Looking at ways to educate rather than focusing on negatives: Darren Sammy on racism
Jun 11, 2020
New Delhi [India], June 12 : West Indies player Darren Sammy on Thursday said that he had an 'interesting conversation' with 'one of the guys' and both are now looking at ways to educate people regarding racism rather than focusing on the negatives.
Taking to Twitter, Sammy wrote, "I am pleased to say that I have had a really interesting conversation with one of the guys and we are looking at ways to educate rather than focusing on the negatives. My brother reassured me that he operated from a place of love and I believe him."
The debate around racism in cricket kickstarted after Sammy alleged racism during his stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2014 Indian Premier League. The player had lost his cool as he learned the meaning of the word 'Kalu'.
Earlier, Sammy had released a video saying that the racial slurs against him were used within the Sunrisers camp.
"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played. So, I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy had said in a video posted on his Instagram account.
"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for Sunrisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.
Sammy had further stated that at the time when he was being called with the word, he did not know the meaning and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.
"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment. I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," he had said.
The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.
