Tweets put focus on racism, hockey and Boston
Hate travels fast in the age of Twitter. No sooner had Joel Ward's shot found the back of the net late Wednesday than racist rants began spewing on the Internet.
By Greg M. Cooper, US Presswire
Washington Capitals right wing Joel Ward scores the game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins.
Sponsored Links
Web sites such as Chirpstory and BlackSportsOnline collected dozens of the vile tweets. Most used the n-word modified by the f-word. A few issued death threats. And some combined both: "That (n-word) deserves to hang."
"Shocking to see," Ward told USA TODAY Sports, "but it didn't ruin my day."
Ward, who was born in Toronto of parents from Barbados, heard about the tweets while on theWashington Capitals' flight back from Boston after his Game 7 overtime goal knocked out the defending champion Bruins. Teammate Jeff Halpern showed Ward some of the tweets and apologized that he had to see that.
"Halpern just took offense that people weren't talking about the goal, (but rather) getting into racist remarks," Ward said. "I think he was telling me he had my back."
So did Caps owner Ted Leonsis, who attacked the haters on his blog, Ted's Take: "What these people have said and done is unforgivable. I hope they are now publicly identified and pay a huge price for their beliefs."
The NHL issued a statement that called the comments "ignorant and unacceptable" and said the people who made them "have no place associating themselves with our game."
Some Twitter users attacked the racist tweets. By Thursday evening, 31 of the 40 tweets highlighted on Chirpstory.com had been deleted and 17 of those accounts deleted. One tweeted an apology, saying he was 16 and had made a stupid mistake.
"I think it is just kids," Ward said. "It has no effect on me whatsoever."
Some of the tweeters indicated they were Bruins fans, though it is hard to know how many are from Boston, a city with a fraught history of racial tension.
"Social media gives a voice and prominence to a bunch of idiots," said author Richard Johnson, curator of The Sports Museum, which is adjacent to TD Garden, where Ward scored his game-winning goal. "This is probably going to dredge up a lot of bad stuff about Boston."
Four decades ago, Boston produced indelible images of racism — the stoning in whiteSouth Boston of school buses carrying students from black neighborhoods. Boston Celtics' Hall of Fame center Bill Russell once called the city a "flea-market of racism."
Dan Lebowitz, director of Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, said that as soon as he saw the goal, "I knew the backlash was coming." But he said he didn't think such reaction is unique to fans of hockey, a largely white sport (the NHL has 38 minority players, 18 of them black), or of Boston.
"If this had happened to a team in New York or Philly or any other city, or in another sport, we'd have seen a lot of the same reaction," he said. "The problem isn't limited to sport, or to the Internet. It's a comment on our society."
A complicated history
For much of the last century, said Thomas Whalen, a Boston University political historian and the author of several books on Boston sports, "Boston was as segregated as Birmingham, Ala. It's still very segregated, like a lot of cities."
Sport and race always has been a combustible pairing in Boston. In the 1970s, when Russell was coaching the NBA's Seattle Supersonics, he said that as an African-American he'd rather be a lamp post in Seattle than the mayor of Boston.
Perhaps reflecting the racial attitudes of owner Tom Yawkey, the Red Sox were the last major league team to sign a black player (Pumpsie Green, in 1959). Years earlier, the team held a tryout at Fenway Park for Jackie Robinson and other black players, a charade designed to placate a liberal member of the city council.
But the historical record is complicated and, in some respects, exonerates Beantown. In 1958, Bruins winger Willie O'Ree became the first black player in the NHL. The Celtics were the first NBA team to sign a black man (Chuck Cooper in 1950), the first to start five black players and the first to name a black head coach — Russell.
Northeastern University athletics director Peter Roby said it is unfair to blame Boston for Internet racists who can be found in any city.
"There's been too much progress made here," he said. "That doesn't mean there are not still pockets where people are being discriminated against or made to feel less than welcome, but there is no way I'm going to let a couple of people who don't see the world the way they should spoil the way people look at the city of Boston.
"There is no excuse for this because it suggests we can only see people in regard to their ethnicity or their origin instead of giving them credit for being a professional, skilled and talented athlete. That's what I take offense with the most."
Ward did his best not to take offense. "I'm definitely getting a lot of support," he said. "There have been a lot of Boston fans who have supported me, which is very cool to see."
An instant forum for expression
"How would you like to be Danny Ainge today?" asked Whalen, author of books on the Red Sox and Celtics. He was referring to the Celtics' president of basketball operations, who faces a summer of trying to sign free agents, most of whom will be African Americans and who may already harbor some reservations about living in Boston.
