Taking a knee is not enough, legislative change required to battle racism in society: Carlos Brathwaite

Taking a knee is not enough and legislative change is required to battle racism in society, according to West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite.

With the crescendo of public outcry and proliferation of opinions and justifiable expressions of outrage by so many experts, officials and popular celebrities over racism, Carlos Brathwaite too has lashed out at this mere lip-service being paid to a serious issue like racism.

The gesture, first popularised among athletes by American football quarterback Colin Kaepernick, has become widely adopted by many people to protest racial injustice following the death of George Floyd. Mr. Floyd was an African-American who was left gasping for breath after a white police officer pressed his knee on the handcuffed man’s neck in the USA, obviously as a misplaced affirmation of white supremacy, triggering global protests.

"Taking a knee in isolation or wearing a badge in isolation is not enough," Carlos Brathwaite told BBC's 'Stumped' programme. "For me it's just cosmetic - that may ruffle a few feathers."

Brathwaite further added that the change needs to be on a larger scale and the society, as a whole, should come together to stop racism.

"The biggest change needs to be legislative and needs to be the reprogramming of the wider society," Carlos Brathwaite said.

Carlos Brathwaite is one of several players that have been vocal about racism

With all cricketing action coming to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many cricketers are reminiscing about their past matches, their career highs as well as exposing all the wrong elements in the system. Daren Sammy recently recalled, rather bitterly, how he was tagged as "Kaluu" by some of his teammates at Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Earlier, Jason Holder had said that racism should be perceived as a criminal act and the punishment should be at par with some of the most significant offences in the sport such as doping and match-fixing. Holder also called for anti-racism briefings in addition to the anti-doping and anti-corruption briefings that the players receive.

Former captains Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle said last month they have experienced racist abuse and threw their weight behind the Black Lives Matters campaign.

The West Indies and England teams to wear Black Lives Matter logo

The West Indies and the England cricket team will sport the 'Black Lives Matter' emblem on the collars of their jerseys to pledge their support to the anti-racism movement in sports when they play a three-match Test series starting on July 8.