It’s one thing to hear about societal evils in the abstract, it’s a whole different thing to see it happening to real families in real life. That was the thinking behind the making of Sidelined: The Colour of the Game, a documentary exploring the systemic barriers faced by First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Black and racialized participants in Canadian sport.
Presented by the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) office of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education in partnership with the Hart House Black Futures program and Anti-Racism in Sport Canada, the documentary was screened on March 19 in recognition of the International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
“Anyone who’s played sports knows how much time, money and energy families invest in individual athletes, so when something happens to one athlete, it impacts their entire family, sibling, teammates,” said Moji Akande, program manager at Anti-Racism in Sport Canada and one of the panelists at the event. “That’s how we decided to repack the original research done by our organization and turn it into a documentary that people could relate to.
“When you hear one of the mothers relive a moment (of racism) experienced by her kid, it’s jarring – and it shows that when you lose a kid to that, you’re also likely going to lose the whole family.”
Akande was part of a group of panelists moderated by Faith Joseph, a fifth-year mechanical engineering student at the University of Toronto and guard on the Varsity Blues women’s basketball team, who addressed the issues raised in the documentary. Also on the panel were Dalton Myers, director of interuniversity and high performance athletics at U of T, and Michael Mahkwa Auksi, coordinator of Indigenous initiatives at KPE and a doctoral candidate at the McGill University department of kinesiology & physical education.
“Young people see sport as vehicle for their own personal growth and excitement and when they experience racism, that view of sport is being taken away from them,” said Myers. “There’s also a feeling of deep loneliness that comes with experiencing racism at such a young age and trying to process it.”
Mahkwa Auksi, who is of Ukrainian and Indigenous background, said growing up in multicultural Toronto shielded him for the most part from experiencing too many episodes of racism, but he recalled how disorienting it was when he did experience it as a young kid.
“That sticks with you, even if you don’t recognize it at the moment,” he said, adding the movie also brought back the way belonging in sport expresses itself.
“You can do everything right and still not be quite accepted and whether it has to do with race or being studious … for me it helped when I became older and a bit more sure of myself.”
Akande stressed that racism in sport is a reflection of racism in society.
“It’s a systemic issue, not an isolated incident,” she said, adding that it’s contrary to the ideal of sport. “Sport is not (just) about training people to make it to the Olympics, you want people to develop good habits and be good people and if the system is not great, they’re going to develop bad habits and take it to their home and work place.”
Myers suggested everyone has a responsibility to act, including coaches and referees.
“Sitting on the fence or being silent is a decision,” he said. “But if you decide to be silent, you’re contributing to harm.
“If you’re a coach or referee, you need to act, stop the game and report any racist incidents.”
The panelists acknowledged that it’s not easy for a society to come to terms with the ugly episodes of its past or present.
“My father was raised by his stepfather who experienced residential school, so his belief in Canada was disrupted by this, understandably,” said Mahkwa Auksi. “That is very difficult for people to hear, let alone process, let alone come to a place of acceptance.”
But, talking about it and learning from it is helping to move the needle, they agreed.
“When my ancestors came over across the Ocean, it would have been next to impossible for them to imagine that one day their progeny would be involved in these conversations at a university,” said Myers.
“I was so lucky to have a good introduction to sport,” added Mahkwa Auski. “I went to Camp U of T, which was so well organized and supervised, empowering folks to call things out.
“I really believe in sport and it’s power to bring communities together.”
“Sport is great when everyone can feel like they belong and that’s what our work is all about,” said Akande.