"This puts the word out there — Boston is still inhospitable for athletes of color," Whalen said.
Joseph Reagle, a Northeastern communications professor who studies Twitter and other online platforms, said such incidents are to be expected in forums such as Twitter. They start out small and intimate with relatively like-minded users. But that changes as they get more popular and attract more users, to the point where — after incidents like last night's — people will call for filters.
His take: the explosion Wednesday night was less a deliberate expression of racism by Bostonians, or hockey fans, than an accidental, unmediated expression of biases that might otherwise go unprofessed. He distinguished between what he called "purposeful racism" and some of Wednesday's tweets, which he said were probably inadvertent revelations of racism — people writing in a virtual stream of consciousness to what they think is a small community of readers. Twitter offers an easy, instant forum for expression, he said, "and (tweeters) forget that the whole world gets to look at it."
Still, as former Red Sox pitcher Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd said: "People that are talking like that, feel like that. That's the scary thing. A lot of things haven't changed. It's just bad, bad, bad."
The most diverse sport
African-American NHL player agent Eustace King represents several players of color. "I look at the NHL as being the most diverse of all of the big sports," King said. "We have Russians, all other Europeans, Canadians, Americans, and people have gotten along well."
He finds it disheartening that Washington players who should be celebrating an important win are dealing with this issue instead.
"This is not what they signed up for," King said. "I think the league has to pursue these individuals just to send a message that says we are here to protect our athletes. Maybe it wouldn't amount to anything from a legal standpoint because people can say what they want, but the league takes a stance that fans should stick to a certain etiquette or face repercussions."
A fan threw a banana on the ice in London, Ont., during an NHL exhibition game last September when Philadelphia Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds, who is black, was attempting a shot during a shootout. The 26-year-old fan got a $200 fine on Jan. 9 for provincial trespassing after police decided there wasn't enough evidence to file charges for a hate crime.
Simmonds heard about the Ward case Thursday. "Obviously, things get said. It's the Internet. They can say whatever they want and they don't have to show their face. It's disgusting. I've had things like that happen to me before."
Simmonds and Ward are from Scarborough in suburban Toronto. Ward is 31 and Simmonds 23, but they've become close friends since meeting four or five years ago, workout buddies back home over the last two summers.
"It's sad in this day and age that it continues to happen," Simmonds said. "People can be as gutless as they want and they don't have to show up. They just throw a comment out there on the Internet."
The one black guy in the room
Ward said he has always felt comfortable in an NHL dressing room and on the ice.
"There is no lying about it. … I'm definitely the one black guy in a room with 20 white guys," he said. "There are definitely some cultural differences, such as taste in music, but I've never heard anything derogatory."
Teammate Matt Hendricks put it this way: "He's the only black guy on the team, but do we look at him like that? Not all. We look at him like he's part of the family."
Leonsis, the Caps' owner, said in his blog: "There should be zero tolerance for this kind of hate mongering. Their messages should now stay glued into the algorithms to place a forever warning and a mark upon these people and their actions. They shouldn't be able to escape their keystrokes."
Peter Cooney is Ward's Boston-based agent. He watched Wednesday's game with his fiancée and they cheered for Ward all game. One Bruins' fan tapped them on the shoulder mid-game to ask if they were Ward's parents."
"We're white," Cooney said. "We laughed and explained that I'm his agent. And when Joel scored the winning goal that fan congratulated us and wished the Capitals luck. The Bruins do not have bad fans. There's a small percentage in any city."
Cooney said he talked to Ward on Thursday to ask if he needed him to come to Washington for support.
"And Joel said, 'What, you're going to be my bodyguard?' And he laughed. He said, 'Peter, I dismiss all that. My focus is to play hockey for the Washington Capitals.' "
A difficult town
Arizona Diamondbacks hitting coach Don Baylor played 16 seasons in the majors, including one with the Red Sox in 1986-1987.
"It was a difficult town," Baylor said. "I think everybody looks at it by team, more than anything else. If the team is doing well, they don't care who is out there performing at the time. But individually, out on the street, you know what it is. It's Boston. Going there my entire American League career, you could always sense that. You experienced the same thing in South Florida a lot of times. You could always feel your color in Boston and Florida. …
"You always had players, maybe not as much today as back then, say certain things that were happening. I know Oil Can was always saying about things that happened to him. He was a bomb ready to go off every day. Here's a kid going from Mississippi to Boston, and it was a tough experience."
Boyd said he didn't experience much racism in Boston himself. "I was very open about showing my blackness and how proud I was," he said. "Fans loved me and the city loved me." But he knows all about the city's past.
