DeSantis warns NHL to Remove ‘Discriminatory Prohibitions’ from Minority-Only Hockey Summit

[Suburbia]

The National Hockey League is hosting an upcoming conference for “diverse” job-seekers looking to pursue careers in the sport that is open only to racial and gender minorities.

On February 2 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the NHL — a professional association composed of 32 teams in the United States and Canada — will hold a new diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative called the Pathway to Hockey Summit. The event is exclusive to female, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, and/or disabled registrants.

In a separate line on the advertisement, the NFL writes, “Veterans are also welcome and encouraged to attend.”

Interested individuals will be given the opportunity to meet with recruiters from the NHL league office and at least eleven NHL teams such as the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, and Florida Panthers.

“This half-day event will feature guest speakers, panels, and networking opportunities to those who identify as” one of the mentioned “underrepresented communities,” the NHL notes.

As the promotion suggests, the NHL has plans to expand the project to other cities including Anaheim, Chicago, Nashville, New York, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, San Jose, Seattle, Sunrise/Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Tampa, and Washington, D.C.

The administration of Governor Ron DeSantis quickly called out the apparent discrimination of the events, more than one of which appear to be taking place in Florida.

“Discrimination of any sort is not welcome in the state of Florida, and we do not abide by the woke notion that discrimination should be overlooked if applied in a politically popular manner or against a politically unpopular demographic,” DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin said. “We are fighting all discrimination in our schools and our workplaces, and we will fight it in publicly accessible places of meeting or activity. We call upon the National Hockey League to immediately remove and denounce the discriminatory prohibitions it has imposed on attendance to the 2023 ‘Pathway to Hockey’ summit.”

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/national-hockey-league-to-host-minority-only-career-conferences/

[Fuzzy Bear]

Good for DeSantis.  The solution to racism isn't excluding people, period.

[Green Line]

DeSantis wins again.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nhl-backtracks-florida-gov-ron-desantis-office-blasts-league-discriminatory-job-fair.amp

Martin Luther King Jr. is smiling today.  Racism is not welcome in at least 1 state in America.  Hopefully he sends inspectors to make sure they’re actually following through.

[Brittain33]

Companies do this when their workforces are overwhelmingly white and male because of who-knows-who and need to make specific outreach to ensure diverse Americans are aware of opportunities that they don't hear about or can't envision themself in. It's not hard to see why hockey would historically be non-diverse.

It seems like DeSantis and anyone cheering this on is upset with non-white Americans having an opportunity to get a job in an industry traditionally hostile to them.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Companies do this when their workforces are overwhelmingly white and male because of who-knows-who and need to make specific outreach to ensure diverse Americans are aware of opportunities that they don't hear about or can't envision themself in. It's not hard to see why hockey would historically be non-diverse.

It seems like DeSantis and anyone cheering this on is upset with non-white Americans having an opportunity to get a job in an industry traditionally hostile to them.

Is hockey less diverse than the NBA or the NFL?

[Brittain33]

Companies do this when their workforces are overwhelmingly white and male because of who-knows-who and need to make specific outreach to ensure diverse Americans are aware of opportunities that they don't hear about or can't envision themself in. It's not hard to see why hockey would historically be non-diverse.

It seems like DeSantis and anyone cheering this on is upset with non-white Americans having an opportunity to get a job in an industry traditionally hostile to them.

Is hockey less diverse than the NBA or the NFL?

As far as people who'd be served by a "pathway" into this sport, absolutely. There are hundreds of thousands of white male kids playing basketball and football in high school, presumably very few non-white kids playing hockey.

[7,052,770]

Companies do this when their workforces are overwhelmingly white and male because of who-knows-who and need to make specific outreach to ensure diverse Americans are aware of opportunities that they don't hear about or can't envision themself in. It's not hard to see why hockey would historically be non-diverse.

It seems like DeSantis and anyone cheering this on is upset with non-white Americans having an opportunity to get a job in an industry traditionally hostile to them.

Is hockey less diverse than the NBA or the NFL?

Is this a serious question? You realize in less time than it took you to post this, you could have Googled and found the breakdowns of all 3 leagues?

[Fuzzy Bear]

Companies do this when their workforces are overwhelmingly white and male because of who-knows-who and need to make specific outreach to ensure diverse Americans are aware of opportunities that they don't hear about or can't envision themself in. It's not hard to see why hockey would historically be non-diverse.

