Racism Is An Issue In Australian Cricket: Dan Christian

Former Australia all-rounder Dan Christian believes racism is an issue in the national cricket team and it needs to be addressed. Christian made his last appearance for Australia in 2017 and said that the racism in the team is not in your face kind of but it is casual and has become an issue over the years.

Christian explained that their are little throwaways in the Australian cricket team here and there and racism is a part of jokes. He has personally also faced racism due to the colour of his skin as he doesn’t looks ‘aboriginal’.

“I think (racism) is an issue in Australian cricket,” Christian said on Cricket Australia‘s Cricket Connecting Country. I don’t think it’s in your face as you might see elsewhere around the world or even elsewhere in Australian culture, but it’s definitely there,” the all-rounder said.

“It’s more of a casual racism. Little throwaway lines here and there that are made to be jokes. And a lot of that, for me personally, has been around the colour of my skin and the fact I don’t look Aboriginal, whatever that means. That’s the most noticeable thing for me,” he added. He went onto add that while awareness and education are important, it is equally important to call racism out in public.

“We just need to educate ourselves and encourage others around us to educate themselves. And part of that education is calling it out and having the guts to call it out. That’s the hardest thing; to not just let it go and pretend it didn’t happen. Confront someone when you hear about it and encourage your friends and people around you to call it out as well.”

Racism came to the fore across the globe after the killing of George Floyd. The African-American man was killed on May 25 in the Powderhorn community of Minneapolis, Minnestoa in the United States after an officer, Derek Chauvin, kept his knee on Flyod’s neck for nearly nine minutes.

Following the incidents, sportspersonalities across the globe have shown solidarity towards the Black Lives Matter movement and also reveled their part of the stories.