Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding on Wednesday gave a powerful message related to the 'Black Lives Matter' movement and talked about how education can help to eradicate the menace of racism from society.
The former Windies pacer was speaking on a Sky Sports broadcast and he along with former England women's player Ebony Rainford-Brent opened up about racism in society.
Holding talked about a video that went viral, in which a white woman threatened a person of colour just because he asked her to put her dog on a leash.
"Everybody has heard about this lady in Central America in New York who was asked by a black man to put her dog on a leash, which is the law. She threatened this black man, saying that she was going to call the police and tell them there was a black man threatening her," Holding said during a Sky Sports broadcast.
"If the society in which she was living did not empower her or get her to think that she had that power of being white and being able to call the police on a black man, she would not have done it," he added.
The 'Black Lives Matter' has movement gained momentum due to the death of an African-American man named George Floyd, after a police officer, later identified as Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on Floyd's neck as suggested by the viral videos.
Commenting on the 'Black Lives Matter' movement, Holding said: "When people say all lives matter or white lives matter, please, we black people know white lives matter. I don't think you know that black lives matter."
"Don't shout back at us that all lives matter. White lives matter, it is obvious, the evidence is clearly there. We want black lives to matter now. Simple as that," he added.
The former Windies pacer also talked about white privilege and highlighted as to how a person of colour is often being followed and asked unnecessary questions.
Ebony Rainford-Brent, the former England women's cricketer also opened up about the racism she suffered in the UK.
Brent, who is now the director of women's cricket at Surrey also reflected upon the thoughts that struck her when she heard the news about George Floyd.
"I can still remember the moment I heard about George Floyd. I was lying in bed, turned my phone on and it was the first thing that came up on my Instagram, a short version of the video. I clicked on it and clicked off as the first words you heard were I can't breathe. I watched the whole thing, over eight minutes, and burst into tears," she said.
During this particular broadcast, former England skipper Nasser Hussain also opened up about the racism he suffered while fielding at the boundary ropes across different parts of the world, but said that is nothing compared to what Michael Holding talked about.
Many cricketers including Chris Gayle and Daren Sammy have opened up about how they suffered racism on a cricket field.
England and West Indies players will be sporting a 'Black Lives Matter' logo during the Test series between both these sides.
The Premier League resumed its suspended season in June and all teams have been sending out a strong message to show solidarity with the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.
The teams have been taking a knee to show their support, while jerseys of all players have 'Black Lives Matter' written on them.
( With inputs from ANI )
