Jordan Subban scores opening Canucks goal; Vancouver Sun publishes offensive photo caption

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      Last night, the Vancouver Canucks opened its preseason with a win—and then a loss. The team was split into two rosters, with one squad staying at Rogers Arena to host half of the San Jose Sharks, and the other half travelling to Stockton, California, to face the Sharks on their home turf.

      The team that played in Vancouver won, beating the Sharks 4-2. In Stockton, the Canucks were less successful, losing 5-2.

      The Vancouver squad included captain Henrik Sedin and his brother Daniel Sedin, as well as Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis, and Kevin Bieksa. In goal was Eddie Lack and Joe Cannata, who each played half of the game.

      Joining the Vancouver-based team included some newer recruits and prospects: Hunter Shinkaruk, Ronalds Kenins, Linden Vey, Bo Horvat, Kellan Lain, Radim Vrbata, Derek Dorsett, Frank Corrado, and Jordan Subban.

      It was scoring by the newer players that contributed to the Canucks’ victory. Early on, Edler was injured, taking a puck to the face that forced him out of the game.

      Within the opening minutes of the game, Subban scored Vancouver’s first goal. The 19-year-old defenceman was drafted 115th overall by the Canucks in 2013. He is younger brother to Montreal Canadiens player P.K. Subban. Their brother Malcom Subban plays in the American Hockey League.

      When Jordan Subban scored, P.K. took to Instagram and Twitter to share his excitement.

      Once the game ended—with more goals scored by Shinkaruk, Horvat, and Vey—the Canucks proudly tweeted a photo of Subban with the puck, and a quote from Subban saying, “I was kind of surprised it went in, but I saw an opening and just tried to put it on net.”

      About an hour after the game had ended, an article recapping the Canucks’ performance was published on the Vancouver Sun’s website. Almost immediately, readers began to notice a questionable photo caption accompanying the article. Under a photo of Subban’s teammates congratulating the player on his goal, the caption read: “Vancouver Canucks celebrate goal by Jordan Subban (dark guy in the middle) against San Jose Sharks in NHL pre season game at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C. on September 23, 2014.”

      The photo caption, which many people called out as offensive, would not be noticed by editors at the Sun for a few hours. This morning, the local newspaper revised its photo caption and released an apology on its Twitter account.

      The Province, which shares a lot of the Sun’s content and also published the photo caption online, released a statement via Twitter as well.

      Neither Subban nor the Canucks have responded to the slipup. A number of Canucks players were out on the streets in downtown Vancouver this morning helping the Sun promote its Raise-A-Reader campaign.

      Gillian Burnett, the Sun’s digital deputy editor, responded to a reader who pointed out the mistake over Twitter. Burnett blamed a photographer for writing the caption, saying, “Outrage is shared. We will be looking into this further. Thanks for pointing it out.”

      On Facebook, many people have been calling the original photo caption “racist”, while others claim that it isn’t offensive and simply pointing out the obvious. Subban was wearing the number 67, which is partially visible in the photo, so perhaps his number could have been used if there was any confusion. Or, his name could have been followed simply by the word “centre” or “middle” since he is flanked by two teammates on each side.

      What do you think? Was the photo caption offensive or racist? 

      Watch Jordan Subban score the 1-0 goal vs. Sharks.

      Comments

      17 Comments

      yeah right

      Sep 24, 2014 at 12:19pm

      This is nothing more than political correctness gone amok.
      Seriously, some people go out of their way to be offended.

      pc gone too far

      Sep 24, 2014 at 12:50pm

      Racism is the use of language or terms intended to be derogatory or the segregation or restrictions of rights or opportunities of a group of people based on traits they have no control over that have no bearing on the situation.

      Picking out the most obvious physical difference merely as a means of identification and using a completely neutral word to point it out isn't being racist. It's being obvious and literal. Compared to everyone else in the photo - he's dark. Are they saying dark is bad? No. Are they saying he shouldn't be there? No. Acknowledging differences isn't racist - reacting negatively without basis is.

      I hardly think Subban is particularly discriminated against. He's playing in the NHL, an opportunity very, very few get to experience. That caption was not racist in the least.

      REDDPILL

      Sep 24, 2014 at 2:12pm

      I'm not commenting on the issue of right or wrong of the Province newspaper or it's editors. But rather, I hope this kid makes it on the team. If he's anything like his older brother PK, he could be a very exciting addition.

      Culture

      Sep 24, 2014 at 2:18pm

      @pc gone too far

      You are right that the colour of Jordan's skin is the most differentiating of his features in that photograph. However, the are two cultural aspects that are very important:
      1. Just because it's the most obvious differentiating feature doesn't mean it is safe to use it. Often in our culture obvious physical attributes are used to mock, intimidate or otherwise differentiate people in a negative way - this girl may be fat, that guys may have pimples, Jordan does have dark skin, but why point out that particular thing when other differentiating factors are perfectly sufficient.
      2. The choice of words is important. Derogatory terms, literal as they may be, are still derogatory. As a society we decide what terms are considered derogatory. "Dark", "Coloured", etc. are generally considered derogatory terms for black people.

      We have to consider things within the boundaries of what our society and culture deems as acceptable.

      You often hear stories about "racist grandparents" and "it was okay to say that when I was young" - but society changes, like it or not, so don't be surprised if people are offended when you move outside those boundaries.

      If you're still not sure, ask yourself what terms people would use to describe you and whether you would be offended. If your answers are "the white guy" and "no" then you're probably not in a position to comment further.

      Non sequitur

      Sep 24, 2014 at 2:23pm

      @pc gone too far

      "I hardly think Subban is particularly discriminated against. He's playing in the NHL, an opportunity very, very few get to experience."

      Are you suggesting that because he is a successful athlete is immune to discrimination?

      Cocoadevi

      Sep 24, 2014 at 4:24pm

      It's not racist but highly amateur and unprofessional which is not what we expect from our newspapers. Media shapes the way we think. Identifying people by their race only encourages stereotyping and ignorant thinking. Minorities are constantly identified by their races, but this is 2014 and it needs to change, most of all it is unacceptable when such simple and base thought processes are used by our media.

      AC

      Sep 24, 2014 at 6:03pm

      They don't really pay this idiot do they? 'Third from left' would've worked. Easy.

      Marko

      Sep 24, 2014 at 6:11pm

      "The dark one in the middle"? How is this not racist? He was already in the middle, the addition of the adjective "dark" was completely unnecessary, except to highlight the fact that he was not "white".

      Forest

      Sep 24, 2014 at 10:44pm

      White privilege is based upon the idea that whiteness is not a race, not an ethnicity, not even a colour. Whiteness is 'nothing', and in being 'nothing', whiteness can then be 'everything'. It is the invisible standard by which all else is measured. Describing Subban as 'the dark guy' may not be 'racism' per se, but it is certainly that which is supportive of white privilege in this society.

      Gordon

      Sep 24, 2014 at 10:48pm

      I was in Subterrania one Sunday night. The only *ahem* white guy there. There was a chair up against a pillar so i stood on it to take photos. A guy with a big camera came over, and said, hey, you are standing on my chair.
      Sorry, says I and steps down. No problem he says. He hands me his big ass camera and says hold this for me, and takes off.
      A little while later he comes back, says thanks, i had to take a piss.
      How did you know I would be here when you came back?
      He looks around and rolls his eyes at me.