Re the use of the n word I think your reading is miles off. There is a difference but it isn't huge. Telling a black person that the music they listen to, traditionally associated with black people, is n..... music, is, albeit indirectly, calling that person a n..... . Which as we all know when used by a white person towards a black person has massive historical connotations of slavery, de-humanisation, segregation and worse. Peters must know that...and if he doesn't he's not fit to hold that kind of position.
I've no problem with a coach disliking the players music and wanting it turned down or more variety. If he'd said, "I'm sick of listening to that f****** rap music", there would be no story. The fact is that a middle aged white coach in a position of power used on more than one occasion the n-word in relation to traditionally black music being listened to by a black player. On top that, it was publicly, in an overtly white environment, within a broader white environment, to a player who was starting out and had absolutely no power.
In most environments, Peters would have been reported and either disciplined or sacked. The fact that hockey has for a long time been famously lacking in understanding of black players who aren't culturally ''uber-white-Canadian', and the power imbalance left Aliu with nowhere to go, and Peters would have known this.
What else should be done about it? If it was dealt with consistently in this manner, with the guilty party being publicly reprimanded, I'd be happy. However, in the UK we now have a prime minister who is running for re-election who has used racist terminology in a public arena more than once, and for me, it feels like the western world has taken a massive step backwards in certain areas in the last 5 years.
Re the broader issue, it is of course possible for anyone to thrive in another country if given the right mixture of personal qualities, emotional support, opportunity and kindness. But many people don't have many of these things, and were I in another part of the UK, my life experience to date might have been a lot less positive.
Re Aliu - its impossible to say, and its just he-said she said. The player is going to have his own conclusions, which may be fantasy or self justification, but the timing and subsequent trade are not a great look. Looking beyond that, its odd that Aliu had 3 points in his first 2 NHL games and barely got a look after that. A shame because at junior level his game looked likely to translate in a bottom six role.
Agree that abuse is a bigger issue, but for someone willing to have a racial element as part of that abuse, even if in a fit of anger, also tells you a lot about what that person has as an accessible part of their lexicon. It doesn't make it irredeemable, but the player doesn't seem to agree that there was an apology at the time.
