Former West Indies skipper Darren Sammy lost his cool on Saturday as he learnt the meaning of a jibe which was directed at him during his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with SunRisers Hyderabad.
The former Windies T20 World Cup-winning skipper said that he along with Sri Lanka player Thisara Perera were subjected to chants of the racist slur when they played for SunRisers Hyderabad. Sammy further said that he thought that the word meant strong black man, but now as he has realised the true meaning of the world, he is angry.
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.On Tuesday, Sammy had made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.
“ICC and all the other boards are you guys not seeing what’s happening to ppl like me? Are you not gonna speak against the social injustice against my kind. This is not only about America. This happens every day #BlackLivesMatter now is not the time to be silent. I wanna hear u,” Sammy tweeted.
Opening batsman Chris Gayle had also condoled the demise of Floyd and had said that he too has been a victim of racism. The left-handed Gayle said that it’s a myth that racism doesn’t exist in cricket as well.
Ever since the demise of Floyd, protests erupted from the demonstrations in cities from San Francisco to Boston.The officer, who pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck, has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
He and three other officers have been fired from the force as well after the video of Floyd’s death emerged.Earlier, an over 200-year-old historic St John’s church near White House was vandalised and set on fire as protests over the death of Floyd escalated into rioting and multiple fires were seen in Washington and other US cities.
