Wesmen athlete featured on ESPN segment

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This article was published 26/10/2020 (1791 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Wesmen basketball player Joshua Gandier recently spoke about activism in Canadian sports on ESPN, a high-profile American sports channel owned by the American Broadcasting Company.

Gandier, an Indigenous student-athlete from Crestview, was featured in a panel segment on ESPN’s Outside The Lines. He was joined by Brandon University Bobcats player Anthony Tsegakele, where they talked about Black Lives Matter and systemic racism in Canada.

The host wanted to know why Canadians were getting involved with the Black Lives Matter movement. Gandier said racism still affects marginalized communities in this country.

“It’s like I said on the show … Most people think of the (Black Lives Matter) movement as an American issue. Racism (happens) in Canada as well. Canadians like to say, ‘We’re multi-cultural and we value diversity,’” Gandier said.

“When we say things like that, it neutralizes the experiences of (marginalized communities). We don’t acknowledge the racism that’s happening right now.”

Gandier, along with student-athletes from the Wesmen, the Bobcats and the University of Manitoba Bisons produced a joint anti-racism video in September. The video shows athletes from the three rival schools, aligning themselves on issues of anti-racism and Black Lives Matter, promoting the message “it’s not a competition, it’s a movement.”

The video was posted on Twitter and was widely shared. It caught the attention of ESPN producers, who invited the Manitoban athletes onto their program. Gandier’s episode aired on Oct. 20.

Gandier said he was grateful for the opportunity to speak on such important issues.

“There’s a lot of kids who watch sports,” Gandier said. “If student-athletes speak out on (social justice) issues, you’ll expose kids to those things at a young age. They’ll be more accepting and understanding, when they grow up, it’ll be something that’ll develop over time. Hopefully we’ll have more athletes brought up with that mindset.”

Gandier said he enjoyed the interview and hopes that the conversation can continue.

Winnipeg had a Black Lives Matter demonstration earlier this year, calling attention to the systemic abuse and over-policing of African-Canadians and Indigenous Canadians. Police killings continue to occur, with Black and Indigenous Canadians being disproportionately arrested and jailed for crimes, with Black males being stopped or searched almost double the rate of white males.

Gandier said the response to his interview has been positive.

“I’ve got a lot of good people around me. I’m usually a pretty quiet person, but I feel like it’s important to speak up on something like this. It makes me proud that I’m able to showcase these issues, I’m very privileged to get this opportunity,” Gandier said. “Everyone has been really supportive, I felt like I made everyone proud. I’m really happy.”

To view the show, visit www.espn.com