Faf Du Plessis Lends His Support To The 'Black Lives Matter' Movement

Faf du Plessis, former South African captain, has thrown his weight behind the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, stating that ‘all lives don’t matter unless black lives matter’ in his latest Instagram post.

The ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement has garnered great momentum post the unfortunate killing of Afro-American George Flloyd by the Minneapolis police in the United States of America.

In the ongoing Test series between England and West Indies, players have taken a knee before the start of the proceedings on the first day besides wearing BLM emblem on their collars. The like of Michael Holding, Nasser Hussain, Lungi Ngidi, Jason Holder, Darren Sammy, and many others have also talked about the rampant racism in the game.

“DIn the last couple of months I have realized that we must choose our battles. We are surrounded by many injustices in our country that require urgent attention and action to fix them,” Faf du Plessis posted on Instagram.

“So I’ve remained silent, with the intent to listen, but not respond. Slowing down my point of view, but quicker to hear the pain of someone else. I surrender my opinions and take the knee as an intercessor.I acknowledge that South Africa is still hugely divided by racism and it is my personal responsibility to do my best to emphasize, hear the stories, learn and then be part of the solution with my thoughts, words and actions,” du Plessis added.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Faf du plessis (@fafdup)

‘I have gotten it wrong before’ Faf du Plessis on his views on racism

Du Plessis also admitted to being wrong in the past as far as racism is concerned where he had rejected the discussions around the issue.

“We don’t see color” Du Plessis had said when he was asked about Temba Bavuma’s axing earlier this year.

“I have gotten it wrong before. Good intentions were failed by a lack of perspective when I said on a platform that – I don’t see colour. In my ignorance I silenced the struggles of others by placing my own view on it. A race problem is a human race problem, if one part of the body hurts,we all stop, we empathize, we get perspective, we learn and then we tend to the hurting part of the body,” du Plessis said.

Du Plessis added that the BLM movement has his full support.

“So I am saying that all lives don’t matter UNTIL black lives matter. I’m speaking up now because if I wait to be perfect, I never will. I want to leave a legacy of empathy. The work needs to continue for the change to come and whether we agree or disagree, the conversation is the vehicle for change,” Faf du Plessis added.

Also Read: Makhaya Ntini, Herschelle Gibbs Lend Support To Lungi Ngidi’s Black Lives Matter Movement