The Basketball Game

Written by Hart Snider

Illustrated by Sean Covernton

Firefly Books

978-0-2281-0391-2

87 pp.

Ages 12+

October 2022

Although hate speech has been around since time immemorial, there seems to have been a deluge of it in recent years with the news inundated with misinformation, fake news, and bigotry. Sadly, with social media, the dissemination of hate speech has been especially facile. But hate seems to always be there, sometimes overt and sometimes less conspicuous, until it isn't. In 1983, one Alberta teacher who denied the Holocaust in his social studies teaching and promoted hatred of the Jewish people was called out by a parent, leading to dismissal, charges and more. And a basketball game.

Author Hart Snider was just a child in Edmonton when the story of teacher Jim Keegstra of Eckville, Alberta was headline news. However, he was a Jewish child who was attending Camp BB in Pine Lake when his world and that of the news came together. This story, based on a National Film Board of Canada animated short film of the same title, is his camp story from the summer of 1983.

From The Basketball Game by Hart Snider, illus. by Sean Covernton

It was Hart's first summer at Camp BB, and he was just as happy to sit under a tree and read comic books. But, distractedly, he signs up with a pretty camp counsellor for a "social mixer to encourage cultural understanding." When Bill, the larger-than-life camp director, tells them that their day of fun and fellowship, which would include a picnic and a basketball game, would be with Jim Keegstra's former Eckville students, Hart and others wonder how these kids would approach them. And when one boy asks Hart if he actually has horns, Hart wonders if the Jewish kids are all seen as demonic supervillains with horns, or global banking conspirators, or maybe even magical wizards. But then he looks at the Eckville kids and sees them as being no different from skinheads, Nazis or the KKK. Ultimately, it's just a basketball game between a bunch of kids, Jewish or not, having fun.

From The Basketball Game by Hart Snider, illus. by Sean Covernton

The Basketball Game may be a personal graphic memoir of Hart Snider, but it's also a compelling reminder of the impact of hate on children. From Jim Keegstra's antisemitic teachings, which coerced young people to adopt his opinions in order to pass, to the children of Camp BB who enjoyed the familiarity of their Jewish community but anticipated conflict because of it, the story of The Basketball Game is a sobering reminder how vulnerable they are to fake news, misinformation and worse. The stereotypes were embedded in their learning and, with no other basis, it's all they had to go on. The camp boys who are depicted as monstrous members of a blue team must compete against the equally scary members of the Eckville red team. Like the fear they pose, the team members are frightening and powerful. (And fully coloured.) In reality, they are a bunch of young boys, drawn in black-and-white, still open to colour and ideas and not quite grounded in themselves. Canadian animator Sean Covernton contrasts the innocent with the horrific, making the expected far scarier than the reality and reminding us that young children are open to suggestion and vulnerable to those who might mislead them with hateful opinions. He also shows them as kids who want to make friends, read comic books, play basketball, and enjoy the positive traditions of their community.

There is a warning that prefaces the book, cautioning the reader about hateful language and depictions of antisemitism. However, though the book is intended for those twelve years of age and older, The Basketball Game may offer an opportunity for discussion with younger kids with the right approach. (Discussion questions are appended to the story.) It helps children see that not all adults are right, that questioning and discussing difficult topics is worthwhile to ensure understanding, and that kids are kids, no matter what their backgrounds.

From The Basketball Game by Hart Snider, illus. by Sean Covernton