These comments about Ward make it "look like Boston itself hasn't changed — like South Boston has risen up again. That ain't the city, fool. That's not the city. You ain't gonna tell me that.
"Boston is a very diverse place, a melting pot. "
Darnell McDonald, an African-American outfielder in his third year with the Red Sox, said: "I've had the n-word written on my car, in Boston. It's individuals, man. Racism is everywhere; I'm not just going to say Boston. It's just unfortunate that people are that ignorant."
Tommy Harper, 71, is a former Red Sox outfielder and coach. "We're never going to eradicate that kind of thing, so why worry about it?" he said of the offending posts. "Like any African-American, if I were to respond to every idiot in the world, you could never have a day."
Contributing: Mike Dodd, Seth Livingstone, Tim McGarry, Randy Miller of the Courier-Post and Bob Nightengale
George: This article describes the racist tweets that Joel Ward was faced with after scoring the winning goal for the Washington Capitals last Wednesday night. Joel Ward is African American and succeeds in hockey at the NHL level, where prominently white males succeed. The article tells of the people who tweeted racist comments about the game had deleted their messages and accounts after the media brought them to the public. This shows that people use Twitter and other types of internet networking to say things they wouldn't say to someones face or on the t.v. for everyone to hear. These people are immature and disrespectful, but is there really anything else anyone in society can do to stop these actions. The internet allows for people to display hateful acts easier, as they face no repercussion from their computer screen. The article also portrays the city of Boston as having problems of accepting diversity in the past, but i don't think people can relate those acts to the tweets of the fans, as these were younger immature kids and racism does occur worldwide in every city.
Mason Hughes:This
article addresses several racist tweets directed towards Joel Ward, hockey
player for the Washington Capitals. I find it shocking that people these days
still maintain racist views, despite all the progress society as a whole has
made. However, I think it to be unfair to bring up Boston’s shameful racist
past when a select few post racist comments, not even necessarily Boston fans
upset about the loss. The NHL takes up a good position to not tolerate
these sort of outbursts from their fans. If we as a whole continually condemn
these actions, then maybe we will eventually live in a world truly equal.
Daniel Nemeth: Threats through Twitter
are the absolute worst. One message can be spread throughout the world in a
matter of seconds. I have a Twitter and barely use it because I think that
everyone just complains about their life and how "bad" it is. I have
also witnessed "Twitter-fights", where people post rude comments
about "anonymous” people. Most people can’t say the things they tweet to
the person’s face because they have no guts. Racism is obviously a problem here
in this story but so is how people are expressing their extreme anger over a
hockey game. I know there are some diehard fans out there but nothing so vile
should ever be sent globally. I think this happened because hockey is a
predominately white sport. In the article it says that out of 38 minority
players, 18 are black. Having only 38 players that are not white is a problem
in society because some of those diehard fans so not understand why another
race is good at “their” sport and use racial slurs to try and oust the
minorities. Ward didn’t take the words hurtfully. He just thinks it was a bunch
of kids angry that their team didn’t win and took out their anger by using
racism. But that is a HUGE problem. Associating racism and aggression can cause
enormous tragedies. Especially when these kids are so young as 16. It could
scar them from ever wanting to make friends that are different from them and
even make them aggressive towards other races when older. I could be a serious
problem and needs to be fixed immediately.
Twitter, just like any other social network is for people to express their feelings and socialize with people on the internet. Recently though, they’ve turned into places where people will say things they normally don’t say because it’s rude, uncalled for, or just starting something that doesn’t need to be started. This article highlights a bunch of racist and uncalled for tweets made about Joel Ward, who scored a winning goal for the Washington Capitals. People don’t realize the affects they have on people and what they say and do on the internet and how those comments are always going to be out there on the web. Racist comments, regardless of what context they are in and when they are said are all as impacting on our country. Even though most of the people deleted their comments, whether they realized their wrong or just out of pure embarrassment; they still had an impact on people and the only reason things got changed was because that one instant people brought great attention to it. Although, it happens all the time and will probably continue to happen until something is changed.
ReplyDeletesince i have played hockey for almost my entire life, i can relate to a story like this. i would imagine that most of the people that made the comments and tweeted the things that they did were not hockey players because hockey players respect one another. every single one of us has respect for ward--hes playing in the nhl and we arent. These are just senseless comments from people who do not know the game very well and should refrain from making any other remarks about it. i have alot of respect for minority players like ward and wayne simmonds.
