If the way racism affected you in the moment wasn’t always clear, what’s it been like to cast back and see things in a different light?
One [instance] I remember very clearly: it was after George Floyd, [an unarmed Black man, was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020], after the HDA had had some success. I was sitting down with some of my former teammates from the OHL. I won’t use names, but these are just great friends, 30-year relationships, and we were talking about our time in the OHL. I mentioned something about how a coach did not have a problem with me and all three of them — like the record skipped — and they looked at me like, “What are you talking about?” All three of them said, “I remember when I was a 16-year-old boy and my dad asked, ‘Why does the coach treat Georgie like that?’” And I didn’t realize it; I don’t think my dad was aware of it. That was just my reality. But now, as a 45-year-old man, my colleagues and peers and friends are like, “Yeah, Georgie, I remember my dad said you were treated differently.”
For that moment to happen, there clearly must have just been a different environment when I was around, and those are the things that, as I double-click on make me realize my path was different. My path has worked out fine, but I would like to be part of creating a different path for the next generation. Three white guys who I played with in the OHL reflecting on the glory days and we just kind of double clicked on what I thought was a normal relationship with a coach and they thought I was wrong.
How Chris George fights racism in the game with Bay Street strategy
Source: Pinas Ko Mahal
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