'White customer would throw money in front of my father', SA pacer Lungi Ngidi opens up about racism
South African cricketer Lungi Ngidi opens up about racism his family faced
South African pacer Lungi Ngidi has shared his family's struggle with racism. The speedster, who has already won South Africa's cricketer of the year award and earned two IPL champions medals in his relatively short career, stated that it was his parents' experience with racism that opened his eye.
Talking about how his father, a petrol attendant, was treated differently for the colour of his skin, Ngidi said, “My dad was a petrol attendant and a white customer wouldn’t even put the money in his hand. He just threw it on the floor,"
“I don’t think I’ll ever lose that story. It was just so degrading. For my dad to go on in life as if everything’s fine took a lot of courage but this is how they raised me. The stories they shared were eye-opening and painful to hear, because those scars never really close up.” he further added in the interview with The Guardian.
Despite his parents facing acute racism, Ngidi believes that he still does not assume anything about a person, unless they show their racist side to him.
“My parents grew up in an era where racism was rife but apartheid was over when I was born. They wanted me to make the most of that new start and they raised me never to judge a book by its cover, and I live by that today. Until someone shows me that side of themselves, I will never assume that is who they are.”
Ngidi was one of the first voices to speak amongst the South African camp in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis, USA, two years ago. At the time, several former South African cricketers had called out Ngidi and tried to silence his voice.
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However, the speedster stuck to his version and encouraged the Proteas to address the issue as a team. Ngidi is currently in England for his first full-fledged English tour and part of the red-ball setup.
(With inputs from agencies)
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