Finally.<\/p>\n
Finally somebody said it. Finally somebody defended the innocent actions of Evander Kane, and finally somebody said those words we all knew we\u2019d finally hear a hockey player say, one day. It\u2019s just too bad it had to be Kane, himself, who said them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a good portion of (the criticism of me) is because I\u2019m black and I\u2019m not afraid to say that,\u201d the left winger told The Hockey News. (*The story is set to come out on March 4, said The Sporting News.)<\/p>\n
He then clarified his statements with a solid one-line just after.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel like a victim and I don\u2019t want to be perceived as one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, the defenders of the realm will be quick to throw up their arms and roll back their eyes. Oh, please, they\u2019ll say. Not everything is a racial issue. Just because he\u2019s black doesn\u2019t mean that\u2019s why he\u2019s been criticized.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll be quick to point out that he\u2019s been flagged for a number of off-ice indiscretions and misconducts. They\u2019ll tell you he\u2019s overreacting. They\u2019ll say it\u2019s another case of a young player with a big mouth. After all, it\u2019s easier to say that than it is to admit the truth, and the truth is not something normally uncovered by sports journalists.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s odd, though, that people now seem to be more afraid of being politically correct than they are of being racist.<\/p>\n
The fact is, hockey is and has always been a whites-only sport. Okay, maybe not whites-only. More, like 95-per cent-white-and-the-rest-just-whatever. Hockey is inherently a white sport, and a white Canadian one, at that. Hockey Night in Canada and its post-20-minute patriotic bulldog praise good ol\u2019 Canadian boys and the way they play the sport we love.<\/p>\n