Being Hopeful About Ending Racism in Hockey, Eventually

NASHVILLE, TN - APRIL 23: Akim Aliu #29 of the Calgary Flames skates against the Nashville Predators at the Bridgestone Arena on April 23, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

I am a white man. I love hockey, the Toronto Maple Leafs and almost every sport I can think of.

But I am not a black man, nor do I know what it feels like to be black.

These past few months have been eyeopening for myself. Discovering how much racism there was in the world of sports was very shocking.

I knew how much there was, but I didn’t know it would be this much, and especially in the game I grew up watching.

Or maybe I did, I just may have been blind to it.

Growing up as a kid, my…