[ad_1]
Michael Holding wants the big West Indies bowling to move more forward in sports and speak out against racism because they have an important platform, he said. Reuters Next lecture on Wednesday.
Holding said it was important for public figures to use their celebrity and status to convey important messages, especially about racism. “If people who have a platform and are able to listen to people and get people to understand don’t say anything, who will?” he asked.
“There are world-famous athletes. If they get up and say something, people all over the world will want to hear what they have to say and try to understand what they have to say. And that’s because people with a platform, who have a name, who are recognized around the world, have to talk about things that affect them and affect the world, ”Holding said.
READ ALSO – Joe Root wants to talk to Azeem Rafiq about allegations of racism
Holding, one of the most authoritative commentators on cricket and frequently used by broadcasters around the world, has talked a lot about racism since society in May 2020 made a moving call for a change of attitude in the United States after the murder of a black George Floyd. by a white policeman. Floyd’s death globalized the Black Lives Matter movement.
He has published the book “Why We Kneel, How We Rise,” which deals with racism in sports and features contributions from some of the top black athletes. He said athletes should not limit their opinions to sports issues.
“When they leave the arena, or the basketball court, they have to go back to society to have a normal life. If society affects them, they need to talk and use their platform. ”
Compartmentation
Holding also said there was a risk that the latest racist allegations of English county cricket would be compartmentalized in “small boxes” when they were part of a larger social problem.
READ ALSO – I have been discriminated against in color all my life – L. Sivaramakrishnan
“We know it’s a cricket problem, because it’s happening in cricket now. But don’t put it in a small box because it’s convenient to put in a box. It’s not just football or cricket [that] Has [racism] problem. It’s a society with a problem. And that’s what we need to fix, that’s it [where] we have to start. If we accept that it is society and try to put it in small boxes, we can get somewhere. ”
Holding said education ensured unconscious bias and needed urgent review, that governments needed to take the lead.
“Human history has not been taught, what has been taught is what fits our particular narrative. And that narrative is white supremacy. Everyone who teaches me, even in Africa, in the Caribbean, where I come from, highlights what whites have done.
“But what about people of color? They don’t teach that. And that’s why I highlighted in my book, so many discoveries, so many innovations, so many things that people of color have done, that they need to teach. People need to recognize that they are from different denominations and from different sectors of the world [who] they’ve done great things, ”Holding saidReuters Next conference.
[ad_2]
Source link
