Winnipeg advocacy group demands change to Whiteout Party name

The Winnipeg Jets are playing the St. Louis Blues in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The hockey fans in Winnipeg are rejoicing and having a Whiteout Party.

There are citizens of Winnipeg who find the name, Whiteout Party, offensive. Black Space Winnipeg founder, Alexa Potashnik, told Winnipeg radio station 680 CJOB that she drew attention to the controversy online after seeing a headline that referred to turning downtown white again, and a photo of four men wearing all-white, hooded costumes.

‘Jets parties will turn downtown white again’ - reminds us of a similar phrase started by a problematic #US politician-🤭 we need to talk about the #whiteout @NHLJets parties. This headline can carry a very different meaning depending on who’s reading it...#Winnipeg #WpgJets pic.twitter.com/5qfhUTP2fN

— Black Space Winnipeg (@blackspacewpg) April 10, 2019

After her comments on the radio, Potashnik’s social media was filled with outraged Jets fans who berated her for politicizing a hockey tradition. Potashnik said:

Obviously folks are feeling really defensive because they think we’re attacking something that is a Winnipeg thing – that we’re attacking our home, that we’re attacking the Jets culture. We’re not doing that. We’re getting people to think critically about it. If it’s primarily white people coming downtown wearing all white, painting their faces white… I’m sorry, that’s very concerning sometimes and you have to look at it from all perspectives.

Hockey traditions should not be compared to US politics.