Former West Indies skipper Darren Sammy, recently, posted an update concerning the racist slurs he experienced during his stint with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The two time T20 World Cup-winning skipper had called out those who used to address him by that ‘derogatory word’.
On Thursday, Sammy informed his fans about the conversation with ‘one of the players’ whom he had accused of using a racist jibe. The Saint Lucian cricketer also revealed the player had assured him that he used to do that from ‘a place of love’.
“I’m pleased to say that I’ve had a really interesting conversation with one of the guys and we are looking at ways to educate rather than focusing on the negatives. My brother reassured me that he operated from a place of love, and I believe him,” tweeted Sammy.
In the meantime, fans are digging up old social media posts of both Sammy and his fellow players in which the ‘insulting word’ had been used. One such tweet is when the Caribbean cricketer wished former international VVS Laxman on his birthday.
Interestingly, in the tweet, Sammy had used the same racist slur that he had alleged was used against him by the SRH players. However, now Sammy has clarified in which context he wrote that word while wishing Laxman.
Happy birthday @VVSLaxman281 May God continue to bless you. #bestdresser oh remember dark kalu. 😂😂😂
— Daren Sammy (@darensammy88) November 1, 2014
In a chat with ESPNCricinfo, Sammy explained that he used the controversial word thinking it means ‘stallion’.
“I thought it meant a stallion. If you notice back in 2014, I sent a Happy Birthday tweet to VVS Laxman. I said: ‘Happy Birthday to you brother. Hope you have a great day.’ And I started laughing. And I said, ‘remember dark k***.’ So I was saying: ‘remember the dark stallion’,” said Sammy.
“So, imagine (now) you listening six years later and somebody from that culture telling you: ‘Hey, bro, this word has a degrading meaning to you because of the colour of your skin,’ Then automatically you want to have a conversation,” Sammy added.