At some point there must come a time when people are no long judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Unfortunately that thought process may have died with Dr. King. Last night during a NHL exhibition game between the Philadelphia Flyers and
the Detroit Red Wings a fan threw a banana at Flyers Forward Wayne Simmonds during a overtime shootout attempt. Is this a huge step backward for a sport that is predominantly white?
Simmonds, who was acquired by the Flyers in June from the Los Angeles Kings in a trade that sent former Philly captain Mike Richards to the Kings is in his fourth NHL season and is one of the few blacks in the sport. When asked about the unfortunate incident Simmonds stated, ” I’ve never had a banana thrown at me before. I guess it’s something I’ll have to deal with, I’ve grown a lot playing in this league and throughout my whole life. I’m not going to dwell on that. It’s over with now.”
As a fan of the Flyers and Professional Hockey I was sad to see this type of racist disrespect still exist in our world. I was also discouraged that the fan who tossed the banana wasn’t found and banned from any future NHL events. There is simply no room this type of ignorance in today’s society. Simmonds was a true professional last night and handled himself like a man. I tip my hat to him. Simmonds grew up in Scarborough, Ontario and admitted he was shocked stating, ” race-based negativity in hockey really doesn’t happen in Canada. That’s pretty much the way it is.” The Flyers and Red Wings will square off again tonight at 7:30 live from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The Regular season will start in two weeks.
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