ReplyDeleteFrom basketball to hockey, athletes are respected and revered. When we watch professional sports, we commend someone when they do something great and we condemn them when they do something poor. In this case, Joel Ward, was faced with both despite doing something great, scoring a game-winning shot. I can understand Bruins fans being angry that they lost. I can even understand them calling Joel Ward inappropriate things. I fail to understand what race has to do with anything. Players score game winning shots in hockey all the time and they are never attacked with such a racial bombardment of hate. Simply because Joel is black, these tweeters found it alright to offend him with remarks of racism and bigotry. I find it highly inappropriate for people to tweet about this, especially since their comments are public and everyone, including Joel, can see them. Social media is a great tool, but it can also be medium that breeds hateful comments from people that would otherwise never say such things in the real world, let alone to Joel Ward in person. I'm glad that those who tweeted got their comments removed and some had their accounts deleted. If they can't be respectful or at least appropriate on Twitter, they they don't deserve the privilege.
ReplyDeleteSocial media is a primary tool for all people to express their opinions no matter how ignorant or disrespectful they may be. A clear disagreement is taking place here between sports fan who support two different teams and two very different sets of morals. The fans who supported Boston were outraged by race of the man who scored the goal in overtime suggesting that their long heritage of racism in the city has taken a toll on it's population. Somewhere deep seeded in Boston culture racism still exists in the morals of it's citizens and was triggered when passionate fans suffered a loss and had no other outlet than to express their racism over Twitter. Those fans who were so persistent and angry about the tweets demonstrate their values that have modernized along with society to favor equality. It shows they value equal opportunity so much so as to embarrass those who had tweeted and made them take them down. This is a classic example of social media being misused, and how it can truly affect someones reputation. Those who tweeted the bad things will be forever identified with that, similar to Facebook and how jobs and other opportunities can be lost due to inappropriate images and posts. The social media devices today can be an extremely helpful or destructive and it just depends on how one utilizes these tools.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article I think that social media may help in the fight to quell racism in the United States. When people use social media sites, such as Twitter, they tend to say things they would not normally say if they were face to face with someone. The problem with that is basically everyone on that site can see the comments that are being made. People can band together to show their disapproval of racist comments that are being made by calling the person out. In this case, most of the tweets were deleted (or the accounts deactivated) because they got called out by other users. If people continue to call out their peers for making racist comments, especially in a public setting like Twitter, then the mindset behind racism may eventually be extinguished.
ReplyDeleteIn today's world, people can make comments on twitter and other social media outlets while hiding behind their computer screen. Because of this, people often send hateful tweets to others. Joel Ward is an African-American hockey player in the NHL, where there are very few African-American players. After he scored the winning goal for the Washington Capitals, many people sent racist tweets to him that I'm pretty sure would have never been said to his face in person. The fact that Bruins fans tweet racist comments because they're upset that their team lost is unacceptable. These people are using racism as a last resort to undermine Joel Ward for his accomplishments, because there is not much else negative they can say. It is sad that people still use race as a way to downplay others' success.
ReplyDeleteThe racism dealing with sport teams in Boston can be looked at in different ways. Are there just more racist people living in Boston than other cities, or are those people more adamant about sports, causing them to say racist things when they are upset? These people could just continue to be raised racist in the city and that's why it can be known as a racist city also. Do you guys think Boston is more of a racist city or is racism just spread out throughout the country and brought to light when people choose to display it on the internet?
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone about using twitter to say hurtful and unnecessary things to others instead of saying it to their face--many people use social medias as a way to show how they really feel without experiencing the normal consequences that they would if it were done in person. That being said, comments to someone's face or through twitter that are racist, hurtful, or derogatory are not acceptable and should not happen in the first place. I believe that those comments/tweets were solely made out of spite, anger, and maybe even jealousy about the incident with the winning goal, and were definitely not thought out or considered what they were really doing. I know many people speak without thinking, but when it is something dealing with racism to these extremes it is not okay. Things like this should not be happening because if you think about it, saying things in person cannot be taken back, but writing things using social media can be revised/reworded, and can easily be changed before actually making them a permanent post. So things like racism in tweets should not even be happening because you have time and the opportunity to change them and not do them at all; whereas in person, you may say something without thinking, but now you can't do anything to take back those words.
ReplyDeleteUsing race to degrade someones success is intolerable and unacceptable. Joe Ward made a great play to beat Tim Thomas and send the Capitals to the next round of the playoffs. When I read this article and saw that fans were sending Joe racial tweets, it made me so mad. Just because you have the ability to contact someone through social media doesn't mean you know them at all. So nobody should be using social media to degrade an athlete for race. Especially when the only reason is because he beat the Bruins. This is a prime example of how twitter, and social media in general can be abused, and can ultimately cause someones image and reputation to be ruined. Sports fans need to learn to use twitter responsibly, and learn what to post and not to post.