It seems like DeSantis and anyone cheering this on is upset with non-white Americans having an opportunity to get a job in an industry traditionally hostile to them.

Is hockey less diverse than the NBA or the NFL?

As far as people who'd be served by a "pathway" into this sport, absolutely. There are hundreds of thousands of white male kids playing basketball and football in high school, presumably very few non-white kids playing hockey.

Perhaps that's because participation in hockey is driven by living in areas of the World where lakes freeze for the winter.

Are there not enough black hockey players because they're being discriminated against?  Or is the interest not that great?  

A disproportionate number of blacks in North America live in the Southern states of the US; states where there are not winter-long frozen lakes, but where there are ample resources for football and basketball and baseball.  To say that there are not more minority hockey players at this point because of "racism" or something like this is ridiculous.  

[Fuzzy Bear]

Companies do this when their workforces are overwhelmingly white and male because of who-knows-who and need to make specific outreach to ensure diverse Americans are aware of opportunities that they don't hear about or can't envision themself in. It's not hard to see why hockey would historically be non-diverse.

It seems like DeSantis and anyone cheering this on is upset with non-white Americans having an opportunity to get a job in an industry traditionally hostile to them.

Is hockey less diverse than the NBA or the NFL?

Is this a serious question? You realize in less time than it took you to post this, you could have Googled and found the breakdowns of all 3 leagues?

Share those stats, then.

Edit:  58% of the NFL is black.  73% of the NBA is black.

That's not "diversity" if you're defining "diversity" as representing something reflecting a cross-section of America.

[7,052,770]

Companies do this when their workforces are overwhelmingly white and male because of who-knows-who and need to make specific outreach to ensure diverse Americans are aware of opportunities that they don't hear about or can't envision themself in. It's not hard to see why hockey would historically be non-diverse.

It seems like DeSantis and anyone cheering this on is upset with non-white Americans having an opportunity to get a job in an industry traditionally hostile to them.

Is hockey less diverse than the NBA or the NFL?

Is this a serious question? You realize in less time than it took you to post this, you could have Googled and found the breakdowns of all 3 leagues?

Share those stats, then.

It fluctuates a bit from year to year, but approximately:

NHL: over 90% white
NBA: around 75% black
NFL: around 70% black
MLB: around 60% white

I can't imagine anyone who watches any of these leagues being surprised by any of the above numbers.

[Joe Republic]

Perhaps that's because participation in hockey is driven by living in areas of the World where lakes freeze for the winter.

Are there not enough black hockey players because they're being discriminated against?  Or is the interest not that great? 

A disproportionate number of blacks in North America live in the Southern states of the US; states where there are not winter-long frozen lakes, but where there are ample resources for football and basketball and baseball.  To say that there are not more minority hockey players at this point because of "racism" or something like this is ridiculous. 

Frozen lakes?  What decade do you think this is; the 1890s?

Ask players and fans of the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks or Vegas Golden Knights if they need a supply of local frozen lakes to help drive interest.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Perhaps that's because participation in hockey is driven by living in areas of the World where lakes freeze for the winter.

Are there not enough black hockey players because they're being discriminated against?  Or is the interest not that great? 

A disproportionate number of blacks in North America live in the Southern states of the US; states where there are not winter-long frozen lakes, but where there are ample resources for football and basketball and baseball.  To say that there are not more minority hockey players at this point because of "racism" or something like this is ridiculous. 

Frozen lakes?  What decade do you think this is; the 1890s?

Ask players and fans of the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks or Vegas Golden Knights if they need a supply of local frozen lakes to help drive interest.

There is a difference between boosting fan interest and a different in boosting participation.  Who plays a support is dependent on who participates at the lowest levels.  Most of the areas these Sun Belt NHL franchises play in have significant populations of folks who came from the Northeast and Midwest, but few of those areas have significant levels of Youth Ice Hockey participation and scholastic Ice Hockey participation.

[Middle-aged Europe]

The so-called fight against wokeness is just a smoke screen to distract people from the low salaries, if any,  they earn.

[7,052,770]

Perhaps that's because participation in hockey is driven by living in areas of the World where lakes freeze for the winter.

Are there not enough black hockey players because they're being discriminated against?  Or is the interest not that great? 

