Richard Riot - Historical Interpretation

Historical Interpretation

The Richard Riot has taken on a significance greater than a mere sports riot in the fifty years since it happened. The sight of French Quebecers rioting in defense of a Québécois cultural icon like Richard led many commentators to believe it was a significant factor in Quebec's Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Furthermore, the cause of the riot has been suggested to not be as a result of the severity of the suspension — instead, what mattered was that a Québécois player had been suspended by an anglophone president of an anglophone league. French Canadians saw themselves as inherently disadvantaged within Canada and North America as a whole. Richard was seen as a national hero by French Canadians, and almost a sort of a "revenge" against the anglophone establishment. The riot was a clear sign of rising ethnic tensions in Quebec. In an article published four days after the riot, journalist André Laurendeau was the first to suggest the riot was a sign of growing nationalism in Quebec. Entitled "On a tué mon frère Richard" ("My brother Richard has been killed"), Laurendeau suggested the riot "betrayed what lay behind the apparent indifference and long-held passiveness of French Canadians".

On the other hand, Benoît Melançon argues persuasively that the riot has become part of the "Rocket Richard myth" and has taken on an importance that, in retrospect, is far greater than it actually had when it happened. For instance, he argues that: "Had there been no Riot, it is doubtful there would ever have been a Maurice Richard myth." The riot ended up taking on greater significance as time passed, but not for the reasons many non-academic commentators believe. Richard was in danger of being forgotten in the years immediately after his retirement, so he promoted himself, and his nascent myth, excessively:

There were Maurice Richard skates and jackets, but there were also Rocket ashtrays, Rocket transistor radios, and Rocket Richard Condensed Tomato Soup. Moreover, these products changed throughout history. "The principal impact of the trade in Richard ... has been the transformation of Maurice Richard into a product, then into a label, and ultimately into a myth."

He concludes by suggesting that the riot is now something it was not. To quote: "the riot has become the key event in turning Richard from a mere hockey player to a symbol of political resistance (even if Richard himself was publicly apolitical and, according to this book, definitely not for an independent Quebec)... According to this popular narrative, for the first time the people of Quebec stood up for themselves; especially English Canada delights in anachronistically announcing that this was the beginning of the 1960s Quiet Revolution." Perhaps the best way to explain how the interpretation of the riot changed is by looking at the change in the public perceptions of its antagonist: "it was necessary to overlook some of character traits and to rewrite several episodes of his career" in order to make him into a mythical figure.