New York Rangers prospect K'Andre Miller expresses anger over racist Zoom comments
New York Rangers prospect K'Andre Miller opened up on Twitter about receiving racist messages while he was being introduced by the team in April.
"I struggle because I've never been fully accepted by either the black community or the white community," Miller tweeted Monday. "I struggle because for years I have been one of the only people of color on my hockey teams. I have been targeted because of my race when I was in youth hockey by some coaches, parents and players, but I refused to give up because of my love for the game."
In March, Miller was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Rangers and in April, he participated in a Zoom call that was meant to serve as his introduction to fans. However, the chat ended up getting overrun with racist epitaphs, including several instances of the n-word, so the comments were quickly shut down. Miller did not directly address the incident at the time but in light of recent events, he felt like he should speak on his experience.
"I've struggled for months to find the words to express my frustration and anger over the Zoom conference call incident when I was to be introduced after signing my NHL contract," Miller wrote. "It's something that I won't ever forget."
The tweet was captioned "Black Lives Matter" and he wrote about how he felt motivated to speak up due to "the senseless death of George Floyd, at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer." He made it clear that he supports the BLM movement and said he wanted to "express my growing concern for the safety of our citizens of color." Miller also recalled his excitement of joining the Rangers and the pain he felt when he was racially targeted.
"You can only imagine how it felt to have an organization like the New York Rangers draft me, the hockey player," Miller wrote. "For that one moment in time I didn't have to be defined by the color of my skin but rather on my hockey skills, athletic ability and character. This is how it should be all the time. It's time for action, time for change and once and for all, it's time to let black people be judged based on who we are not what we look like."
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