Michael Holding had highlighted the prevalence of institutionalised and systematic racism in major parts of the world in a brilliant manner.
Jason Holder file image. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)
West Indies captain Jason Holder thanked Michael Holding for the latter’s heart-wrenching speech on racism during the rain-interfered opening day of the first Test between England and the West Indies at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Southampton.
“I must say, I saw the interview with Mikey yesterday, and I felt in my veins, to be honest. To me it was powerful, I think he hit the nail on the head, he was spot on,” Holder told Sky Sports on Thursday as quoted by PTI.
“For me it’s more of an education. Guys need to make themselves aware of what’s in front of us. There’s a bigger picture sometimes in sport, but in the grand scheme of things, I just think we just need to be aware, we need to educate ourselves, and we need to have a level playing field for everyone.”
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Holding, who was listening to Holder’s interview, responded by saying, “I don’t think you need to thank me, Jason. I think you guys need to just take the baton and keep on running with it.”
The former Windies fast bowler, Holding, had highlighted the prevalence of institutionalised and systematic racism in major parts of the world and enlightened on how only filling up the streets in the name of ‘Black Lives Matter’ would not solve the issue.
He also made an impassioned plea for society to change and stessed for the right kind of education to the current and upcoming generation of not just the white but black populace as well.
The ongoing anti-racism movement, under the name of ‘Black Lives Matter’, was triggered after a black civilian named George Floyd was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, United States of America in the last week of May.
Floyd, aged 46, was choked to death by officer Derek Chauvin. He held Floyd down with a knee on his neck though he repeatedly pleaded, “I can’t breathe,” and “please, I can’t breathe”.
Meanwhile, to express solidarity with the movement, the West Indies and the England players had taken a knee during the start of the play of the first Test of the three-match series.
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