A disproportionate number of blacks in North America live in the Southern states of the US; states where there are not winter-long frozen lakes, but where there are ample resources for football and basketball and baseball.  To say that there are not more minority hockey players at this point because of "racism" or something like this is ridiculous. 

Frozen lakes?  What decade do you think this is; the 1890s?

Ask players and fans of the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks or Vegas Golden Knights if they need a supply of local frozen lakes to help drive interest.

There is a difference between boosting fan interest and a different in boosting participation.  Who plays a support is dependent on who participates at the lowest levels.  Most of the areas these Sun Belt NHL franchises play in have significant populations of folks who came from the Northeast and Midwest, but few of those areas have significant levels of Youth Ice Hockey participation and scholastic Ice Hockey participation.

And that's what the NHL is trying to change.

[lfromnj]

Imagine trying to defend an event that bans white men as not discrimination.

[Green Line]

Imagine trying to defend an event that bans white men as not discrimination.

They know its discrimination.  They just think its good to discriminate against white men.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

F**k Ron DeSantis.

As a black NHL/hockey fan, increasing the amount of diversity within the NHL (both player-wise and fanbase-wise) is important.

Also, the NHL's popularity (in the United States) is still fairly regional to the Midwest & Northeast. The NHL needs to expand from this.

[Fuzzy Bear]

The so-called fight against wokeness is just a smoke screen to distract people from the low salaries, if any,  they earn.

I'll agree to this to an extent.

[7,052,770]

As a black NHL/hockey fan, increasing the amount of diversity within the NHL (both player-wise and fanbase-wise) is important.

It's also just good business. If a non-sports company realizes its product isn't doing well with black people, so it does market research into why by asking them, it's not "racism" to do that. Well-run companies like expanding their markets and increasing their customers.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Imagine trying to defend an event that bans white men as not discrimination.

When the sport is over 90% White men,  that's not even close to "discrimination".

Also, the NHL isn't banning White men from the sport nor is this event the only event that they host. If the NHL banned White men from all NHL events then maybe your stupid "point" would make some sense.

[Not Me, Us]

Imagine trying to defend an event that bans white men as not discrimination.

They know its discrimination.  They just think its good to discriminate against white men.

God you people are insufferable. The entire purpose of this event was to give people who ordinarily do not have opportunities to get involved in professional hockey a way to get their foot in the door and to drive up interest among communities that haven’t historically been represented in the sport. Why would an event like that include white guys, who make up the overwhelming majority of hockey players? This is like complaining that men are excluded from a “girls who code” event, although you guys probably think that’s “woke” too.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Imagine getting upset about this lol .

Anyway this is not consequential at all , the real consequential move will be if the Supreme Court strikes down the use of affirmative action in admission processes nationwide(like they should).

[Green Line]

Imagine trying to defend an event that bans white men as not discrimination.

They know its discrimination.  They just think its good to discriminate against white men.

God you people are insufferable. The entire purpose of this event was to give people who ordinarily do not have opportunities to get involved in professional hockey a way to get their foot in the door and to drive up interest among communities that haven’t historically been represented in the sport. Why would an event like that include white guys, who make up the overwhelming majority of hockey players? This is like complaining that men are excluded from a “girls who code” event, although you guys probably think that’s “woke” too.

All Im hearing are excuses for discrimination.  Racism might be okay with you, its not to me.

[7,052,770]

Imagine trying to defend an event that bans white men as not discrimination.

They know its discrimination.  They just think its good to discriminate against white men.

God you people are insufferable.

They're more concerned with being Message Board Heroes than living in the real world. Obviously if any company wants to expand their market to additional groups of people (whether that's race, gender, age, or whatever), it will involve market research into those particular groups. It's not "discrimination" if that research only focuses on the groups they're trying to attract and doesn't cloud itself by also researching the opinions of the groups they already have.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Imagine trying to defend an event that bans white men as not discrimination.

They know its discrimination.  They just think its good to discriminate against white men.

God you people are insufferable.

They're more concerned with being Message Board Heroes than living in the real world. Obviously if any company wants to expand their market to additional groups of people (whether that's race, gender, age, or whatever), it will involve market research into those particular groups. It's not "discrimination" if that research only focuses on the groups they're trying to attract and doesn't cloud itself by also researching the opinions of the groups they already have.

They could have called it a diversity summit without saying some people are prohibited from attending