Blackface scandal rocks hockey world after Akim Aliu shares even more details of racial discrimination

This is truly despicable.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Blackface scandal rocks hockey world after Akim Aliu shares even more details of racial discrimination
Wall Street Journal

Earlier today the Wall Street Journal published an article in relation to the Bill Peters and Akim Aliu scandal that rocked the entire world late last month. By now we all know the story… Aliu accused Peters of using racist language while coaching him in the AHL a decade prior. The Calgary Flames launched an investigation and Peters was subsequently dismissed, technically he resigned… but let’s get real, and the rest is history.

Well… now we have an update in this sordid story and I’m afraid to report that it’s even more appalling. 

In Andrew Beaton’s report for the WSJ, he uncovers stories and photos from a Halloween party in 2011 from Aliu’s time with the Colorado Eagles then of the ECHL and now of the AHL.  

Read below for yourself on the details courtesy of Beaton:

Akim Aliu had been a member of the Colorado Eagles, a minor-league hockey team, for just a small part of the season in 2011 when he received an invitation to the team’s Halloween party. The team’s players, staff, management and even their families would be there.
A couple of days before the party, the Nigerian-born player was told to “come a little bit later,” he says. He didn’t think much of it, until he walked in and poured himself a beer.
That’s when he says the team’s head equipment manager, Tony Deynzer, appeared from behind a corner. Deynzer was in blackface, wearing an Afro-style wig and a jersey that had been custom-made with Aliu’s jersey number and nickname, “DREAMER,” emblazoned on the back.
In the moment at the Halloween party, he says, partygoers exhorted Aliu and Deynzer to pose in a picture together. Deynzer smiled. Aliu didn’t. In the background of one of the pictures, an infant crawled on the floor nearby.
“Guys just started laughing,” Aliu says. “All I can do is tell my story.”

  Here are the photos in question:



Honestly... what planet do these people live on that this was deemed not only okay to do, but also a funny joke?!

I'm not one to cry wolf and I truly feel like the softening of the game is hugely detrimental to the future of hockey but... blackface?! In 2011?! Come on, dude... NOT a good look. Ever.

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