Not a tick-in-the-box exercise, it should be organic: Holding on taking a knee

West Indies legend Michael Holding has been one of the most vocal cricketers during the Black Lives Matter movement.

It’s been a year since the movement picked in the United States after the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. On Sky Sports’ The Cricket Show, Holding opined that it’s impossible to completely wipe out racism from the world.

“You will always have racism, always have racists. Getting rid of racism totally is like saying you are going to get rid of crime totally. It is impossible,” Holding said during a panel discussion.

Holding feels that the gesture of “taking a knee” should be organic rather than a “tick the box” exercise, but he doesn’t believe in telling people what their choices should be.

In the aftermath of the incident, the gesture of taking a knee in support of the movement became a worldwide trend and the former West Indian pacer thinks that the support should be organic.

“I think everyone recognizes that the worldwide gesture to support Black Lives Matter and the entire cause is taking a knee. I don’t see why that is something that should be difficult for people to do. It is a worldwide acknowledgement; everyone knows what you are doing when you take a knee. I am not going to tell people they must take a knee. I am not here to tell people what they need to do. I don’t want people to take it as a tick-in-the-box exercise,” added Holding.

“You must want to support the cause; you must be willing to understand and see that something is wrong, and this is the worldwide accepted way of showing support for the cause,” he added.

Holding also talked about the anger he has felt over the years due to certain remarks made by people.

“As a black person, when you hear certain people say certain things, it burns inside. I have had many occasions when people have said something or treated me a particular way when I think to myself, ‘are they just rude, or are they racist?

“Is it because I am black that they are treating me this way, or is it because they don’t know any better because they are rude?” Holding concluded.