Moderately spicy the long game/heated rivalry take
JJ had way more to lose than Hayden when he decided to support Shane. Hayden realistically had very little to lose and could’ve been absorbed or whatever by another team.
JJ is a Black man in an overwhelmingly white field who probably already struggles with the fear that other teams don’t want him if he’s traded.
JJ being publicly supportive of Shane is riskier for him than it is for Hayden and he does it anyway.
JJ put more on the line than Hayden did by defending one of his closest friends. Defending Shane could’ve easily cost JJ his career because it’s not that hard to destroy the career of a Black man in hockey.
So yeah, JJ has every right to ask for clarification before he goes all out defending one of his closest friends. Before I put my career (and honestly and I’m not kidding, my actual life) on the line for you I have every right to ask for clarification.
A Black professional hockey player defending a professional hockey player that is a queer person of color will never ever ever be neutral.
JJ has every right to ask Shane to confirm before he risks his career (and again because he plays in the U.S. at least) and his actual life to defend Shane.
You can’t compare JJ to Hayden or anyone else without acknowledging that racism colors JJ’s reality. JJ does not get the same leeway for causes that matter to him as white people do.
It is a different world.
