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Here's the accepted definition of 'Color Barrier' --- it says nothing about Blacks only. Definition: unspoken social code of racial segregation or discrimination, esp. in sports, education, public service, and the like.

The NHL - National Hockey League Color Barrier, also known as the NHL Color Line, excluded non-white or BIPOC players. This racist exclusion or segregation included Black persons, Indigenous persons, Asian persons, etc. The heyday of the NHL Color Barrier lasted about 40 years from when the NHL was founded in 1917 up to 1958.

From 1917 to 9 years later in 1926, the NHL had 0% athlete diversity, all the 188 NHL athletes prior to the Indigenous Taffy Abel in November 1926 were White and practically all the NHL fans were White.

Only one non-white or BIPOC player, of any race, can be credited with breaking a Major Sport League Color Barrier. Example: Indigenous Taffy Abel broke the NHL Sport League Color Barrier in 1926 and he can also be credited with being the NHL’s first Indigenous Player. Same goes in MLB Baseball, only one person, Jackie Robinson, is credited with breaking the MLB Sport League Color Barrier.

The Asian 1-minute NHL Player, Larry Kwong, did not break the NHL Color Barrier in 1948. However, Larry Kwong can be credited with being the NHL’s first Asian Player. The Black Willie O’Ree did not break the NHL Color Barrier in 1958. However, Willie O’Ree can be credited with being the NHL’s first Black Player. This is essentially from the prestigious Associated Press usage guidelines on Sport Color Barriers.

Some in hockey’s NHL leadership seem to think that they are also in history’s NHL - the National History League and can sanitize history to what they desire by saying the Black Willie O’Ree broke the NHL Color Barrier in 1958. More than one person at the NHL has expressed this very racist view: “Only a Black Person can break a Color Barrier” Such a view would exclude a Native American such as Taffy Abel.

To get their point across, the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL lobbyists heavily lobbied the US Congress for 4 years from 2018 to 2022 to award the Black Willie O’Ree a prestigious Congressional Gold Medal for breaking the NHL Color Barrier in 1958. He did not.

The Congressional Gold Medal is an ‘earned recognition’ versus a recognition that is lobbied for by very wealthy sports organizations such as the NHL via their 32 NHL Team owners who are largely billionaires. The NHL and these 32 white NHL Team owners are trying hard to rebrand the NHL as more diverse and away from the NHL racist past. The truth is that the NHL is the least diverse in Major League Sports and such demographics with low diversity are hurting their advertising and sponsor revenue.

The NHL and other Major Sports Leagues have also heavily lobbied states to permit gambling on sports. It appears that Black Gamblers are a key demographic.

A PhD Sports Historian even suggests that Congress award both Willie O’Ree and Taffy Abel a Congressional Gold Medal. We disagree. This is similar to awarding a trophy to each young child playing Junior Football so their feelings would not be hurt. Congress should stick to their knitting in awarding Congressional Gold Medals based on exemplary merit such as the past recipient Jonas Salk.

The NHL should correct their Hockey History Record by telling the truth. Taffy Abel broke the NHL Color Barrier in 1926.

Many scholars say there is still racism in the NHL. Prominent white male hockey players refer to hockey as “our game”.

The Major Sports Leagues Color Barrier Rankings focus on the modern sports era. The four Major Sports Leagues are: NHL; NFL; MLB; NBA. The NHL’s Indigenous Taffy Abel was the first non-white player or BIPOC player in the NHL in 1926 and broke the NHL Color Barrier that year … some 32 years before the Black Willie O’Ree entered the NHL in 1958. Taffy Abel broke the Color Barrier 21 years before MLB’s Black Jackie Robinson did in 1947. From an athlete perspective, the NHL is the least diverse Major Sports League with ~7% BIPOC / non-white athletes in 2022. From a fan perspective, the NHL is seen as the least diverse Major Sports League. More here.