Racism and Lack of Diversity in the NHL
             The National Hockey League is a long-established organization in North America. The NHL is becoming a more ethnically diverse sport and its recent growth has brought forth concerns about racial tensions and clashes within the sport. Historically, the NHL has had a majority of white players, but in recent years there has been an increase in other ethnic groups, and with that, an increase in racism. Secondly, many hockey players tend to accept this racism as a part of the game. However steps hare being taken to eliminate racial slurs and to encourage the acceptance of ethnic diversity. With the increase of non-white players in the NHL, the incidents of racism have also increased and the league is now making moves to reduce and end this unfortunate reality in the game.
             In the past , the NHL has been dominated by white players, but ethnic diversity is now increasing. In the first 71 years, there were only 10 African-American players in the NHL. This year alone there are 10, plus 6 North American natives("Racial Slurs",1997). In the NFL, 60% of the players are black,compared to 80% in the NBA("Crossing the Blue Line" , 1999). The NHL sees this lack of black hockey players as a problem. Pincus of the NHL said, "Obviously we don't have a lot of black players in our league yet. We view that as a matter of access and opportunity for young people to play the game."("Racial Slurs",1997) Having an increase in coloured players in the NHL also means role models for younger children. In past years there were very few role models for young black children.
             Grant Fuhr and Willie O'Ree were the few black players who could be considered role models. Willie O'Ree was the first black player in NHL history(Allen, 1998, p3C). Willie O'Ree is the director of the NHL's Diversity Task Force("Diversity Task Force",2000).O'Ree and the NH...