Jordan Harris, Georges Laraque and Meeker Guerrier discuss Black history
Meeker Guerrier hosts a conversation with defenseman Jordan Harris and former Hab Georges Laraque
Throughout February and during the upcoming game against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Canadiens will pay tribute to the rich heritage and accomplishments of Black communities, both in hockey and in today's society. This conversation is part of the organization's effort to amplify the voices of Black people in hockey.
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Here is a short summary of their conversation:
Laraque on what helped him pursue hockey in a predominantly white environment:
It's with a role model. We often say a role model is what makes you and helps you succeed. And when I was going through all the racism while I was playing hockey, I fell into, by coincidence, the book of Jackie Robinson. There's a kid version of his autobiography that explained what he had to go through to become the first Black player to play baseball. When I read it, since there was no role model really in the NHL for me, I was like, the racism that I'm going through is normal. I have to go through that to make it just like he did. So, what I did, contrary to a lot of kids who unfortunately maybe didn't cope with racism the same way, is I used it as motivation, like he did, to prove everyone wrong. So, every time I got called a name, other than being hard on myself and having it affect me, which would affect my game, I was like, this is just like Jackie, the same process. Just play harder and use it as motivation. And when I made it to the NHL, I thanked everybody who called me names because I told them they gave me the additional fuel I needed to make it.
Harris on the opportunity to be a role model for others:
It's huge. Especially playing for the Canadiens and that's a huge honor, first of all. But I think it's not okay to just to be a hockey player. I think when you get to this point in your career, and I'm just starting mine and hopefully it's a long one, but I think part of that comes with a responsibility to give back and really share your experiences and some of the things that you've gone through and learned along the way, because there are young kids out there who are maybe doubting themselves, like how do I navigate this? Do I really have what it takes? Maybe I don't look like the other kids out there. And that's so important because you never know where a kid might be in his stage of his career or life and I'm starting to see how much impact you have, having the platform that we do as hockey players. We've been working our whole lives to get to this point, and now I feel like there's a greater meaning to it at the end of the day. My girlfriend lives in Calgary and she's coaching a team, and there's a mixed-race kid on the team, and I got a chance to speak to the kids when we played in Calgary. I met the players, and she was like, 'Hey, this player would love to talk to you. He has a mixed background, and he really looks up to you.' That meant so much to me because I was like, this kid loves hockey and hopefully, he makes it to the NHL one day but just to know that there's a kid out there with similar experiences, who maybe I can just lend a couple words of advice to, or for him to just see me playing for the Canadiens and think, okay, I can do that one day. That was really cool and really hit home.
Laraque on the progress of making hockey more inclusive:
There is progress. Before my time, Willie O'Ree was getting death threats. I didn't get death threats, but when I listen to him, it's really encouraging to hear that he hasn't seen anything. And so, it is getting better. It's easy to say that it's not fast enough. We all wish that everything is solved today but life is not the way that it is. But it's because society has changed and now everybody is demanding change. When these couple of movements have been happening the last couple years, you could see that the movement was coming from everyone, not just one race or one nation. There are a couple of incidents sometimes here and there that need to be adjusted, but still, it's encouraging to see [progress]. It's fun to see more minorities getting more and more interested [in hockey] and I was very glad and happy when I heard you [Jordan Harris] say that you didn't hear anything because that's a move in the right direction because you could have had, right? And man, 20 years ago if you asked that question to any players, even a non-minority one, they wouldn't have said that. So, it is a step in the right direction.
Harris talks about solutions to make hockey more welcoming:
A lot of the negativity or hatred or racism, I feel like a lot of the time comes from ignorance. People who are maybe sheltered growing up or taught that Black people don't play hockey here, or whatnot or come from a household that might be racist at home. And so, I feel like a lot of the time it's just building relationships, just talking, having conversations, having tough conversations. But what we're doing here today, regardless of your background, I think that that's huge because once you get to know people -- and people might be scary or intimidating at first -- and just talk to them, I feel like that really would go a long way into being more inclusive and really getting the facts behind situations and people and just getting to know them. It can only help.
