NZ team join fight against racism
Captains Holder, Williamson united in their stance
International sporting goodwill got on the front foot to open the New Zealand-West Indies test cricket series at Seddon Park. The teams kneeled in solidarity before the match in the name of the Black Lives Matter movement and the Human Rights Commission’s Give Nothing To Racism campaign.
Such a collaboration between the sides is a credit to the respective skippers Jason Holder and Kane Williamson. The trust built between them, particularly after working as teammates at the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, made the decision plumb. Their stance reinforced the message you can be opponents on the field and united off it.
Some argue the consistent push to crusade for moral causes dilutes their impact. Others claim such actions provide a pathway to the mainstream. To these eyes, this act in the name of anti-racism on the opening day reinforced the latter.
The New Zealanders offered the solitary knee favoured by former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick; the West Indians added the raised right-gloved fist of the Black Power salute first enacted by American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the 200m dais at the Mexico Olympics.
Little could that pair have imagined how much traction their action would glean, albeit 52 years later. Tragically, it took the asphyxiation of black American George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25 to give further oxygen to the cause.
In parallel, the HRC initiative to attack racism in the New Zealand community began almost three-anda-half years ago. Oscar-winner Taika Waititi delivered an excoriating satire based on a pseudo charity theme in which he proclaimed: “The only thing that can keep racism alive and to help it grow is feeding it, nurturing it, and that’s where you come in. Will you help it flourish? What will you give to racism?”
The scene beyond the boundary and on the field provided a poignant antidote to that scathing parody.
Holder and Williamson sat down on the eve of the match to discuss how they could use international sport as a vehicle to advance the cause beyond mere lip service.
“It was mainly about Kane wanting to hear our side of it,” Holder said prematch.
“Generally the awareness needs to keep building — I stressed that to Kane. We go around the world mingling with so many different people and you never quite understand what others go through.
“The more we become aware, the more we’ll understand. That’s the main aim from a West Indies perspective. On the England tour we discussed it as a team where guys shared their personal experiences. It was touching to hear them, but some are so battered and bruised they’re scared to share.”