Quinton de Kock refused to bend the knee and it has created a storm around the cricketing world. Universally, Quinton has been condemned. He has been termed a racist. Someone who does not care for the fellow blacks. All sorts of accusations have been hurled against Quinton. Is Quinton really a racist? Does he treat his black teammates any different than he treats the white and coloured teammates? Certainly not. So why the fuss?
Cricket South Africa issues a directive to all the players just 5 hours before the start of their game against the West Indies to bend the knee or show some form of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Quinton probably did not like the directive and opted out of the game itself. He did not give any explanation for opting out.
Temba Bavuma, the captain must have had a terrible afternoon because he not only lost the wicket keeper but he had also lost an opener and the team’s best batsman. He had to choose a couple of players to balance the side.
Temba in a difficult spot
“As a team, we are surprised and taken aback by the news. Quinton is a big player for the team, not just with the bat, but from a senior point of view, so not having this at my disposal, as a captain, is obviously something I wasn’t looking forward to,” Bavuma said
That is beside the point. This is not new from Quinton. He has refused previously too to bend the knee. All he said at that time was for personal reasons. He may well have a valid personal reason. I am not here to dispute that. Onething is for sure. Quinton is not a racist. I have seen him celebrate the achievements of all the black and coloured team members just the same as he had celebrated the achievements of the white players. There was and will never be any sort of prejudice.
CSA must be questioned too
Cricket South Africa cannot escape blame. If at all they wanted their team members to bend the knee before every game, they must have told the players when they boarded the flight. Not 5 hours before an important must-win game. If the CSA themselves are not clear on what the team must do, how will Quinton know? To make matters worse, they threatened with “or else”.
There is always the issue of being in solidarity with the rest of the team. Every member of that touring party bent their knees. It is only natural to expect Quinton to follow the same or the official diktat. He refused to do so. Quinton is not against gestures. He has supported the preservation of rhinos. He has supported the Pink ODI to raise awareness about cancer. Yet, he refused to bend for BLM.
I am certainly not going to pass my judgement on Quinton because I am in no position to know whether he was correct or wrong. I am an Indian and I have never been to South Africa before. The country where the blacks were treated as third class citizens. I have only heard from news reports and the documentaries that I have seen on Google and YouTube. It will not be correct for me to judge someone who was in the thick of things.
What is the point in bending the knee?
Having said that I certainly think that this farce must stop. Bending the knee is not going to eradicate racism. Bending the knee is not going to change someone’s attitude towards a disenfranchised, though it must. This is a political movement. Various sports around the world over the last one year and a half have expressed their solidarity in support of BLM. These are just sportspeople who does not have the power to change anything rather than a symbolic gesture. They are good in what they do and have no qualms in playing with whites, blacks and coloured. The various leagues around the world stands as testimony to that fact.
If the BLM movement is allowed to continue so must all other political activities on the cricket field. Let us remember that a few years ago Dhoni was asked to remove the army insignia on his gloves because it was against the regulations.
I for one do not understand the reason the Asian teams are doing this. They are not relevant to the case at all. None of us have had any tryst with the blacks.
Quinton has since apologised
Quinton has now apologised for his action. He has released a statement. I have given only the highlights from that statement.
Quinton continues, “I would like to start by saying sorry to my teammates, and the fans back home,” the statement began.
“I never ever wanted to make this a Quinton issue. I understand the importance of standing against racism and I also understand the responsibility of us as players to set an example.
“If me taking a knee helps educate other, and makes the lives of others better, I am more than happy to do so.
Enough of this symbolic gesture now and let the players continue with what they do best. Knees have been bent before, knees have been bent now and that must be that. It is not important to make the gesture before every game. Every team have done this once in the ongoing T20 world cup and it is enough. This must not be allowed to continue.
I will part with these beautiful words from Quinton
“For those who don’t know, I come from a mixed race family. My half-sisters are Coloured and my step mom is Black. For me, Black lives have mattered since I was born. Not just because there was an international movement. I felt like my rights were taken away when I was told what we had to do in the way that we were told.”
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