The NHL has released a “diversity report.” In response, both the league and the Associated Press have determined that white people should stop playing hockey or working in hockey.
The report found that 83.6% of the NHL’s staff and the staff of the league’s teams are white. The league’s rosters are 90% white. The report also found that 62% of staff are men — far more balanced than the league’s rosters, which are made up entirely of men.
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This is somehow bad because it’s not “diverse” enough. The NHL’s “executive vice president of social impact” claims that this should influence “where you need to hire” and “how you need to hire” and that “this is a good start, but there’s a ways to go.”
That is social justice-speak for saying that the league should stop hiring white people.
The Associated Press got in on the act, too, when the outlet’s hockey writer, Stephen Whyno, said the results give the league “a baseline from which to improve on.” In tweeting out the story, the outlet said the study is “a first step toward fixing the problem.”
The NHL for the first time conducted an internal workforce demographic study. The results, while mostly not surprising, give the league a baseline from which to improve on: https://t.co/pupwM2OPUL pic.twitter.com/fchGxn5yHU
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) October 18, 2022
The NHL’s first internal demographic study found its workforce to be overwhelmingly white.
Kim Davis, NHL EVP of social impact, growth and legislative affairs, says seeing the numbers is a first step toward fixing the problem.
by @swhyno https://t.co/ufH2itfiip pic.twitter.com/OziGR3nrR4
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) October 18, 2022
But what is the “problem,” exactly? What is it that the NHL must “improve on?” Is the “problem” that the league employs too many white people, even though its player base is 90% white? Would the NBA ever come out with a report saying it wasn’t diverse because the league is 73% black? Would the Associated Press and sports media nod along and say it was a problem that there aren’t more white employees in the league?
Of course not. Nor should they.
The stance that sports leagues are increasingly embracing is that white people need not apply. The NFL has been begging teams to hire black coaches as if skin color mattered more than whether a given coach is right for the job or not. Sports media then amplify this racial essentialism, shaming leagues such as the NBA if they don’t sufficiently discriminate against white coaches or players on behalf of black ones.
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The world of sports is supposed to be the most meritocratic of any of our cultural pockets. Instead, it is slowly becoming the most discriminatory, with sports media leading the charge and sports leagues dutifully following. It is not “progress” for leagues to say they employ too many people of one race or ethnicity, regardless of what group we are talking about. This kind of overt racism is not a solution to the other kind — I doubt that most sports fans share the sports media’s perception that it is.
