'We need to call it out': Canadian athletes say racism toward Black sports stars is a problem here too

TORONTO -

In the wake of Black English soccer players at Euro 2020 being bombarded with racist hate, Indigenous and Black athletes in Canada say they too feel they’re one slip-up away from being racially targeted by white fans.

Orlando Bowen and his family in Toronto were glued to their TV during the final minutes of Sunday’s game. But right before English player Bukayo Saka took the team’s last penalty kick, one of Bowen’s teenage sons blurted out that he hoped the ball went in, “for the sake of every Black man in England.”

“I kind of glanced over at him and I was like, ‘he's right,’” Bowen, a former Canadian Football League player, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. “It’s just the way it is now unfortunately.... I thought, this kick right now is bigger than the game right now.”

Ultimately, Saka went on to miss. England lost the championship to Italy, and all three Black players who missed penalties were flooded with vicious online hatred. Murals were vandalized, and political and sporting leaders condemned the actions.

Mataya Jim, co-ordinator of Indigenous projects for the Vancouver-based advocacy group Sports For Life, was far from shocked by the racism.

“A lot of systemic pieces are still in place. And racism and discrimination of people is a big part of how our countries came to be and [were] formed,” said Jim, a W̱SÁNEĆ woman, with ties from the W,SIKEM, Penálaxeth' and Wwaaya communities in B.C.

The issue of racism toward athletes of colour is hardly anything new in this country. Last year, many Black Canadian athletes, including Olympic track star Donovan Bailey lamented the racist treatment they experienced on the field, in locker rooms, and from fans.

Black hockey players here have literally left the ice due to racist taunts, and, just this past May, Edmonton Oilers defenceman Ethan Bear was racistly singled out and blamed online for the team's crushing defeat in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“When racialized athletes succeed, they are very much Canadian. And when they don't succeed, they are racialized,” Christine O'Bonsawin, an associate professor of history and Indigenous studies at the University of Victoria, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. Her research focuses on sports history and Indigenous athletes.

“When there is a disappointment, it is the failure of the racialized athlete,” said O’Bonsawin, a member of the Abenaki Nation who played hockey and basketball in university and plays soccer competitively today.

“We definitely have systemic racism in all facets of Canadian society, and it presents itself very much so in sports.”

SPORTS CAN MAKE RACISM BUBBLE UP: BOWEN, JIM

Bowen, a board member of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, said fans overall feel a personal stake in a team’s success and also take personal offence should athletes not live up to their expectations.

And he said this sense of entitlement can turn into anger, vitriol and racism -- which is felt disproportionately by Black, Indigenous and players of colour.

“When things are said that are racist or bigoted, it's not that the sport makes them that way,” he said.

Jim agreed, saying that unconscious biases and internalized racism get amplified and triggered when something emotional happens, such as a sports loss.

“We see this in a lot of aspects of life,” said Jim, who also called for systemic changes such as more non-white representation on professional and lower-level teams.

She also called on fans not to settle only for public statements condemning racism.

O'Bonsawin agreed and said that the racism experienced by Edmonton Oilers’ Ethan Bear happened despite his team being one of the first to issue land acknowledgements in 2016; and in 2020, offering its solidarity to Black Lives Matter movement.

She said the Oilers and the NHL as a whole are very much behind when it comes to “truly transformative action” and moving beyond token gestures. Black and Indigenous players in Canada and the U.S. continue to compete in leagues that are dominated by white male players, coaches, managers and support staff.

O'Bonsawin urges sports fans to use the England incident as another chance to recognize “what barriers are in place in broader Canadian society, preventing more athletes from achieving these things.” She also urged administrators in traditional sports leagues to better “tap into appropriately into the very successful sporting domains that exist in Indigenous communities.”

'WE ALL END UP PAYING THE PRICE': BOWEN

Bowen, the executive director of the One Voice One Team youth leadership organization, hopes young athletes, particularly white ones wishing to be allies, use this latest incident in England to feel more emboldened to defend their teammates from racist comments from fans or other players.

“We need to call it out, even if you don't have the words for it at that moment,” he said, adding it could be as small as publically stating something a comment didn’t sit right with them.

Jim in B.C. agreed and said “it's not always easy to do the right thing. There's a lot of work that goes into doing anti-racist work and really upholding that commitment.”

Bowen said true allyship means the willingness to learn and grow every day.

“Because when you stay silent, someone is bearing the weight of those comments or that treatment, [and] we all we all end up paying a price for it.”