City’s pro sports teams embrace anti-hate message

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This article was published 17/07/2023 (826 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“Hate is not welcome here.” That was the message being shared Sunday at the Winnipeg Goldeyes game against the Cleburne (Texas) Railroaders.

The minor-league American Association of Professional Baseball club is one of Winnipeg’s six professional sports teams that has signed up to an anti-hate initiative promoted by the Rady Jewish Community Centre.

The initiative is the brainchild of Rob Berkowits, executive director of the centre. He was inspired to do something after antisemitic tweets posted by rapper Kanye West last year.

“He said some awful things,” Berkowits said, noting West’s tweets were shared by others who spread misinformation about the Holocaust.

While the tweets bothered him, he decided it wasn’t enough to just be upset. “I decided I needed to do something, not just about antisemitism but about hate of all kinds.”

Berkowits realized he couldn’t do anything to change West’s mind.

“But I wondered what I could do in my own community?” he said.

His idea was to ask Winnipeg’s professional teams — Sea Bears, Goldeyes, Valour FC, Blue Bombers, Moose and Jets — to dedicate one game during their regular seasons to promote the message against hate. All agreed to participate.

“Sports is a great platform to spread that message,” he said. “We may disagree on many things, but we come together to support our teams.”

From the start, Berkowits was clear he didn’t want freebies from the teams. “I went to donors and asked them to sponsor buying tickets so people could go to the games to share the message,” he said.

After securing tickets, Berkowits enlisted Folklorama, the Resource Rainbow Resource Centre and Anti-Racism in Sport as partners. He asked them to distribute the tickets to their members and supporters, and to invite ticket recipients to make anti-hate signs to show at the games.

“We fully support the initiative,” said Folklorama executive director Teresa Cotroneo, noting she offered tickets to the organization’s 40 pavilions. “Hate knows no borders. All in the community are affected by it at some level. That’s why it’s important for us to support it.”

For The Rainbow Resource Centre, the initiative came along at the right time, said Ashley Smith, director of advocacy.

“This is a time of rising hate against LGBTTQ+ in the U.S., but also in Canada,” he said. “We have seen a rise of anti-Queer rhetoric.”

Smith noted that sports can be an unwelcoming place for queer people. But the partnership of Winnipeg’s sports teams in the initiative shows they want to send a “strong message that all are welcome, that sports can be a safe place,” he said.

For Andrew Collier, general manager of the Goldeyes, “it was pretty easy to say yes to this great idea. We wanted to be on board.”

Hate, he added, “is not welcome in the ballpark. We want it to be a welcoming environment for all, no matter what beliefs, race, religion. This initiative underscores that message.”

Jennifer Graustins and her son, Preston, were two of about 900 participants in the initiative who got tickets for the Goldeyes game.

“It’s an important message to share,” said Graustins, who is part of the Portuguese Association of Manitoba. “We all need to show kindness and find ways to get along in the world.”

The Hanly family — father Vince, mother Suzy and children Lily and Isabel — was at the game, also through the Portuguese Association. “It’s important to teach kids about fair play and being encouraging to one another,” Suzy said.

Comments like that are encouraging to Berkowits. “I hope people come away from the game feeling a connection to each other,” he said. “I hope everyone feels safe and welcome in some small way.”

For everyone involved, it’s a way to “make a small contribution against the never-ending epidemic of hate,” he added.

The first anti-hate game was a Sea Bears game on June 15. The next is Aug. 3, when the Blue Bombers play the B.C. Lions, followed by Valour FC against Vancouver FC on Sept. 20. Dates for the Moose and Jets games have not been finalized yet.

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