Don Cherry - What’s the Fuss?

Don Cherry - What’s the Fuss?

You people that come here … whatever it is, you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey. At least you could pay a couple of bucks for a poppy.” He then began pointing his finger at the camera, “These guys paid for your way of life, the life you enjoy in Canada. These guys paid the biggest price.” 

The moment I heard this on the TV news my first thought was “This man should be fired!” I was not alone. So many people complained to the Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council about Cherry, that it exceeded 'the CBSC’s technical processing capacities'. 

Don Cherry is thought of by many as a Canadian icon, but not all agree. Listening further to the news broadcast I was treated to many other misogynistic, racist, divisive, and heralded as perfectly acceptable statements of Cherry’s opinion aired on Hockey Night in Canada over the years. His views are supposedly harmless, just in fun, painting life as he sees it. But Canada is growing up and is, at least in the public eye, leaving people like Don Cherry behind.

Or are we? Does Don Cherry simply say out loud what many say and feel privately? There’s a swell of support out there, on Facebook, Twitter. Cherry, people are saying, is just an actor with an amusing commentary, almost a clown in his signature attire, shouldn’t be taken seriously. “What in the world is all the fuss about?” they say. “He’s harmless!” 

Is he?

In private conversations I have heard misogynistic, racist, and derogatory ethnic comments expressed by people I respect. If called to their attention they laugh, say “Lighten up, I was just joking!” But such conversation has the effect of reinforcing and perpetuating a culture of “us and them”. We might have a better chance of establishing amenable relations with people from different backgrounds if we are not armed with stereotypes in advance.

Immigrants come to this country for many reasons, to escape war, to better their economic position, to reunite with family already here. It takes time to adapt to a different way of looking at the world. We have very little understanding of how confusing and difficult it may be for an immigrant to question or alter his or her past learning, traditions, cultural and religious indoctrination, especially a first generation immigrant. Immigrants have good reasons to come to Canada, but it’s not necessarily an easy transition and they all leave a piece of themselves behind.  

The Canadian identity, which would be hard to define, is already quite diversified and it is changing. Twenty years ago not one word would have been said about Don Cherry’s “You people...” statement. Had it been said in private it wouldn’t have caused even a tiny ripple, especially coming from an old man. But Canada is made of slowly melding races, religions, and ethnicities, creating a rich tapestry. We differ in many respects, but we are all Canadians.

A friend commented on Facebook, “All old men say inappropriate things. It’s their right. It’s our right to ignore them.” True, we can roll our eyes and forgive grandpa, but maybe old men whose attitudes belong in the archives should no longer be given a public forum.