Former NHL forward Georges Laraque spoke Tuesday about the ongoing protests across North America in the fight against racism.
"I think racism, if we want it to stop it, it starts with one another, all ourselves. Because if you look at racism, yeah, we can say that some white people are racist towards black people, but there's even black people that are racist," Laraque said on "Oilers Now" with Bob Stauffer.
"If we want things to change, we all have to look at one another in the mirror and tell ourselves, 'OK, what kind of person am I?'" he added. "If I want change in society, I'm gonna start with myself. Accepting the differences because we're all one, we're all equal, and I gotta raise my kid the same way. Because until we all do so, if we don't raise all our kids the right way, things are never going to change and in 10 years we're going to have the same discussion."
Laraque, who retired in 2010, said he experienced racist taunts throughout his career, primarily during his years prior to entering the NHL.
He added that while posting messages on social media to raise awareness is helpful, there won't be actual progress until real action is taken.
"We have to look at one another and say, 'You know what? I'm going to be a change today, I'm going to be a good influence around people that are around me, so that this chain of racism that keeps going is going to stop on my side, on my family, in my circle of friends,'" he said.
