In case you missed it yesterday, the Boston Bruins issued a public statement in which they vowed to lock arms during the playing of the United States and Canadian national anthems as a sign of solidarity with the Black community.
Check it out:
A noble gesture and one that will hopefully help illuminate the pervasiveness and the seriousness of racial injustice. At best it will generate awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement and help educate Bruins fans on matters of inequality, at worst it’s an empty gesture that has no real effect on matters. Whatever the result, you have to commend the Bruins for sticking to their promise of creating an inclusive environment for ALL hockey fans.
Honestly, it’s hard for me to understand how anyone could have a problem with this yet… well it’s 2020 and Cancel Culture is running rampant, so nothing surprises me anymore.
Just a couple hours after this statement was released by the Bruins, Boston reporter Matt Porter commented on Rask's choice of headwear in some sort of "gotcha" type moment... what he didn't anticipate though was having Rask's teammate Brad Marchand come to his aid on Twitter.
Check it out:
Marchand quickly deleted the Tweet, but nothing is truly ever deleted from the Internet, is it?
Frankly, I'm not the biggest Brad Marchand supporter given his style of play but I respect him for not only stepping up to defend his teammate in Rask, but for also calling out the media on this nonsense. The fact is that Rask's hat was a non-story until some reporters decided it would be a good way to drum up some controversy.
Look, I get what Porter is getting at here, but… get this… you can actually support your local police department AND be against racism at the same time! Crazy I know, right!?
Are the police perfect? Hell no. In fact, the Boston Police Department has more than its fair share of issues. But that doesn’t mean that simply by showing support for them that you’re somehow aligning yourself with racist ideals. These are police officers not Nazis, despite what some people may have you believe.
The truth is that you can support the Black Lives Matter movement and your local police department simultaneously. I’m willing to bet that Rask would agree with that sentiment. After all, the Finnish native has made a point of keeping his political opinions to himself throughout his career. Finland has a proud culture of supporting all civic workers, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rask’s choice of headwear has more to do with that than it does with any anti-BLM sentiment.
