it was the reaction it prompted that was more disturbing.
On Thursday, hours after Laraque had taken to the airwaves, the topic was discussed by Sportsnet's hockey panel. The reaction from Nick Kypreos and Bill Watters was not, as one might have expected, concern at the prospect that one of the league's very few black players had been the victim of a racist taunt by another player. Instead, their main complaint was that Laraque was embarrassing the NHL by continuing to make an issue of it.
Watters and Kypreos aren't racists. But they speak for a locker room culture that does little to encourage blacks - and, by appearances, other visible minorities - from participating as players or fans.
Other black players have been the victims of similar taunts - including the Philadelphia Flyers' Donald Brashear, who was also branded a "monkey" by an opponent, and goalie Kevin Weekes, who had a banana thrown at him by Montreal Canadiens fans. Few of these incidents have caused more than a ripple.
When retired NHL goalie John Vanbiesbrouck referred to one of his own players as a "nigger" while coaching in the Ontario Hockey League, the OHL responded strongly by banning him from the league. But considering that Vanbiesbrouck subsequently lamented having picked up racist attitudes as a kid growing up in Detroit, one couldn't help but wonder: How many similar comments had he made behind the locker room doors during his playing career? And how common was it within the NHL for those comments to be made, considering word of his racism had never leaked out?
If the NHL wants to re-establish itself as a force in North American sports, it might consider the demographics of many of its cities - and then consider the degree to which the extreme whiteness of its talent pool is reflected in the fans who fill arena seats and turn up in sports bars to watch it.
Nobody is suggesting the NHL launch some sort of feel-good diversity campaign, nor that general managers start actively seeking out minority players. But instead of prominent members of the hockey community turning on victims of alleged racist slurs, they might want to start rallying behind them. Until they do, it probably won't just be Nat X who feels unwelcome.
