Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy expressed anger upon realising the meaning of the word ‘kaalu’ which he says was used to refer to him and Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera when the pair played for Indian Premier League (IPL) side Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“Oh so that’s what that meant when they called me and Thisara Perera Kalu in India when we played for Sunrisers. I just thought they were calling me strong black man… I’m more piss now (sic.),” Sammy wrote in an Instagram story.
He wrote in the next story: “I just learnt what that kaalu meant when I played for Sunrisers in the IPL. They called me and Perera by that name. I thought it meant strong Stallion. My previous post tells me something different and I am angry.”
Sammy’s stories were a reaction to an episode of the show “The Patriot Act” hosted by Indian American comedian Hasan Minhaj which spoke about racism in Indian households.
Sammy has urged the cricket community to speak out on George Floyd’s death that has caused massive outrage in the United States.
Floyd, aged 46, died last week shortly after Derek Chauvin, a police officer, held him down with a knee on his neck though he repeatedly pleaded, “I can’t breathe,” and “please, I can’t breathe”.
Sammy took to social media and called out International Cricket Council (ICC) and other cricket boards to speak out on the matter as according to him, “injustice” like this happens all around the world.
“For too long black people have suffered. I’m all the way in St Lucia and I’m frustrated. If you see me as a teammate then you see George Floyd, Can you be part of the change by showing your support. #BlackLivesMatter,” Sammy wrote on his Twitter handle.
(Update: 9th June) In a fresh take on the matter, Sammy has revealed that he was subjected to racial abuse in the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) dressing room when he played for the franchise in the 2013-14 editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
On Tuesday, he released an Instagram video, saying those slurs came from players within the SRH camp and that he will be messaging them all to provide clarification and also issue an apology.
“Knowledge is power. So recently I discovered a word that I was being called was not what it actually meant, I need some answers. So before I start calling out names I need these individuals to reach out and please tell me there’s another meaning to that word and when I was being called it, it was all in love,” read the post along with the video.
“I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all the dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people,” Sammy said in the video.
“This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013-14, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people,” he added.
Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn’t know the meaning and he thought it was not degrading as his teammates used to laugh every time whenever he was called with that name.
“I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called using that word, I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are happy, so it must be something funny,” Sammy said.
“Now, I realise that it wasn’t funny. I realise it was degrading, I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or in a degrading way? I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to call me with that word, think about it, let’s have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed,” he added.
Sammy said he would be needing an apology from all those people who called him that because he considered them as his brothers and friends.
The reaction from the West Indies all-rounder has come following the death of George Floyd, an African-American who last month died in police custody in the United States.