Manitoba's Zach Whitecloud is once again standing up to racism. At Tuesday's Golden Knights practice, the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation product handled a racist comment directed his way with class and integrity, while even opting to turn the experience into a teaching moment for ESPN's John Anderson.
Manitoba's Zach Whitecloud is once again standing up to racism. At Tuesday's Golden Knights practice, the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation product handled a racist comment directed his way with class and integrity, while even opting to turn the experience into a teaching moment for ESPN's John Anderson.
During a highlight package on Monday night, Anderson made a derogatory comment in relation to the Vegas defenceman's last name, referencing the toilet paper brand named in its likeness.
The clip was shared rapidly on social media, prompting a quick online apology from the veteran SportsCenter host.
It read as follows:
"This is totally on me and I sincerely apologize to Zach, the Golden Knights, their fans and everyone else for what I said," Anderson's statement began. "It's my job to be prepared and know the backgrounds of the players and I blew it. I will be reaching out to the team to personally apologize and hope to have the opportunity to speak to Zack as well."
He didn't even get Whitecloud's name right in the apology.
After being tipped off as to what was said, the Brandon, MB. product actually reached out to the 57-year-old Anderson to thank him for his apology, forgive him for his wrong-doing, and provide him with some teaching on his ancestry and First Nations background.
"I'm proud of my culture, I'm proud of where I come from, where I was raised and who I was raised by," Whitecloud said. "I carry my grandfather's last name and nothing makes me more proud than to be able to do that. I was raised - and our culture is raised - to be the first ones to reach out and offer our help. So, that's why I reached out to John this morning."
A reminder: Whitecloud - a fourth-year NHL defenceman - is just 26 years old.
"I understand that people make mistakes, and he acknowledges that he's willing and trying to move forward in the right direction and be better from it," Whitecloud shared. "Obviously, it's something that we can all learn from and move forward, again in the right direction."
Facing off against the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Whitecloud will certainly hear his name spoken of again in highlight packages, but going forward, he hopes it will be done in a positive light.
"With this comes an opportunity to allow not just John and myself, but everyone to learn from this incident. Now to move forward and make sure that these things don't happen again.
"I just want to make that point clear too," Whitecloud continued. "John recognizes that too, and I believe he was sincere in his apology. I just wanted to reiterate to him that I was gonna be the first person to reach out my hand and offer help because people make mistakes, right? And it's just a time for everyone to learn."
Whitecloud and his Vegas teammates - which also include Manitoban connections Keegan Kolesar, Brett Howden, Mark Stone, Nolan Patrick, Laurent Brossoit, Logan Thompson, Jiri Patera and Byron Froese - are back in action on Wednesday night from Rogers Place, as the Golden Knights will look to pull ahead 3-1 in their series over the Oilers.