Alviro Petersen, the former South Africa opener, said he received many hate mails for standing in support to contemporary fast bowler Lungi Ngidi, who had batted for the Proteas to join the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign and spread awareness regarding the need to embrace cultural diversity.
While Ngidi faced criticism from a few ex-white South African cricketers such as Pat Symcox and Boeta Dippenaar, the young quick had as many as 31 former Proteas and five senior coaches throwing their weight behind him and the global campaign to eradicate racism from the society.
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Petersen, being one of them, wrote on Thursday (July 16) a long thread on Twitter, where he claimed he has received backlash from certain people for supporting Ngidi.
"Since my public stance supporting Lungi Ngidi, #BLM, and speaking about the systemic racism within cricket, sport and society in South Africa – I have received many hate mail. Some have labelled [sic] me a 'quota player', playing because of my skin colour & cc’d the likes of Boeta (Dippenaar) in," wrote the 39-year-old, who played 36 Tests and 21 ODIs for South Africa.
"Let me set the record straight – I have scored more T20, limited overs, first-class and Test runs than Boeta. I have scored more T20, limited overs, first-class and Test hundreds than Boeta, despite him playing longer than me. Yet, I am referred to as a 'quota player'."
Petersen said he had to regularly prove his worth to the national side during his stay at the highest level, with the media and the system looking at his failures a lot differently to others'.
"You know me, but you don’t know my story," he said. "You know some things I have done, but you don’t know what I went through! I was never given a free ride in cricket, I earned my spot through performances. I broke several records in 2008/09 and only made my debut in 2010."
"I have sharpened my argument in law and in human rights to fight against any forms of discrimination. You can victimize me, spread lies about me or even degrade me but I will continue to stand for equality for black and white people!"
"Finally, the success of cricket and sport in SA should be our shared destiny," Petersen added. "We need to commit to healing the divide and create a culture where each person feel seen, heard, supported and valued. Anything created can be destroyed. Those who created racism can destroy it!"
