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Jack Knox: Racist slurs ‘happen all the time’ — but shouldn’t

The slurs hurled at the Six Nations Chiefs and their fans in Victoria are neither new nor imaginative. “Wagonburner.” “Go drink your firewater.
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Game 5 of Mann Cup series between Victoria Shamrocks and Six Nations Chiefs at Bear Mountain Arena. Drummers were out in force supporting Six Nations.

The slurs hurled at the Six Nations Chiefs and their fans in Victoria are neither new nor imaginative.

“Wagonburner.”

“Go drink your firewater.”

They heard the taunts when the Ontario team played in New Westminster in 1995, and expected them here in Victoria at the Mann Cup.

“It happens all the time,” said Six Nations supporter Cap Bomberry, a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, before Wednesday’s game five.

Doesn’t mean they have to like it, though.

“I lost a lot of respect for Victoria lacrosse fans tonight,” Chiefs star Cody Jamieson, an Iroquois, wrote on Twitter on Monday, adding the hashtags #giveyourheadsashake #classless #lookinthemirror and #racist.

Ouch.

OK, let’s pause for a little perspective. It was a tiny minority of loudmouths causing the problem. Most Shamrocks fans have been oblivious to the abuse. Those lined up for tickets outside Bear Mountain Arena on Wednesday expressed both surprise and embarrassment. Six Nations guys approached during the game itself reported no new nastiness Wednesday night. Let’s not blow this out of proportion.

Jamieson himself modified his comments Tuesday, taking pains not to paint all Victoria fans with the same brush: “I had a couple of rude comments. It’s not a reflection of the whole arena itself. … A couple of bad apples don’t spoil the orchard.”

But, actually, a couple of bad apples can take a little of the shine off what has been a terrific series.

Wish we could say this comes as a shock, but it doesn’t. Sports, with its us-versus-them mentality, can bring out the best kind of passion and the worst form of tribalism — we all have our tribes — as pride in community slips into demonization of the other side. Add the element of race (not to mention beer sales) and you have the world in microcosm.

Or maybe some people are just wieners.

Some fans go a little off their nuts at games. I once saw an Anglican minister scale the glass at a hockey rink to kindly offer his spectacles — overhand, with force — to a referee he thought needed them more.

The flashpoints at Bear Mountain seem both sad and silly. Some Victoria fans were offended that a few Six Nations fans don’t stand for the national anthem, or that the players stand at the bench, as is their tradition. The big complaint is the thunderous drumming by the Chiefs’ enthusiastic supporters, so loud that arena staff hand out earplugs.

This isn’t the first time Victorians have complained about crowd noise. When FIFA Under-20 World Cup came to town in 2007, Victorians were entertained/ alarmed by the boisterous Nigerian fans who brought Royal Athletic Park to life with their drumming, dancing and innovative attitude toward reserved seating.

Prompted by neighbours’ complaints, organizers made the Nigerians dampen the drumming. Not everyone was impressed. “Most Nigerian ball fans who stayed up late to watch the game on television were surprised that the atmosphere at the stadium was unusually quiet, with not much significant presence of the ever-entertaining Nigeria supporters club in action,” reported the Lagos Vanguard newspaper.

Victoria fans take note: It’s a sporting event, not a prayer vigil.

Besides, it doesn’t matter what the perceived provocation is, there’s no excuse for anyone to resort to racist taunts, ever.

The question is how to react. If you’re Joe Victoria sitting next to someone spewing racism, do you sit quietly on your hands or do you turn to him, say “Keep your piehole shut, Jethro” and pray that someone undeveloped enough to hurl racist slurs isn’t also violent enough to pop you in the mouth?

Some Six Nations fans made a point Wednesday of praising arena security staff and mentioning all the Shamrocks fans who came up to say: “We’re not all like that.”

No, we’re not, but let’s not pretend this a small problem confined to a small arena, either. It feels worse here than back home in Ontario, said a couple of women from the Six Nations group. It’s the looks you get in Costco, it’s the stores where service isn’t quite as prompt as it is for other customers. The women sounded more disappointed and hurt than angry.

Watching a game played on the anniversary of 9/11, it occurred that a little less anger would do us all good.

jknox@timescolonist.com