Quote:
Originally Posted by Shazam
My impression is that he considers the best hockey players to be NA-white, and that the Euro-whites don't measure up.
But please, as a visible minority myself, do tell me how racism works.
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Someone like Don Cherry's views on things like immigrants/immigration and hockey players is somewhat unique as it's sometimes confusing. His line of thinking is shaped by his old school mentality and inability to change in some ways. He does have views and feelings that are somewhat out of social norms of today but he's also a 91 year old who grew up in blue collar Canada.
I won't deny he has some views on race that probably aren't good but he's a lot more pro Canada and pro Canadian than anything. Players from all ethnic backgrounds that played the game the way he loves were his favorites and that includes visible minorities. Players like Iginla, Kadri, Subban, Ted Nolan, Jordan Nolan and more were beloved by him. If a player was a good Canadian boy from the prairies who was a visible minority, he loved you more than being a white guy from some EU capital.
The example earlier of Greeks and Italian's is a good one actually. A lot Greeks and Italian's who may have come to Canada did deal with a fair amount of comments, racism, remarks and discrimination in the old days. A lot of "Old Stock" Canadians who originally came to Canada from UK, Ireland and other Anglo-Saxxon countries plus France had a lot of strong opinions about other "foreigners" taking away jobs from Canadians. They were not happy with DP (Displaced persons) or economic migrants coming here for work and they was primarily white (olive toned) European immigrants who shared history, religions and a sense of commonality being from Europe with the White Canadian's. It bothered a lot of them a lot.
I kinda look at Cherry's comments and feelings on that matter in a similar light. He would defend players, soldiers, first responders and others to no end if they were Canadian and wore the flag proudly despite their background.