Land of Opportunity

I was ecstatic to see the Canadian Football League name Jeffrey Orridge as its new Commissioner.

It would be impossible for me to hide my pride about a black man finally being named commissioner of a major North American sports league. I loved the story quoted in the media about Orridge’s first exposure to the CFL; coming from watching a game featuring former Eskimos legend Warren Moon. To Orridge and his father, living in New York, seeing a league that embraced black quarterbacks represented what Canada was all about. A land of opportunity.

Ironically years later Orridge arrived here to work with Right to Play, then the CBC, and now the CFL. Land of opportunity indeed.

When I was a young football fan, the quarterbacking colour barrier was both unfortunate and obvious. As I watched the likes of Holloway, Ealey, Watts, Dewalt, and Moon dazzle in the CFL; there was only one starting black QB in the NFL – Doug Williams. When I saw up and coming black NCAA pivots, I knew they would soon be toiling north of the border if they wished to maintain their position. If they elected the NFL over Canada, they were soon to be assigned to a new position away from the responsibility of guiding a team’s offence. A task they were judged unable to manage.

Canada’s not perfect. But it’s pretty darn great. Nobody in business has ever judged me by my colour here. (Though I have been asked to park a few cars and fetch a few coats at some fancy restaurants.) But at some of my first meetings in the United States I had moments that made me question what life might have been like living there. Once at a meeting in Chicago, I was greeted by an account coordinator, at a major ad agency, who mistook me for a room attendant and advised they had enough coffee. She had to sit in horror for the next ninety minutes as I presented to her senior clients. Another day, when being led to the office of a new client in Kentucky, I was told by his secretary that she had never seen a black man in a suit before in their corporate headquarters. Later the client took me to lunch at a restaurant flying the Confederate flag. This was a guy who liked me! Neither incident shocked me and they both got great mileage as I spun them back to countless friends. But…

Orridge’s announcement is historic. The inequity in sports such as football and basketball at both the (U.S.) collegiate and pro level is still substantial. Blacks comprise the bulk of the athletes, but are in a dramatic minority in the coaching, managing, and ownership ranks. A black commissioner is a major breakthrough. But it’s also historic because it extends beyond sport.

Somewhere in North America a young black man will talk about Orridge’s appointment with his Dad and realize Canada isn’t just the land of opportunity for black quarterback’s. It’s a land of opportunity for black leaders.