What nonsense this is from Symcox and Dippenaar
By speaking out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Proteas fast bowler Lungi Ngidi got SA talking. Fresh from being voted Cricket SA ODI and T20 cricketer of the year last week, Ngidi voiced his opinion that the Proteas, who are training in isolation, should discuss how they will lend their support to the movement when they reconvene as a group. Ngidi’s stance got some former Proteas, Pat Symcox and Boeta Dippenaar in particular, hot under the collar and frothing at the mouth. The duo slammed Ngidi for his opinion, presenting themselves as masters with a divine right to choose for him which cause to champion.
In Nelson Mandela’s country, where freedom of expression was attained on the back of untold atrocities, a divergence of voices should be par for the course. The sooner we arrive at a place where an individual can express a thought without feeling a barrier of censure, the better it will be. Even if that thought instructs us to open the door to having difficult conversations about ourselves and our world, we should not shy away from confronting uncomfortable subjects. Among them are years of discrimination against black people, here and elsewhere, bringing about systematic exclusion.
Those exclusions were not reserved for the political terrain. They extended to sport, where historical class and race divides became roadblocks to access.
Conversations about inclusion in cricket cannot continue infinitely. Dippenaar and Symcox must not play dumb about the history of the country they live in — and the opportunity it gave them by virtue of the colour of their skin, while denying those of Ngidi’s hue.
Former West Indies fast bowler and now Sky Sports pundit Michael Holding battled tears when he reflected on institutionalised racism earlier in the week, saying educating people about it is key to eliminating it from society.
“The dehumanisation of the black race is where it started. People will tell you, ‘That’s a long time ago, get over it’. No, you don’t get over things like that and society has not gotten over something like that,” he said. Say no more.