#asher hill

[icedancearchive]

Canadian ice dancer Asher Hill has spoken up about Skate Canada's statement on their relationship with black community.

here is the article he talked about in his stories

[threecupsfull]

Asher Hill on racism and the situation that led to him calling out Skate Canada

Nam Kiwanuka for Breaking Barriers on the Ice part 2

Nam: Well, what would you hear? what were the comments that you would hear?

Asher: So, one that was very popular that I - sometimes the power would go off at the rink, and the first thing I would always hear would- “oh no, smile Asher so we can see you, and open your eyes” you know. And I never ever found that funny.

Nam: Meaning that you were too dark. You were dark and they needed, right-

Asher: I was dark, and when the lights came off I disappeared unless I showed the whiter part of my body, which were my eyes and my teeth. And you know, a defense mechanism you have as a person of color in a room or arena that doesn’t always represent you, you laugh it off, you roll your eyes, you just kind of keep going, you let it roll off your back, and you internalize it which can cause a lot of you know, other issues, but that’s kind of how you survive and stuff.

Nam: Well, you know, I’ve had friends asking me how I am doing right now because of the global movement for Black Lives Matter. How are you doing?

Asher: ...Ok, I’m doing ok. I think we’re always doing ok, because to us, this has been going on for decades, years and years. You know about it. Like, when I was a kid, my biggest fear was that the KKK would come and might kill my family. So I was aware of racial prejudice as a child. And you know when you keep seeing these scenes of black men and women being murdered and hearing about these stories,, and then you know movements rise up and then they kind of die down, and I only say die down from you know people who are so-called allies. They’ll come with you for a bit, and then retreat back because it’s uncomfortable.

We forget that Colin Kaepernick doesn’t have a job because he took a knee and Black Lives Matters used to be so incendiary it could mean you losing friends and your job, and it was immediately met with other retorts like All Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, which are just veiled racism, because it was only in reference to when people were talking about how, you know Black people aren’t being valued as other people in this country and in this world, you know.

Nam: Well you brought up the NFL. The NFL and - is one of the organizations along with Skate Canada and a whole other, so many other organizations who’ve tweeted posts of support with the Black community in addressing anti-Black racism. Part of - so Skate Canada had a tweet- part of that tweet said, Skate Canada supports a safe, open and inclusive environment for everyone,

and you responded, so we have part of the tweet that you sent: it said

What did what Skate Canada tweet, upset you? What did they tweet that upset you?

Asher: So pretty much like the first sentence in that whole post. Because during this whole year of 2019 til now, I had been dealing with a racist, homophobic, misogynistic colleague at the Club I used to work at, Skate Canada Brampton-Chinguacousy. And in June I had finally had had enough, there were other factors, like my sister, who also worked at the Club being - you know- I had my own personal experiences with the coach, and then my sister was also having a lot of issues with the Club and the Board.

And so, I was just like, ok I need to finally come forward, and so, the Club said they would do their own investigation with a third party. Because the Club was favorable to the coach in question, I contacted Skate Canada, and I told them please do your own investigation into all these allegations, because I do not trust the Club. I do not think it’s going to be objective, I don’t think- the coaches there are also really good friends with the person I’m making the complaints about.  And they always have his back, and he’s been getting away with murder. And they haven’t done anything, so please do your own investigation. They did not.

I felt the investigation was not done properly. They had investigated like 4 witnesses when I had given them well over 8, more than double that, and the investigation also happened once I left the Club. And Skate Canada you know abdicated their duties. They piggy-backed directly off of the findings of that investigation. And even when I brought in new information after I appealed the decision to hold me in contempt of bullying and harassing and all that stuff, they didn’t you know seem to read the new evidence, didn’t interview any of the other coaches, didn’t interview any of the parents who made the same complaints about the coach and, yeah.

So to be found to be the bully and harasser after blowing the whistle on somebody who you know would say things like, “that’s why I don’t coach Black kids” or calling all Filipinos lazy, or referring to Black people with the n-word. And then for me to like come forward with my experience, which was so hard, and to be turned around and be like, you’re actually the problem, and now you’re going to- we’re going to reprimand you and put a letter on your file, where if you step out of line again you can lose your license. And that is a -

Nam: Well, Skate Canada has reached out to you, and they said that they hired a third party investigator who concluded the allegations were unsubstantiated. We only have a minute left. What are some concrete changes you’d like to see implemented in skating moving forward?

Asher: Ok, well first they didn’t actually hire the third party, the Club did.  So things that we’re working to do, and I’m saying we because we have started a coalition of skaters from US, Canada, and France and around the world, and we are working with other alliances, such as the Diversify Ice with Joel Savary, and we’re coming up with concrete plans and a list of calls to action that we’re going to be sending out to Skate Canada, the government, on how to make it better for athletes, coaches, and volunteers of color in the sport.

We’re having lots of great conversations, and I think through Covid, we would never be able to think about reaching out to each other, but now with Covid we’re having Skype meetings, Zoom meetings, we have a lot of things in the work. And I think that the onus is often put on athletes of color because we can’t wait for them to make any changes, because they won’t. If they did, they would have done it by now. And so we’re really working to come up with this alliance that I think, the name is a working name but it’s Figure Skaters for Diversity and Inclusion Alliance, and we’re just working towards making it better for people coming after us, because we realize the importance of role models, and we realize the importance of making this sport safer and inclusive for everybody, and everyone should feel welcome and able to achieve their goals no matter what color they are. 

Nam: And you had mentioned in the tweet that you recently lost your grandmother, and we are sorry for your loss, and we appreciate you taking the time out to speak to us about some of the solutions you’re coming up with. We appreciate you Asher, and continued success

Asher: Thank you

[rabidline]

Madeline Schizas, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg: I Will Wait For You by Michel Legrand performed by Marie Oppert, Orchestre National de Lille and Nicholas Skilbeck

2020-2021 Free Program

Choreography by Asher Hill

Costume by Laurie Goulet and Madeline Schizas

[laurastacey]

“From hockey equipment to crop top”

[anythinggoe]

Skater Asher Hill sees hypocrisy in racial equality statements issued by sports teams, organizations | CBC Sports

Asher Hill watched on his TV as American cities burned and on his phone as social media platforms lit up with sports teams, athletes and Can

[spanishfsteamtranslations]

Skate Proud

Javier Raya has created the platform for LGBT+ skaters on social media to have a safe space for future generations where they can find support and references

This month, they are doing some live interviews on instagram with different skaters (you can still watch the previous interviews on their youtube channel, instagram tv and facebook). Check them out!

Twitter - Instagram - Facebook - Youtube - Website

[figureskatingconfessions]

“Remember when Orford/Hill were one of the teams pushed out during VM's comeback and fandom said it was fine because they were a third rate team? Remember how Ralph/Hill were one of the teams affected by Skate Canada's constant promotion of Gilles/Poirier, and fandom only cared about how it affected VM? And now suddenly everyone's an Asher Hill stan when they couldn't care less while he was out there competing? Forgive me if I don't think it looks sincere.”

[saucylittlesmile]

Figure skater Asher Hill sees hypocrisy in recent flurry of racial equality statements | CBC Sports

Asher Hill watched on his TV as American cities burned and on his phone as social media platforms lit up with sports teams, athletes and Can