ReplyDeleteI liked this quote by the Northeastern University athletics director, Peter Roby:
ReplyDelete"There is no excuse for this because it suggests we can only see people in regard to their ethnicity or their origin instead of giving them credit for being a professional, skilled and talented athlete. That's what I take offense with the most."
I think this quote is so true, and I agree with it completely. Instead of looking at Joel Ward for the amazing hockey player he is, some people can only see him for his race. It's sad that the fact that Ward is black is the first thing that comes to some peoples minds when he makes a game-winning goal. I believe that some of the hate that comes out of peoples mouths is due to jealously. The people sitting in front of their computer screens have no reason to criticize and make hurtful, racial comments about someone who is playing in the NHL. They may be jealous of his accomplishments and find their outlet on a social networking website. I most definitely agree with everyone who brings up the point that social media is a great way to say what you want to say with no consequences. It is very unlikely that any of the twitter users who tweeted negative comments about Ward would come out and say those same things to his face, nor would they say those things in front of another black person. I think our society today is so quick to judge people and attack them when something happens that they don't particularly like or agree with. If people could just step back and realize that every one is different yet equal, it would solve a lot of problems. It's just wrong to attack an NHL player for his race and completely ignore his accomplishments at the same time.
The racist tweets towards Ward reveal the existence of racism. Although racism is not as serious as it was before, it still in people’s mind more or less. People avoiding to saying the words of racism in to others face to face does not mean that they do not have the thought of racism or be affected by racism at all. Just like white privilege, people avoiding to talk about it and being aware of it does not mean that it does not exist. It is a bad thing for the racism tweets happen, but it also a chance for people confront racism but not just ignore it and pretend that it does not exist anymore. Tweet is a platform for people to express their thoughts and opinions. From the tweets people can know how others thinking. Though the racism tweets will hurt some people’s feeling and esteem, it at least let people know that racism towards sports team does influence some people’s mind. Only when people are clear how badly racism exists in the society, they can take efficient actions to eliminate it.
ReplyDeleteAs a hockey fan, I am very disappointed that people reacted like this after one man scored a goal against their team. It's understandable to be upset about losing a crucial game, but in no way or form is it acceptable to react this way. I actually came across an article similar to this after the game where it showed many negative tweets towards this player. Joel Ward should not be treated unfairly because he is one of the few black players in the league. That is not what the country or the NHL stands for. He is simply doing his job and doing what he loves. This hate towards Ward gives the city of Boston very bad publicity. For a city that prides itself on its diversity, this is the last thing that it needed. It's unfortunate that the people who tweeted racial slurs towards Ward gave their city a black eye.
ReplyDeleteWriting on Twitter is not like communicating face to face. People will be bold to express themselves without thinking seriously so there will be more racists. But I think it is ridiculous to emphasize the race of Joel Ward. In the team, he is just a team member as others. It is unfair that Ward was treated differently than others. If someone is really a fan of the team, he should look at the team in a positive way, not criticize on the race. Even he wants to comment on a person, it is unacceptable to degrade someone's success because his race.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing what people will be willing to write on the internet. They write stuff they would never say in a face to face conversation. It is sad to see that someone received so much hatred because of his race. It was only a small group of people and I do not think the whole city of Boston should be looked down upon. I feel social media causes more harm than good sometimes and some people really need to grow up and use it more respectively.
ReplyDeleteTwitter is a social network where you tweet quick thoughts and continue your daily routine. People may get onto twitter talking about their day or may tweet continuously threw out the day but its them expressing themselves in ways they feel is acceptable. That is what twitter was like, now, people use it miss appropriately and say mean and hurtful things despite the fact that the world will forever see it. The racist comments toward Joel on twitter can make a big impact on the world. People may not recognize it right away but when a hate crime is committed or God forbid, Joel tries to hurt himself then people want to stop and pay attention to the things they say. Respect is a key thing that the social networks are losing. If nothing nice is going o be said about some one positive then it shouldn't be said on the internet to hurt some one intentionally.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, the author showed us that some racist tweets attack hockey player Joel Ward after he won the game. Joel ward is African American and he is really good hockey player which made him to be the prominent leader of the team. And that makes people who are being racist against him. Many tweeter users comment to support Joel and attack racist tweets, which makes people delete the tweets and apologize for what they have done. Tweeter is a social network tool for people to communicate with others, make friends and catch up with the news. It is not for us to spread negative thoughts, even though everyone has their rights to say what they want to say. We should learn this lesson and think about what is the right things to write on public social network.
ReplyDelete