If we are judging on the scale of racial insensitivity where a '10' is the N-word and a '1' is an presumed affinity for watermelon, a "basketball" chant towards a black NHLer probably falls somewhere in the middle as moderately inexcusable. Unfortunately, looking at the obvious targeting of a minority in such a comparative way makes it far easier for people to dismiss this particular incident as something less significant than an undeniable sign that hockey's aura is still that of repressed whiteness. Whether it be the tone-deaf hiring of Confederate crooner Kid Rock to "bless" the All Star Game with his antiquated anthems, reminders that 'Hockey Is For Everyone' that - while overwhelmingly positive in nature - have become so incessant that you'd think the NHL was trying to convince itself, overdone criticisms of P.K. Subban that almost exclusively reek of cultural bias, or yet another racially charged incident between a player and "fans". You can bet your ass that Devante Smith-Pelly's aggressive reaction to a group of (likely drunken) jackasses was only aided in vitriol by the fact that he still doesn't feel wholly embraced by the NHL community in the year 2018. As sad as it is, it's almost a certainty that DSP has been the victim of far worse than a call for basketball while doing his maturing on a rink as opposed to a court, but it's nothing less than infuriating that a directive aimed at equality has only resulted in a relative improvement in regards to racism. Stereotypes do exist for a reason, but that reason isn't so that they can be appropriated as malicious insults towards those that break their generally inflammatory mold. Four unruly fans don't make for a legitimate indictment of an entire sport, but their comfortability in being discriminatory in a public place with cameras present doesn't exactly speak glowingly of the culture surrounding said sport. Especially since it rears it's ugly head in a way that's disproportional to the growing amount of non-white players currently employed by it's most preeminent league. The NHL, as well as both franchises involved, said all the right things in reference to inclusiveness, but apparently we've still got a ways to go until they undo decades of exclusiveness that are still sporadically being contributed to...
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