West Indies batsman Daren Sammy revealed that he faced racism in India during his IPL days. He played for Sunrisers Hyderabad during 2013-2014 season. According to the reports, he recently found out that his Indian teammates used a racial slur to address him.
He was told that the term was meant as a compliment for a strong african-american man. However, now he learned the truth and he felt hurt.
Darren Sammy Was Shocked For Facing Racism in India
It was hard for him to realize that the people who he considered friends turned out to be deceitful. He called out Twitter for explanation and also shared an emotional video on Instagram to talk about his experience with racism in India.
He Found That Out From A Comedy Act
He learnt the real meaning of the word from an act by a stand-up comedian, Hasan Minhaj. Minhaj’s act was going viral for speaking up against racism in a funny, sarcastic, but enlightening way. Sammy watched that too and came across the same word he was called in the IPL team.
In the video, Minhaj was calling out the hypocrisy of Asians who are also posting about #BlackLivesMatter without adequate knowledge and credibility. He stated that at one point asians idolize black people like Beyonce, Jay Z, or Barack Obama but also clown people who are black in their own community. Therefore, it could be both hilarious and dangerous if these confused people speak anything about racism.
Sammy Is Disappointed At The Indian Teammates
He exposed racism in India but did not mention any names. In the video, he says they know who they are and he will message them privately. Indian cricketers are famous for being rude as can be seen from their response on Shahid Afridi speaking for Kashmir. Sammy also mentioned that there was always laughter in that moment whenever they said the bad word. He remained friendly with them and joined the laughter, unbeknownst to what they are actually doing.
Using that word repeatedly is degrading and especially the way he describes they used it. They used it so many times that at one point he accepted it as his name.
He Still Hopes That They Would Tell Him A Different Reason For Using That Word
He finished his message on a note that the offenders must reach out to him and explain what they meant when they called him with that word. He also wants them to explain why Minhaj’s definition is contradictory to theirs. According to Minhaj, it is morally and logically wrong to address someone with color especially when a person is aware of their name.
However, Indian cricketers feel that it is ok to have a laughter party on someone’s color. The problem here is that the Indian cricketers who repeatedly used the derogatory word for Sammy cannot explain if they do not understand the context of racism.
