Winnipeg football club tackles racism with shirts and hoodies

A football club in Winnipeg's North End is denouncing racism with T-shirts and sweatshirts that say "Racism sucks" and "Keep calm and stop racism."

The North End Nomads made the shirts and hoodies in response to a Maclean's magazine article that called Winnipeg the most racist city in Canada.

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"We felt that we want to do something, and we thought that showing our pride of our city would be best shown wearing it versus debating it," Jeffrey Bannon, one of the team's coaches, told CBC News on Monday.

The Jan. 22 issue of Maclean's featured a cover story that claims,"Canada has a bigger race problem than America. And it's ugliest in Winnipeg."

"The Manitoba capital is deeply divided along ethnic lines. Its native citizens suffer daily indignities and horrific violence," the article states in part.

The article prompted a direct response from Mayor Brian Bowman and other community leaders.

Bannon said as a football team, the Nomads don't care about the colour of a person's skin.

"It only matters, you know, on Sundays what colour jersey you're wearing," he said.

"To have this basically slap our city in the face is something we strongly disagree with and we took it personally."

The clothing itemsare being sold on the Nomads' website. All proceeds will be used to help young people in need play football, according to the team.