Colombo: Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has delivered a powerful message recently with regards to the 'Black Lives Matter' movement which has been going across the world for sometime now.
The movement has been raging on since the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police personnel in May. Athletes around the world have also taken part in the movement by taking a knee before start of their respective matches.
While Sangakkara said education is the most potent weapon against racism, he stated that children should be taught about the real history and not a filtered version of it. He also said that change isn't going to happen instantly but it's a long fight and the entire world will have to take part in it.
“Skin colour isn’t the only basis of discrimination. There are various ways of racism and discrimination. Some historically and some in a certain context, skin colour isn’t the only basis for discrimination,” Sangakkara told a leading cricket website.
"If you take Black Lives Matter, if you take racism and discrimination in the world, I think one of the most important things is to teach our children history as it should be, and not the sanitised version of it".
Moreover, legendary fast bowler-turned-commentator Michael Holding recently delivered a moving speech on institutionalised racism that has seen the accomplishments of black people being wiped off from history.
Sangakkara echoed Holding’s words and thus he urged people to educate themselves and open their minds.
"Once one understand what real history is, we will find changes in attitude.
"We are all taught to love our country but sometimes we follow that blindly and that stops up from appreciating other cultures," he added.
"Change won't happen overnight, it's not the flavour of the month where you protest about it and forget it. It's a slow and tedious process involving everyone in the world."
