CHANGING on the FLY Situating Multiculturalism, Citizenship, and Hockey Through the Voices of South Asian Canadians

CHANGING ON THE FLY Situating multiculturalism, citizenship, and hockey through the voices of South Asian Canadians EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BY COURTNEY SZTO CHANGING ON THE FLY Situating multiculturalism, citizenship, and hockey through the voices of South Asian Canadians Hockey and multiculturalism are often referred to as defining features of Canadian culture; yet, rarely do we question the relationship and tensions between these two ideas. This research project examines the growing significance of hockey in Canada’s South Asian communities (defined as those with ancestry from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, as well as former “British India”—the West Indies, Fiji, and East Africa). It discusses issues surrounding “race” and racism in Canadian sport and highlights the value of ethnic media by unpacking the growth and popularity of the Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi Edition broadcast. The observations to follow are the result of fieldwork conducted at local hockey games and events, interviews with representatives from the Hockey Night Punjabi broadcast, and South Asian Canadian hockey players, parents, and coaches located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. The goals of this project were to (1) inject more “colour” into hockey’s historically white dominated representations, and (2) encourage alternative and multiple narratives about hockey and citizenship by asking which citizens are able to contribute to the stories and legacies that make up our national understanding. Some of the major themes that emerged from this project include: a pattern of dismissing on-ice racial slurs as gamesmanship; a reluctance to name any particular incident as racist; a feeling of resentment from white hockey parents directed at wealthier South Asian participants; and a consistent editing of racialized contributions from hockey’s overall history. Perhaps most importantly, this project emphasizes that generational change is not enough to ensure diversity at the highest levels of hockey because of specific barriers associated with coaching, management, and scouting. This study, while critical of hockey and Canada, is a project of love. Often the voices critical of sport are labelled those attempting to destroy the game, when the reality is that those who rail against the very foundations of a sport are usually those who love it the most, understand its value, and know that we can (and must) do better. Likewise, patriotism should not be defined by unconditional loyalty but instead by holding one’s country accountable for its chosen values. Since narratives about inclusion in hockey are promoted by institutions such as Tim Horton's, Scotiabank, and Hockey Night in Canada, this project is dedicated to telling some of the lesser told stories. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 CANADA’S GAME? 2 WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS STUDY? 3 BREAKDOWN OF INTERVIEW PARTICIPANTS NHL STATS 4 RACIAL SLUR OR JUST “CHIRPING”? 6 HURDLES TO PARTICIPATION GATEKEEPERS 7 THE ROLE OF HOCKEY ACADEMIES 8 SOUTH ASIAN-SPECIFIC TRAINING PROGRAMS 9 THE HOCKEY HALL OF FAME: A POOR EXAMPLE OF PUBLIC HISTORY 10 HOCKEY NIGHT PUNJABI: COAUTHORING THE NATION’S STORY 11 RECOMMENDATIONS 12 THE FINAL WORD CANADA’S GAME? Canada promotes multiculturalism and diversity as fundamental values of the nation but very few racialized and Indigenous players have had the opportunity to represent Canada at Olympics Games or in the NHL. Can we continue to call this Canada’s game if it consistently fails to represent so many of Canada’s people? Number of racialized players on Canadian Olympic rosters: MEN WOMEN 0 2 OF 25 OF 23 2 1 OF 25 OF 21 1 0 OF 23 OF 21 1 1 OF 23 OF 21 2 1 OF 23 OF 23 1 WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS STUDY? Pseudonym Age Level Player Coach Hockey Parent Years Involved Ryan 16 Competitive 7 Shane 20 Competitive 8 Sunny 20 Elite 15 Billy 20 Elite 16 Suki 21 Elite 16 Kiran 22 Elite 13 Amit 24 Recreational 10+ Gurp 25 Recreational 10 Brian 25 Elite 20 Sonia 26 Elite 9 Dev 31 Recreational 6 Gary 39 Recreational 21 Sara 40s Recreational 1 Randy 43 Competitive 4 Kevin 46 Competitive 7 Greg 47 Competitive 9 Raj 50 Elite Undisclosed Harry 52 N/A Undisclosed Karl 56 Competitive 9 Kulbir 50s Elite 17 Elite designation includes: professional, semi-professional, minor pro (AHL, Europe, ECHL, UHL, CHL, WPHL), NCAA Division 1, Major Junior (QMHJL, OHL, WHL, USHL); Women’s (or Girls) AAA, AA, CIS, NCAA. Competitive designation includes: Rep AAA, AA, or A. Recreational designation includes: House leagues or introductory organized hockey. 