REGINA -- With the surge of the Black Lives Matter Movement, many CFL players are sharing their experiences with racism and discrimination throughout their careers.
Chad Geter, a Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive lineman, says he experienced racism in the community of Irmo, South Carolina, where he grew up. The Confederate flag was even flown in the community until 2015.
“We’d go out to the mall and just go to a couple stores and walk around and we’d get followed around a store for nothing,” says Geter, who is currently spending the off-season with his girlfriend in West Virginia.
The 25 year old says he was never a victim of police brutality, but Geter recalls being racially profiled with another black teammate in college.
The two football players were getting a snack before leaving for an away game, when a cashier assumed they had stolen sandwiches from the store.
“She was like what’s in your sweatshirt pocket? We pulled out our packet of notes that our coach just gave us and we were like, it’s our football notes,” recalls Geter.
Riders Head Coach Craig Dickenson says he’s doing what he can to be an ally and hear the struggles of the Black community.
“I think the Black Community for many years has been trying to express in peaceful and powerful ways what’s going on and we have not listened,” says Dickenson. “We, as in the folks who are not black, we need to start listening.”
“[I] feel good that we have a leader on our team that’s willing to listen,” said Geter. “It’s time for people that aren’t black to stop getting defensive and stop turning it around on somebody that is black.”
The most critical part for Geter, is for people to listen.
During Geter’s first year in the CFL, the league championed the “diversity is strength” campaign. It’s a statement Geter has embraced.
“They really make it a point to bring diversity into the league and to accept diversity and I really like that about the CFL,” says Geter.
Former Riders Head Coach Chris Jones famously wore his green “Diversity is Strength” t-shirt for most of the 2018 CFL season.
Geter, who has recorded three sacks in each of his seasons in the CFL, says anti-racism isn’t just a one-time drill, but a constant practice.
“We’re not going to just fix this in a week, it’s going to take time and time and time.”
Just like a team with a goal, Geter says we all need to tackle racism together.
“Everybody who steps into that stadium no matter what you do, custodian, football player, working the Riders store, everybody at that stadium has a platform and can use their platform to make a change.”
