A Niagara At Large Brief
If we Canadians think we are much better than our American neighbours when it comes to race relations, consider the life of would-be National Hockey League star Herb Carnegie.
Herb Carnegie
Carnegie, who was born in Toronto, Ontario and died there at age 92 this March 9, was honoured with the Order of Ontario and Order of Canada during his lifetime, but he never was able to realize his dream of playing in the National Hockey League. That is because he was barred from playing in the NHL in the 1930s and 40s because he was black.
In the United States, even major league baseball finally opened the doors to Black Americans in 1947 with the signing of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn (now the Los Angeles) Dodgers. Yet Carnegie’s formidable talents as a player were confined to a number of teams in the then Quebec Provincial League, winning numerous Most Valuable Player Awards, until he retired from hockey in 1953.
Carnegie did not allow the injustice of racism keep him from contributing to community however.
“After retiring from the game of hockey,” says a writeup on him in Wikepedia, “Carnegie started the Future Aces Hockey School, one of the first hockey schools in Canada. In 1954, he wrote the “Future Aces Creed” in an attempt to foster respect, tolerance, diversity and sportsmanship among young people.”
In a statement this March 9, Ontario Lt. Gov. David Onley called Carnegie a “prodigious talent” who was “prevented by the racism of that time from taking his rightful place in the National Hockey League.”
The province’s NDP leader Andrea Horwath circulated a statement about Carnegie this March 10 which reads in part: “Herb Carnegie never played in the NHL but those who saw his talent and determination on the ice and off know that he should have. That talent opened the door for others like Willie O’Ree, who would eventually break hockey’s colour barrier. Throughout his life he inspired and motivated, from his Future Aces program to help primary school students become good citizens to college scholarships, to his own incredible example. … He will be missed.”
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Niagara At Large 
We often look south at our neighbour’s history of racism and lose site of our own. Yes, we have had more than our share of racism and even slavery. Unfortunately, there are many Canadians today who hold racist views. I, for one, long for the day when Canadians will embrace those with different cultural, ethnic, religious, and racial backgrounds than our own and see the richness — enjoy the richness — such variety brings to our Canadian society. There is beauty and humanity in a cultural mosaic. It makes us better people.
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