It's more than a year since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The battle against racism is a long and tiring struggle. Sport remains one of the most prominent - and contentious - arenas for protest against racism. Last weekend, England players were booed by their own supporters in Middlesbrough for taking a knee. On Tuesday, the Irish football team was booed by Hungarian supporters for taking a knee. Today, Scotland announced they'll be taking a knee in solidarity with England when the two countries play in Euro 2020 on this day week.
England are playing New Zealand in their second Test at Edgbaston today. Today, Jamaican cricket legend Michael Holding spoke to Sky Sports Cricket about why these ongoing protests against racism remain so important.
💬They are showing some intestinal fortitude.💬
Michael Holding says his career would have been over if he had made a stand against racism during his playing days and praises the England football team for taking the knee despite some fans continuing to boo the gesture. pic.twitter.com/wkAdps2Qli— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 11, 2021
The key line comes at the end, after Holding defends the England team and all footballers for taking a knee: 'they are not doing it for a political movement, they are doing it for humanitarian reasons.'
He also makes some very interesting admissions about the courage that these sportspeople are showing by protesting. Holding admits that if he had taken a knee or done a Black Power salute like John Carlos and Tommie Smith in Mexico City in 1968, his career would have been over.
It's not just athletes from the 1960s who lost their livelihood in sport for protesting. Holding rightly mentions that Colin Kaepernick was essentially blacklisted from the NFL for taking a knee.
Holding was also critical of the 'moment of unity' that preceded the cricket today whereby the players didn't take a knee but stood silently.
“I’m not going to talk about political movements. I care about the three words. Black Lives Matter.
“What this England (cricket) team is doing, this moment of unity, is not supporting Black Lives Matter. Don’t tell me that’s supporting Black Lives Matter.”
Holding is one of the most articulate and mellifluous speakers on racism in the world of sport. Last summer, he provided Sky Sports Cricket viewers with an emotional and enlightening explanation about why education is so important in terms of combatting racism.
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