Facing the Bear

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What It’s About: "I'm here to stand up to this behaviour... I'm proud of where I come from. I'm proud to be from Ochapowace First Nation. I'm not just doing this for myself. I'm doing this for all people of colour & for the next generation."

Ethan Bear's statement is in response to racist social media comments about his play in a hockey game. He was compelled to comment after ignorance and hatred suggested that somehow his indigenous background impacted his performance. This spewed out after his team, the Edmonton Oilers, were disappointingly eliminated in four straight NHL playoff games. Bear, a great young player, who definitely made mistakes contributing to the Oilers’ loss, took a barrage of racially motivated criticism after the final game.

So What?: Some Canadians like to hold their nose, and self-righteously point their fingers at Americans on matters related to racism. The fact is, Canadians can be as racist and frankly, stupid on the matter as many south of our border. The shameful abuse by slithering, silent, nameless cowards, is not an excusable “one off” by emotional fans. It’s an example of the ugly truth under the belly, still too prevalent in much of Canadian society.

Now What?: Actions speak louder than denouncing ugly words. Each of us can take personal action, rather than simply clicking our disapproval. We cannot tolerate the ignorance of racism. We ALL should declare our position on the matter, and then do the hard work of extinguishing it. For many of us, that includes addressing and taking on the elusive and difficult work in surfacing unconscious and institutional bias. However, as the Ethan Bear incident painfully points out, we still obviously have far to go terminating flat out, direct, conscious racism. Honestly, what the hell is wrong with us? We all know better in our hearts. Bear probably deserved to be benched. He did not deserve racist hatred. It is disgusting that he would have to defend himself for being a First Nation man, and human being!

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now,

Lorne

One Millennial View: Look, I don’t believe that 99.9% of our readers need a reminder not to be racist, but this is a sobering example that it’s still out there. Although there are certainly issues with racism in the world (and there always will be), check out this outpouring of support for Ethan Bear in downtown Edmonton. It’s really nice to see, and it’s louder, and more spirited than any anonymous social media post by some idiot in their mom’s basement.

- Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis

Facing the Bear

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