Darren Sammy is furious over the racist word used against him during his stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). On Sunday, the former West Indies skipper came up with an Instagram post, stating that he will be reaching out to his ex-SRH teammates and demand an apology from the players who mocked him.
Sammy added that he initially thought ‘Kalu’ was used as a word to uplift the team’s spirit as everyone around starts laughing whenever he was called with that name. He also said that along with him, Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera was at the receiving end as well.
Sammy’s Instagram post read, “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.”
Darren Sammy’s quotes from his latest Instagram video:
“I was listening to Hasan Minhaj talking about how some of the people in culture describe Black people. It doesn’t apply to everybody, but I see this because of something I experienced. I said I was angry when I heard him describing the word. It was seen not in a good way, it was degrading
Instantly, I remembered when I was playing for SRH in 2013 and 2014, I was being called the exact same word that he described, that was degrading to us Black people. I was instantly very angry about it, knowing now what it meant.
I will be messaging those people – you guys know who you are. I must admit at the time I was being called that, I didn’t know what it means. I thought it meant strong stallion – and I saw no problems with it. I was ignorant to the fact that I didn’t know what it meant. I thought it was uplifting.
Every time I was called it, it was me and Thisara Perera. There was always laughter at that moment. I thought, ‘Hey, teammates are happy. It must be something funny’. Now, you could understand my frustration and anger when it was pointed out that it wasn’t funny at all. It was degrading.
I will be texting you guys when you repeatedly called me that word over and over again to the point when I was even said that it was my name, did you mean it in a degrading way to me?
I’ve always been one to build up the team – not bring it down. All those who called me that, you guys know yourself. Some of you have my numbers, my Instagram and Twitter. Let’s have a conversation. If it was in the way Minhaj meant, I am disappointed. I’m angry and I deserve an apology. Talk to me, reach out to me.”
Meanwhile, Sammy’s ex-SRH teammates Irfan Pathan, Venugopal Rao and Parthiv Patel have stated that there were no racial jibes during their stint with the Windies’ veteran. They went on to add that it was a friendly atmosphere on and off the field while playing in the IPL and no controversies took place as far as their knowledge is concerned.
