In the long shadow cast by the legacy of South Africa’s system of racial apartheid the fetid stench of racism permeates the body politic. Cricket South Africa and the South African national team are not immune.
It is with South Africa’s history of apartheid in mind that we must evaluate Quinton de Kock’s position in the side. After CSA issued a directive that all players must take a knee to protest racism, De Kock withdrew from the side.
This is not, as some will say, a complex issue. Taking the knee is a simple and unambiguous protest against racial hatred and disparity. If De Kock will not kneel alongside his teammates, white and of colour, he has no place in any future South African side.
Taking the knee as a gesture of anti-racism was started by Colin Kaepernick, an astoundingly talented athlete hounded out of NFL for daring to challenge white supremacy, to protest the endless string of murders of African Americans by US police.
After the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin in 2020, taking the knee became a simple means to express solidarity with people of colour and demand justice for Floyd’s family and a stand against racism.
Following waves of protests, the gesture was adopted by athletes around the world. For players of colour it was a way to make themselves heard at the very moment when people couldn’t look away, and for their white teammates it was a way to express unity and solidarity. Of course not everyone took the knee, and those who did were often booed.
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Racism is real. It is the fools in crowds making monkey noises. It is the disproportionate rates of arrest and imprisonment. It is George Floyd screaming for his mother as a white police officer pushes his knee ever deeper into his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
Earlier in the year Cricket South Africa’s Social Justice and Nation Building Project hearings publicised the reality of life in the national cricket team. Black players and players of colour were routinely belittled, humiliated and passed over because of their race.
At the hearings Paul Adams revealed that a clique of senior white players who effectively controlled the side would sing a song about him in which he was nicknamed “brown s***”.
Roger Telemachus spoke of a similar ‘big five’ who would “control selection. They control everything”. Harrowingly Telemachus recounted the story, confirmed by Adams, of a well-known coach who painted a black player’s face white as a punishment for dirty boots.
Loots Bosman put South Africa’s infamous choking down to poor team culture, by which he meant racial division. He said it was clear white players did not want players of colour in the team and that “it breaks you. Inside”.
Ashwell Prince was damning too, saying the Proteas were never a unified team. He testified that after the loss at the 2007 World Cup the white players blamed the quota system. He said, “What was said was that the black players, the coloured players, the Indian players, the non-white players, they were the problem in our cricket.
Issues with racism in the senior playing group persisted. Khaya Zondo detailed how he was left out of the 2015 World Cup game against India, which former selector Hussein Manack said violated selection policy, in favour of Dean Elgar and David Miller. Manack said the decision was racially motivated.
Mark Boucher, now national coach, has apologised for racist behaviour while in the team, including singing the song directed at Paul Adams. Graeme Smith, now director of crcket, and AB de Villiers have been implicated and are yet to respond.
Regardless of De Kock’s personal motivation for not taking the knee and possible ignorance of the realities of racism and racial violence, he cannot have missed the rolling coverage of the Social Justice and Nation Building Project hearings.
Still, De Kock has consistently refused to act in solidarity with his teammates. Temba Bavuma, South Africa’s captain at the World T20, has said the national team’s culture is undergoing a rebuild that is still in its infancy.
Bavuma was magnanimous after their game against the West Indies, which they won comfortably, and said he respected De Kock’s decision and his convictions, though he also made clear that De Kock would have to live with the consequences.
But it was a striking image to have De Kock on the bench while his teammates, white players and players of colour, knelt with their West Indian colleagues and cousins. Rather than acting as one with his teammates, De Kock was alone.
When someone tells you they are hurting, as people of colour are doing when they kneel, you listen and seek to help because they are human. If De Kock won’t listen to his teammates, if he doesn’t respect them and their experiences, then he has no place in the side no matter his talent.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Quinton de Kock has since released a statement. You can read about it here.
99.94
Roar Rookie
Great article Lewis, thanks. The SJN Hearings are indeed horrific. There remains a coterie of former privileged players remarkably silent on their past conduct and behaviour towards players of colour. Shameless.
Andy F
Roar Rookie
So who are the people here who love racism? Point them out. The partition of India is on the English, um no, that is just plain wrong. 200 years of zero impact on the average Indian. So what. Who did anything to improve their lot for the 2,000 years before that? Are you seriously talking about naked greed and history? Look you can hate colonialism all you want but greed and tyranny from the British is hardly the worst in the history of the world. People having been killing and enslaving their neighbours since the beginning of time and they didn’t leave their enemies with tea, scones, cricket and a reliable legal system. The period of relative peace since WWII is probably due more to MAD than the development of some new age amity. You can rag on the British all you want and eulogise and romanticise harsh, misogynistic, Stone Age cultures but I’m afraid we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
"I think it’s most likely he is ignorant of the world because he has lived in the bubble of elite sport since a very young age. It’s difficult to stand against a problem you’ve never seen because you wonder if it’s actually there" Honestly Lewis, in light of QdK's revelations, it would probably be best all round to just ask the editors to make an exception in this case and just have the article removed.
Brad
Roar Rookie
Great, how do you suggest this is addressed? Should all land be owned by the state? What of tribal land - should that remain under control of the tribal leaders? Should those that have tenure on tribal land and also live in cities be given double or more tenure? Given the current culture of corruption, how do we ensure equitable access to land use when all land is controlled by the government? If the state does not own all land, which pieces are up for redistribution and to whom?
