The Black Lives Movement (BLM), which began in the USA after an African-American man George Floyd died after being treated roughly by the police authorities, has sparked outrage and spread education about color-based racism across the globe.
Australia Test captain Tim Paine and vice-captain Pat Cummins have credited the BLM for opening their eyes and making them change their understanding of racism.
Paine said he didn't think a lot about the issue of racism as it didn't affect him, adding that the BLM has shifted his perspective.
"Mine has only shifted in the last 12 months since the whole Black Lives Matter thing started to take off. I was probably someone who, if I am totally honest, had my head in the sand a little bit, and because it probably wasn't a part of my world I didn't have it as a big issue.
That's really opened my eyes to things and issues our Indigenous people, black people and people of all sort of different cultures around the world go through,” Paine was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
Meanwhile, Pat Cummins said, “Just taking that extra second to think about what you say or do. You might try to throw in a joke and I've definitely done this in the past. You say a little one-liner or something off the top of your head and then just making sure you actually reflect on that and go actually 'that's not me' or 'I've said the wrong thing there. I don't believe that I don't know why I've said that, and I hate how I've made that person feel’.”
The 36-year-old Paine said he has spoken to his teammates about their experiences and that has helped him gather a better understanding.
"But since this has sort of got going I have taken time to speak to teammates – whether it's in Tasmania or Hurricanes or club cricket – about how they feel about it and how it affects them. For me my learning has come from speaking to teammates, understanding more how it affects them and how I can help them through that,” he said.
Paine said the best way to deal with racism is to call it out but without making a scene. While Cummins said that reading the book Dark Emu has provided him a new perspective about racism and Indigenous culture.
“Dark Emu. It shifted my perspective. I have such huge admiration and respect for history. Australia has all this history I didn't even know about a year ago and I feel really proud to be an Aussie," Cummins said.
(PTI inputs)