2 BREAKDOWN OF INTERVIEW PARTICIPANTS 5 MEMBERS 15 PLAYERS 9 COACHES 8 PARENTS OF HOCKEY NIGHT PUNJABI BROADCAST RACIAL SLUR OR JUST “CHIRPING”? RACISM IN CANADA: FAST FACTS: According to the Globe and Mail, there were more recorded hate crimes in Canada (per capita) against Indigenous Peoples in 2014 (3.7 per 100,000 people) than in the United States against black Americans (1.85 per 100,000 people). 1 Hate crimes against black Canadians accounted for 42% of all Racially/ethnically motivated crimes in 2014. 2 Hate crimes against Muslims doubled between 2012 and 2014 nationwide. 3 The idea that sports can unify and integrate communities is one of those partial truths that is used to represent the whole truth. Sport is better viewed as a contested terrain where power and difference are negotiated by those involved, but not necessarily with equal input. The cultural stereotypes that link the idea of South Asians with field hockey and warm climate activities can make it difficult for many Canadians to understand that South Asians can play or have an interest in hockey. The stereotypes that South Asian Canadians do not understand hockey or are not physically capable of playing are harmful ideas that challenge the citizenship of certain Canadians based on their physical appearance—a challenge that is not equally presented to all Canadian bodies. These stereotypes mark South Asian bodies as “out of place” at the rink, which can lead to consistent experiences with racism. 1 Grant, T. (2016, September 27). Canada’s racial divide: Confronting racism in our own backyard. The Globe and Mail, p. A.8. 2 Takeuchi, C. (2014, June 27). Hate crimes in Canada: Most violent against gays, black people most targeted group. Georgia Straight. 3 Paperny, A. M. (2016, April 13). Hate crimes against Muslim-Canadians more than doubled in 3 years. Global News. 3 1 Participant quotes: “You’re a Paki!” or “You brown this,” “You brown that,” “brown bitch.” You’d hear that stuff” (Sonia) “I got called butter chicken once.” (Billy) “Why don’t you go back and play soccer with your elephants” (Shane) “Nice music f*ggot Indian” (Suki) “Just being darker and stuff a lot of people think I am half black or I am of that descent so I’ve been totally called the N-word before on ice . Like a lot actually, so has my sister.” (Amit) “Chirping,” or trash talking, is a deeply rooted aspect of hockey culture. Even though chirping incidents commonly end up in on-ice physical altercations, the general consensus is that these interactions are relatively harmless. However, it is important to question if racial slurs and hate speech should be considered chirping because racial taunts and slurs are expressly prohibited in the official rules of the NHL, major junior leagues such as the WHL, and the recreational Canada-wide Adult Safe Hockey League (ASHL). Interestingly, research participants felt that racial slurs from the opposing team were “fair game” because of the nature of competition (i.e., you do whatever is necessary to gain a strategic advantage). Therefore, racism was interpreted by most participants as a label only placed upon those assumed to be part of one’s in-group (i.e., if a coach or teammate uses racial slurs or treats me differently, we could call that racism). We must ask how this interpretation of racism changes the “presence” of racism in hockey if players do not consider racial slurs from opponents an act of racism. There was also a reluctance to refer to any incident as racist and to avoid saying the literal word “racism.” Note the pattern of how participants referred to racism as “it,” “that,” or“something”: “No. I don’t, racism is a strong word.” (Hockey Night Punjabi representative) “I’m not saying it is racism, but still something [is] there.” (Kulbir) “Everything in my career, nothing has been like no that’s bad, that’s racist. Everything is kind of underlying. You can assume, you can make assumptions . There’s always that hesitation: Was that a moment of an underlying prejudice?” (Kiran) “I think I probably didn’t share it or explicitly explain how it made me feel because I didn’t want to bring attention to the fact that I was brown.” (Sonia) “I’ve felt it sometimes but I don’t want to think about it.” (Kari) 2 Scholar and author, Sara Ahmed, contends that racism teaches racialized people that they are not reliable witnesses to their own lives and that, part of the power of racism, is that we are never allowed to be sure of is existence.4 Furthermore, racialized citizens have been taught that to speak of racism marks us as “trouble-makers.” 5 Kiran, also explained that she often kept her feelings about racism in hockey to herself because no one ever asked her: “It’s a topic that you don’t really want to bring up . .It’s something that I’ve always thought about but never really truly expressed my feelings about because no one’s asked me.” Men also expressed that the easiest way to avoid racism in hockey culture was by gaining muscle, learning how to fight on the ice, or by presenting themselves as physically intimidating off the ice.

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