O’Ree, NHL’s first black player, says more to be done to fight racism in sports
OTTAWA — Willie O’Ree is hopeful that one day sport will be free of racism and bigotry, but thinks it’s still a long way off.
The 84-year-old O’Ree was in Ottawa on Monday as part of the NHL’s Black History Month Tour, which features a mobile curated museum displaying the history of black hockey players in the NHL.
Being the only black player of his generation, O’Ree endured a great deal of racism. He said he is saddened it continues to happen today.
“It’s not only happening in hockey, it’s happening in football and baseball and other sports,” O’Ree said. “Now we’re concentrating on hockey because the sport has very few black players and players of colour playing in it. I’m disappointed in that there’s still players out there that have to look at a person and judge them by the colour of their skin.