JOFRA: STAND UP TO RACISM
England cricket star backs Black Lives Matter campaign
I’m very glad the Black Lives matter campaign has got as vocal as this.
I have always been an advocate of speaking out against inequality and now those four US police officers have been charged, at least George Floyd and his family can finally get justice.
His death has definitely — I don’t want to say ‘started’ because this has been happening for ever — fuelled awareness. I’m not sure that racism is any more prevalent. It’s just that more episodes are getting recorded.
And what this past week or so has shown is that so many people around the world are behind equality. No
longer will people just sit around quietly and let unjust things happen. As an individual, I’ve always been one for speaking out, especially if something bothers you. My personal view is that you should never keep things bottled up, because racism is not OK. If you feel the need to speak out, you should do so. I accept that others might choose not to make it public and deal with things in their own way, but it is why I acted when I was verbally abused in New Zealand last year. The England cricket team are probably the most diverse side in the world.
In fact, no probably about it, we definitely are. You don’t notice any differences because everyone gets along so well and we are as one. No one is different, everyone’s the same. That’s the culture. We all have different backgrounds but it feels very natural to play for England. We all live in the country and if you are English, you have as much right to play as anyone else. There was a picture being tweeted this week that I liked. It was one of me, Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid hugging in celebration during the 2019 World Cup. It told you everything you need to know about our team.