Shire
Roar Rookie
The "directive" in question that is being defied is to make a political statement, ergo not doing it is NOT making a political statement. Making a political statement would be signalling to the contrary, not non-engagement. You're being disingenuous and you know it.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Agreed. But his heritage is his family. Not his own DNA or skin colour, but what is around him and part of his personal and lived experience. Look, I just get so riled up by the commentary that attacked an individual so vociferously, when it was based mostly on speculation. I don't give a flying F whether it's coming from "right" or "left".
Brad
Roar Rookie
Any thoughts SJ&NB Project testimony of the former team manager who stated that non-white players were significantly favoured rather than discriminated against? He provided many concrete examples...
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
I don’t think it means that any of his forebears are necessarily non-white, just that his stepmum is black and sisters “coloured” using the old apartheid lingo. But does highlight the nuances and as you say, some welcome signs of maturity all round. The Roar now has a report on QDK’s statement.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
I had no idea of what it meant either but thanks to Biltong I do now LOL.
Praetorian
Guest
Sorry to disappoint you Lewis but after apartheid and the new black ANC government there was indeed a significant transfer of wealth and property .Directly into the pockets of corrupt government ministers , their cronies and extended families .And so on .If you read the history of SA , there were no blacks in the Cape when the whites arrived and now they claim that the land was expropriated. Similarly for other regions in SA .The mess SA is now in with a failed economy lies at the hands of the ANC government, in power since 1985 .And not at the hands of the remaining 4m whites .
Paul D
Roar Guru
Refusing to take a knee isn't refusing to make a political statement. it is making a political statement. De Kock is in exactly the same boat as Folau. If he wants to defy a directive from his employer and exercise his freedom of speech/action then his employer is free not to select him to play cricket. End of discussion.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Actually officially acvording to SA Government statistics the wealthiest cultural community in South Africa is and has been for a long time the Indian community. You only have to walk the streets of Jozi to see the massive increase in homeless whites living it rough. 70% of South Africas population is under 25 years old which tells you that most of its citizens have never known a ehote government.. The ecinomic decline hence one of the Worlds highest adult unemployment rates are a direct redult of corruption, abuse of public funds, a collapsing, no make that that a collapsed education system which has condemned entire geneerationss to a lifetime of poverty.. That was all the doing of this govt. Aparthheid was drop dead evil,, but it did hand over a sophisticated, high functioning infrastructure... Which now lies in tatters beyond repair.. 2 sides to this coin.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Wow. Was hoping something would come out. It's sad to put it this way, but there was always "speculation" he was from a mixed race background. He's been so quiet on that up to now; it's kind of sad - and an indictment in some ways - that he now has to "prove" his heritage. Seems like maturity being shown on both sides to move this forward, which is great.
Marty
Roar Rookie
https://www.cricket.com.au/news/quinton-de-kock-apologises-take-the-knee-racism-south-africa-t20-world-cup-statement/2021-10-28
Praetorian
Guest
Yep Carini .Elon Musk educated at Pretoria Boys High .He knows what it is all about .
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Agreed. Quinton has just released a statement explaining his position and apologising for any hurt, noting how strong he has been on anti-racism. Interesting to note that he says he comes from a mixed race family, his stepmum is black and sisters mixed race. https://twitter.com/officialcsa/status/1453617840838389771?s=21
MxDay
Roar Rookie
To 7 and 8, I got to have a chat with a group of ladies that had all worked in health and education for 30 to 40 years each. A lot of there work was with the Indigenous community in northern QLD. I asked them what they’d seen that had worked and what they think might work in the future regarding bridging the gap and building trust on both sides. They said that they’ve spoken about that before and they don’t know. All they know is that there isn’t a simple solution and that whatever ends up working will take time and a lot of effort from both sides. Not relating to your comment, IMHO social issues are ones that we all instinctively have opinions on. However they often require greater empathy and perspective than we can muster, as well as a lot of historical and cultural knowledge that very few of us have. That’s not to dismiss anyone, it is just that we are only human. I know that it is beyond me to add anything of true worth to the discussion. Stats and averages I can talk about. I get paid to deal with stats everyday. On climate change and energy I am literate enough in the science to pass comment. On this topic. Nope. Sometimes the best thing one can do is just keep abreast of what is happening and only comment when you are able to contribute something useful. Before the objections appear that I am suggesting passivity and apathy, I am not. I am suggesting a reflection on one’s limits and engagement relative to that limit. Especially when it is a topic that inflames easily with real world consequences. Which is very different to the capping and meaningless runs scandal that is occurring on other pages on this site. On that, it would be nice to be able to conclusively say that player A was better than player B yet it really doesn’t matter. Learning to live well with other does.
JGK
Roar Guru
Anyway, it looks like QdK has apologised and it now happy to abide by the kneeling mandate.
PeterK
Roar Guru
I will repeat what was deleted If the rate of crime is higher then expect the rate of incarceration to be higher. You need to reduce the crime rate , look at what is causing the crime and reduce that, then the incarceration rates will drop.
biltong
Guest
Thanks, I can only try, if it doesn't happen today, I'll try harder tomorrow. :happy: