Akim Aliu - Dreams and Nightmares (Athletic)

[dammage79]

Cannot fathom enduring that level of hatred you entire life. Unchecked, free flowing hatred. From Russia to Ontario to Rockford and everywhere in between. My God. Forget about social media, a cowards playground.

Hockey culture really needs a fundamental swift kick in the arse.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

Probably, but I seem to remember Downie's father died when he was a young boy, and he was also deaf in one ear. Everybody has their own battles. Hopefully he's changed since he was a teenager. I know I have.

Good on Aliu for bringing these issues to light. Hopefully it leads to some changes.

Akim pointed out that his grandfather was able to change and evolve. Hopefully Downie can too.

[CSharp]

Everyone thinks that international unity and cohesiveness have come a long way since the 30's and then through the cold wars. Everyone thinks racism is non-existent but it seemed to have reared it's ugly head with Trump leading the way and you can see the hatred coming out in every corner of the US and Canada. Everyone can be truly ignorant of the issue, but you definitely can see the problems of living in a society where intolerance is acted out every day, especially in these tough times. A good documentary to follow up on is, "Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words". Both accounts of their upbringings and their hardships show how racism can torment a person far greater than physical punishment.

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

I was thinking about that this morning after reading the article. Aliu had potential but perhaps didn't have the best attitude (or at least was perceived that way) based on all of his prior experiences. Had there been more awareness/acceptance at the time, I wonder if Aliu might have been viewed differently and/or gotten a better chance at sticking with the Flames (or any other NHL team for that matter).

He never had a chance after that. He was blackballed. No wonder he had an “attitude”. I confess to thinking he was his own worst enemy. I judged him when I didn’t know the whole story. Coming from Windsor, the stories in the press here, always subtly blamed Aliu for the fight. regarding the incident on the bus “Oh they do that to all the rookies, what’s the big deal”. Looking back on it I’m ashamed that I bought into that.

I have so much respect for him, for how he’s endured through all the crap. He’s so articulate and thoughtful.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by CSharp

Everyone thinks that international unity and cohesiveness have come a long way since the 30's and then through the cold wars. Everyone thinks racism is non-existent but it seemed to have reared it's ugly head with Trump leading the way and you can see the hatred coming out in every corner of the US and Canada. Everyone can be truly ignorant of the issue, but you definitely can see the problems of living in a society where intolerance is acted out every day, especially in these tough times. A good documentary to follow up on is, "Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words". Both accounts of their upbringings and their hardships show how racism can torment a person far greater than physical punishment.

I think (hope) racism generally became more socially unacceptable in the mainstream, but there are still too many people who don't give a damn about what is acceptable. They will do what they want and hate anything that has even a hint of PC. PC became a bad word in many circles and emboldens the hardcore racist attitudes.

Honestly though, I am not giving Downie and other players on the team a pass on this, but the adults around them failed hard and are a big part of the problem.

[bigtmac19]

https://twitter.com/leahflame/status...194426368?s=21

This is rather telling!

Edit. Apparently Evander Kane responded.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by bigtmac19

https://twitter.com/leahflame/status...194426368?s=21

This is rather telling!

Edit. Apparently Evander Kane responded.

She later said that was specifically referring to 'white' NHL players. Either way, the active NHL players that bothered to say anything were Evander Kane, Ryan Miller, and Stephen Johns.

Robin Lehner didn't know about it and tweeted something about his mental health recovery, people started calling him a racist because they thought it was in response to Aliu's post... because Twitter is still the toilet of the internet. Taylor Hall got a similar pile-on because he shared an old letter he found from one of his coaches, and probably didn't know about the tweet either -- he doesn't follow Aliu's account, how would he?