Warning: The video in this post contains repeated uses of the n-word.
In an effort to keep their fans engaged through this dry period of no sports, the New York Rangers hosted a special Zoom chat with one of their defensive prospects K’Andre Miller on Friday afternoon. According to the Rangers Twitter account, the chat was open to the first 500 fans who wanted to join and included a link, accessible to anyone. Unfortunately, their chat was quickly derailed by a vile, racist incident that has no place in hockey.
As Miller went along with his Q&A, the chat that runs concurrent to the Zoom call was bombed by someone who repeatedly posted the n-word, over and over again.
Reminder, the video posted below is graphic in nature, so please be aware before scrolling further.
It is a sickening display of racism and hate. Miller looks visibly stunned as he notices the chat. In the brief clip, it does not appear that the moderator of the chat seems to fully realize what’s happening. Miller, to his credit, tries to ignore the disruption and focus on the question being asked.
It could be that the abuse Miller endured is part of a larger pattern of “Zoombombing,” where bad faith actors access chats for the sole purpose of posting hate speech and/or pornography, or if the participant is a Rangers fan who logged on via the public link to spread hate speech.
While zoombombing is a known evil, the hijacking of Miller’s chat is even more upsetting concerning the overall lack of diversity within the NHL. The league has few black players and struggles to maintain an environment where all players are accepted and welcome. The NHL touts their Hockey is for Everyone initiative yet it’s clear that sustaining that environment is easier said than done. The truth is that hate speech, and specifically the use of the n-word, in hockey is nothing new. The tail end of 2019 saw somewhat of a reckoning with the casual utterances of the slur in the NHL, but it seems like there’s still a long, long way to go.
As of late Friday afternoon, the Rangers have to yet to comment or address what happened during the chat and fans are rightly calling for the team to make a statement. No one should have to go through what Miller was subjected to and the team needs to take every precaution to make sure it never happens again.
