Black History Month 'has always been special to me,' says O'Ree

Willie O'Ree became the first black player to play in the NHL on Jan. 18, 1958. He played in 45 games for the Boston Bruins, scoring 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his NHL career, and played professional hockey for 21 seasons. O'Ree was hired by the NHL and Bryant McBride, then the NHL vice president for business development, in 1998 with the NHL/USA Hockey Diversity Task Force, now known as Hockey Is For Everyone, for which he is the League's diversity ambassador. O'Ree was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 in the Builders category. Here O'Ree reflects on his work and what Black History Month, which begins Friday, means to him.

Black History Month has always been special to me.
When I came aboard the NHL in 1998, my interest was to be involved in the youth development program, and Lou Vairo from USA Hockey and Bryant McBride hired me and I started with the diversity program. At that time, there were only approximately four or five programs. Now we have 26 throughout North America with 40 program centers and my specific duties are to travel around to these programs, do clinics, try and get as many boys and girls interested in playing hockey, let them know there is another sport that they can play if they want to. I talk at numerous schools -- elementary, middle, junior high, high schools -- junior colleges, boys and girls clubs, juvenile detention facilities, YMCAs, YWCAs, anywhere there are boys and girls.
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Back when I was playing, there were very few black players or players of color playing professionally and of course none in the NHL. Now, with the 31 teams in the National Hockey League, there's quite a few not only black players, but other players of color, at all levels. The game has grown over the years and it's still growing. And that's what I like to see: More kids getting the opportunity to play this sport and more rinks being developed so that they can get on the ice and develop their skills.
I have seen the growth over the past 20 years and it's even growing more now. There are more boys and girls playing hockey today than ever before -- and I mean, not only white boys and girls, but more black kids and more girls playing hockey today than ever before. It's growing and it's going to continue to grow.
We're working in the right direction on representation in hockey, and you're going to be seeing even more kids of color in the upcoming years getting into the sport. And there are so many opportunities now, even if the kids decide hockey isn't for them. There are so many different fields that you can work toward, and some of the lessons I try to teach about goal setting and staying focused hopefully will get the kids there.

To me, though, Black History Month isn't just in February. To me, it's every month. It's year-round.
That's the message I want to impart.
I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of the black players and players of color in the NHL, and the first thing they say to me is, "Mr. O'Ree, I can't imagine what you had to go through to make it possible for players like me to play in the League." And, yeah, it was hard. Besides being black and being blind in one eye, I was faced with four other things: racism, prejudice, bigotry and ignorance. There wasn't a game that went by that I didn't hear racial remarks and racial slurs. Not only from players on the opposition, but fans in the stands. But it didn't bother me, thanks to my older brother, Richard. He said, 'Willie, names will never hurt you unless you let them.' He said, 'If people can't accept you for the individual that you are, that's their problem, not yours.' He said, 'Don't let that have an effect on what you do and what you want to become.'
I obviously remember the quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
There's so much truth in that. Basically, I think that's the way to live. That's the way to think. You're still going to be faced with a lot of these racist and prejudiced people, and I just can't understand why they can't look at a person, just judge them for the individual that they are, look beyond the color of their skin. It's going to take a long while for things like that to end. It's not going to end overnight. It would be nice if it did, but it's not.
To the kids who have faced that, I want to say you have to keep doing what you're doing. And just stay focused on what you want to do. These remarks that are directed toward the players -- I just can't understand these people because they're either racist or they're ignorant. I don't think any educated person would make comments like that.
I've had racial remarks directed toward me within the last three weeks. People I've never known, never met, in restaurants, gas stations, just out. Because they look at me as a black person and they just can't see the forest for the trees. But I've always learned from my parents to respect other people.

You want to believe that we're there. But we're still not there yet. It's easy to get disheartened. But I know that these boys and girls today can make a difference. They really can. It's going to be a new generation. And all the stuff that's going on today, in politics and stuff, I just can't believe it. It's the 21st century. It's like we're on a different planet. Sometimes you wake up and feel like, should I get out of bed today? Or should I just pull the covers up over my head and sleep through it?
But the antidote is working to change it. That's what I'm doing.
This Black History Month, the NHL will have a truck exhibit touring across the United States showcasing black achievement in hockey. The museum will contain the jersey I wore when I made my NHL debut back in 1958. I'm excited to be a part of this mobile museum and will be visiting it alongside Hockey Is For Everyone programs in Washington and Philadelphia.
I'm just so glad that I have had the opportunity to be involved in the Hockey Is For Everyone program. I really feel that I have made a difference over the 20 years. You know, it was hard. But good things take more time than others. Change takes time. But it's getting easier. It's still going to take a long time.