What would it take to get more black & Latino players in pro hockey? (Beside the intervention of somebody from the Milestone Universe?
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That should have occurred to me first, since I live there, & since I already know the bulk of players are Canadian...CalBear said:More Blacks in Canada would be a great start.
It was mainly those I was thinking might be attracted. And those south of that who happen to get interested in the game. (There have to be a few dozen...CalBear said:21% being American, mainly from the Northeast and States bordering Canada
I'd argue that it's upper-middle class Canadians who play Hockey, it very very expensive.
The problem, at least in the US, is that Hockey is an expensive sport. An ice rink is pricey to maintain and that sort of investment on the less white parts of cities isn't something any city wanted to make before the 70s. That is a great deal of institutional and structural racism to overcome, especially when there is no demand for it compared to basketball or other sports.
Street Hockey may be a start but still a tough jump.
I'd also submit the prospect that it's based on cultural things. Most American Blacks have their origins in the South. The forefathers of Black Americans came from the South due to slavery. That is not a region fertile for winter sports due to there never really being much of a winter depending on your region. I lived in the South for a while when I was younger, and I live in Upstate NY now, and Southerners have no idea what to do with Winter. Some short examples are Southerners driving really slowly in what was not that much snowfall, and being excited and running to get their kids coats for what I believe one of my neighbors called a blizzard (which was light snowfall). Compare that to the Northern United States and Canada. And any of the White population already living in the North who were taking part in winter activities, Black Americans did not really intermingle with due to racism and segregation.
Given the changes of the Depression, & WW2, this looks just possible. It would need to be balanced by no redlining & less overt racism, which is a whole 'nother problem...pieman3141 said:More blacks in the Northeast
Maybe. I'm thinking about MI, IL, OH: Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincy, Green Bay, St Paul...pieman3141 said:Maine, NY, MA, and MN are hockey states.