Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy says that he was often called racist names during his stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.
Sammy's allegation came after his support of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement around the world after George Floyd, a black man, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis. One officer was charged with second-degree murder, while four other police officers at the scene were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
"I just learnt what that 'kalu' meant when I played for Sunrisers in the IPL. They call me and Perera by that name. I thought it meant strong Stallion. My previous post tells me something different and I'm angry," Sammy wrote on his Instagram page on Saturday, referring to Thisara Perera, a Sri Lankan cricketer who also played for Sunrisers.
He, however, did not say when exactly he faced these remarks and by whom.
"Oh so that's what that meant when they called me and @tp_perera kalu in India when we played for Sunrisers. I just thought they were calling me strong black man I'm more piss (sic) now," he said.
Sammy was posting about the recent episode of the 'Patriot Act', a show hosted by the Indian-American comedian Hasan Minhaj, in which he discussed the casual racism in Indian households. The episode highlighted the practice of calling dark members of the family ‘kalu’ which is practiced in many households.
Sammy has urged the ICC to take serious note of racism which exists in the game. "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," he had tweeted earlier on June 2.
. @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 everyday #BlackLivesMatter now is not the time to be silent. I wanna hear u
— Daren Sammy (@darensammy88) June 2, 2020
Sammy, who played 38 Tests, 126 ODIs and 68 T20 Internationals, captained the West Indies to two T20 World Cup titles.
"For too long black people have suffered. I'm all the way in St Lucia and I'm frustrated If you see me as a teammate then you see #GeorgeFloyd Can you be part of the change by showing your support. #BlackLivesMatter," read his earlier tweet.
For too long black people have suffered. I’m all the way in St Lucia and I’m frustrated If you see me as a teammate then you see #GeorgeFloyd Can you be part of the change by showing your support. #BlackLivesMatter
— Daren Sammy (@darensammy88) June 2, 2020
Protests in support of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement erupted across the United States after Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American, died on May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
With PTI inputs