Hashim Amla supports Lungi Ngidi over ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement

Hashim Amla, the former South Africa right-handed batsman, has come out in support of young fast bowler Lungi Ngidi, who voiced his strong opinions on the ‘Black Live Matter’ issue. A couple of days ago, 30 former Proteas signed a statement, supporting the Proteas speedster and asking the national cricket board to address the ever-lasting issue of racism in the sport.

Among them were Herschelle Gibbs, Paul Adams, Makhaya Ntini and others. However, a few players, including Boeta Dippenaar and Pat Symcox wasn’t quite happy with Ngidi’s words, saying ‘All Lives Matter’. Amla, who hung his boots from the highest level last year, explained why the movement is a relevant one for people around the entire world.

The issue regarding racism has been doing the rounds ever since George Floyd lost his life in the United States of America (USA). It created an uproar and even the cricketers started coming out, speaking on the grave matter. Darren Sammy said how he was being addressed to by a racial slur when he played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Recently, before England’s Test against the West Indies in Southampton, former pacer Michael Holding also sent out a strong speech. On the issue, Amla feels that a section of people in South Africa is being oppressed and “dark skinned people” have faced the “worst”.

Excerpts from Hashim Amla’s message:

“Waking up to 100s of messages on my whatsapp is a usual occurrence especially with the introduction of whatsapp groups. Most of the time it’s not serious stuff but I now know that being offline for a day(for whatever reason) can throw you into a storm unwittingly.
Well… here’s my (latest) weather report

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaign has relevance for everyone. Why?

In the Islamic tradition it is understood that the first man, Adam (peace be upon him), was of dark skin henceforth all of humanity have deep roots to this proud heritage and should have zero qualms in being referred to as black.

This make it even clearer for the person who believes in their black lineage that the imagined superiority of whites over blacks or blacks over whites, or one nationality over another, is simply delusional. Yes, that’s right- nothing but delusional.”

Amla’s post

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Waking up to 100s of messages on my whatsapp is a usual occurance especially with the introduction of whatsapp groups. Most of the time it's not serious stuff but I now know that being offline for a day(for whatever reason) can throw you into a storm unwittingly. Well… here's my (latest) weather report The Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaign has relevance for everyone. Why? In the Islamic tradition it is understood that the first man, Adam (peace be upon him), was of dark skin henceforth all of humanity have deep roots to this proud heritage and should have zero qualms in being refered to as black. This make it even clearer for the person who believes in their black lineage that the imagined superiority of whites over blacks or blacks over whites, or one nationality over another, is simply delusional. Yes that's right- nothing but delusional. However many of us, including myself have bore the brunt of these delusions and have crazy stories to tell which is why it makes it even more admirable to see exceptional youngsters like @lungingidi doing his bit to represent us all. Thank you brother and all those who stand up for just causes in their own way-publically and privately. I speak for myself and those who share this belief that the end product of being racist is only self destruction and social change. There are oppressed people here in this country and the world over, of all colours and walks of life, cricket included. However the darker skinned people have had the worst of it. Some may convince themselves otherwise but you have to ask yourself – are those who know the same as those who dont know? Justice for all is the only true justice that will bring peace and anything else is sadly delusional. So why is Black Lives Matter relevant for us ?… because we are all black (to me anyway). I stand with all those who are oppressed. And I stand with @lungingidi (again). This pic is from his debut in January 2018. #bigmanbigsmile #istandwithlungi

A post shared by Hashim Amla (@hashamla) on Jul 15, 2020 at 12:33am PDT