Someone Dropped The Ball

The question is, who dropped it?

New Episode of DebuTons

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I do not know why Quinton De Kock chose to sit out and not take the knee, he has his reasons, personal reasons. But, one thing that I am certain about, is that this is turning into a Kyrie Irving situation.

First, let me tell you a story.

It has to do with Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play Major League Baseball, he did so in the 1940s. The 1940s were a tough time to be black in the USA, and it was even tougher to be the only black person in a white-dominated sports league.

On April 15, 1947, less than a week after he had made his MLB debut, his team played against the Philadelphia Phillies. It was a match that drove him to the brink of quitting baseball. Throughout Robinson’s innings, Phillies manager, Ben Chapman, stood out of his dugout shouting racial slurs. In a 1972 interview, Robinson singled out Chapman’s attack as the worst he faced in his MLB career.

Chapman was eventually silenced by Eddie Stanky, Robinson’s Dodgers teammate. In the preseason, Stanky had told Robinson that he was unhappy that a black player was being integrated into the team. So, when a surprised Robinson asked Stanky why he had stood up for him against Chapman’s abuse, Stanky replied matter-of-factly, “You are my teammate, I have your back.”

That is something that we all want, to know that our teammates have our backs. It makes it easier for them to perform as a team for a common goal. I am sure that the players of colour in the Proteas squad who have been taking a knee for the longest time would have greatly appreciated it if Quinton De Kock had been taking a knee with them throughout that time. But, De Kock did not take a knee and pulled out of the side due to personal reasons associated with taking a knee.

I do not know why Quinton De Kock chose to sit out and not take the knee, he has his reasons, personal reasons.

As a fan and as a person of colour, who suffers both overt and covert acts of racism from both conscious and accidental racists, I would have greatly appreciated it if he did. Will taking a knee miraculously change things? No. Neither does wearing pink ribbons when it comes to fighting cancer. They are symbolic gestures, it's nice to know that you have an ally or allies.

But, hang on, let me tell you a second little story, shorter than the first.

When I was in High School, I attended a mission school, I had a classmate who got into a scuffle with a teacher. The cause was ridiculous, if I remember correctly, my friend refused to be beaten for not getting all the answers right in an exercise. The scuffle almost ended up in a fistfight. Shaken by the temerity of the student, our teacher went to report the matter to the principal. My friend was called in by the principal, they had a chat and resolved that my friend should apologise.

“The headmaster told me to come and apologise, so I am sorry.” My friend told the teacher when he admitted us into his office. I was just tagging along.

I do not think our teacher appreciated that kind of apology, I can still see his face as I type this. He was horrified and angrier. The apology was hollow, it had no meaning.

I am still not convinced that CSA means well by issuing the directive that all players should kneel. It looks more like a self-interest motivated move. The need for good optics. And so, while I would have loved it for De Kock to kneel, I would have preferred it if he did it because he wants to, not because he has to. Doing it because he has to has no meaning for me, any of the players of colour in the team or any individual who faces discrimination because of the colour of their skin.

With this situation, CSA is committing the same mistake as they did with the quotas. They are making a mess of things. Simply because of how the issues of quotas have been handled, quota is now an insult, it is a term to denigrate players of colour.

I understand the need for representation, that is how you inspire others. Makhaya Ntini inspired a generation, as did Se Ri Pak. It’s easier to dream and aspire for something when you see someone like you, someone of your kind, achieving success in that field. Ask Giannis Antetokounmpo. Temba Bavuma is going to inspire a generation of young batters who will aim for more than just being team members, they will want to lead.

But when you focus on representation so much that you rush underprepared players through, you self-sabotage. At the time that the statistics were made available to me, black players, on average, played about half as many matches as their white counterparts before promotion from semi-pro to professional cricket.

They set these guys up for failure as the organization chased numbers. I have read of the Jerry Nqolos and Neo Felanes of this world who are made to feel like numbers, because their coaches and captains do not trust them, they do not trust their ability. They feel that they are half-baked, so they play them as specialist fielders. More needed to be done besides just mandating that a certain number of black players or players of colour should be in a team. A quota directive alone is not enough.

Anyway, it seems to me that CSA could not stand the embarrassment. The Proteas were the only team at the World Cup that did not seem to have a uniform form of action to show their support against discrimination. In the year prior to the World Cup, they had been happy to let players express themselves anyhow, in whatever way they saw fit. However, on a bigger stage, it was an embarrassment.

The Knee Report, who remembers that?

So, CSA failed to stand by the players that they had given a license to act as they please. But, they have found a fall guy in Quinton De Kock.

I do not know why Quinton De Kock chose to sit out and not take the knee, he has his reasons, personal reasons. But, I know why players take a knee. Let me tell you another story.

In 2016 Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem in protest against abuse and discrimination against African Americans and other minorities. Nate Boyer, a former US Army Green Beret, felt that Kaepernick sitting during the national anthem was disrespectful to those who had lost their lives fighting racial injustice. He told him that soldiers honour the fallen by taking a knee. Boyer felt that taking a knee was a better way compared to sitting down. Thereafter, Kaepernick took the knee. The AFL chucked him out, cancelled him for protesting against injustice.

However, many more were inspired. Taking the knee was later taken up by others, including the Black Lives Matter activists in sports.

Unfortunately, race relations are at a very low point, the extremes on either side seem to be winning and there seems to be no one trying to bridge the gap. So, when taking the knee reached these shores, the racists spun it into something else. Taking a knee has all sorts of meanings attached to it. Some sinister meanings were created as a way to push back against the protest for equality, others mere conspiracy theories born out of ignorance. I still don’t understand All Lives Matter as a rebuttal to Black Lives Matter, but that is another article.

I have an understanding of taking the knee because this matters to me greatly.

Anyway, Quinton De Kock finds himself being cast in a role that is probably not suited for him. I still think that De Kock did not refuse to take a knee because he is racist. People I have spoken to who have interacted with him suggest that he is not. I have no reason to not believe them. They are people whom I trust.

And despite who he is and how he values everyone around him… Wait, let me tell you a story that has been told by Lungani Zama. A few years ago while the Proteas were on tour, there was a new member of the team’s management. A cameraman, I think. Black. After a successful series, the new guy went to sit in his room. The fines meeting was done and the travelling party were free to do what they wanted for dinner. The new guy was alerted from his thoughts by a knock at his door.

It was Quinton De Kock, with his wife and a bucket of beers. 

“Howzit. I don’t know too much about you yet, so I thought we can get to know each other over a few drinks. This is Sasha,” Quinton had announced himself.

This is not the behaviour you expect from a racist, far from it. But, besides who he really is, he is now playing the role of an accidental racist. Whatever his reasons, the fact that they seem to be strong enough for him to walk away from the team because he cannot take a knee in support of a protest against racism and other forms of discrimination, lots of people drawing conclusions.

On the other hand, the far-right has found someone, a celebrity, for their cause, the same way that conservatives and anti-vaxxers found theirs through Kyrie Irving. Kyrie Irving is not anti-vax, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. He was just taking a stand against the mandatory vaccines protocol. He felt it unfair that many people were losing jobs by not adhering to the mandate.

On an Instagram post, he lamented, "Why are you putting it on me?… I am just a hooper." Maybe he feels that things are out of hand. But the genie is out of the bottle.

I don't know why De Kock did not take a knee, he has his reasons, personal reasons. But, I do know that the last day and a half has definitely not been easy on him. To feel alienated from the organization that is supposed to have his back, even before he has stated his position, to be ostracized, publicly hounded. And for him to see his name being dragged in the mud…

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