Taking a knee isn't enough to tackle racism: Carlos Brathwaite

LONDON: West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite feels taking a knee is not enough in the fight against racism as according to him, a change in mindset is needed across the world.

The 'Black Lives Matter' movement has been raging around the globe following the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police personnel in US in May.

Brathwaite believes 'legislative' changes are the need of the hour as according to him, taking a knee seems to be just papering over the crack.

"Taking a knee in isolation or wearing a badge in isolation is not enough, it is the reprogramming and reconfiguring of the mindset. For me it's just cosmetic - that may ruffle a few feathers," Brathwaite said on BBC's Stumped programme.

"The biggest change needs to be legislative and needs to be the reprogramming of the wider society.

"Why is it that we go on a plane and see someone with a massive beard and we think, terrorist? When we see a black guy in the supermarket we automatically think he will shoplift, and as a result have the guards trail him?

"That is a bigger discussion - how we reprogram our mindsets around those sorts of thoughts is a bigger discussion than just taking a knee," he added. IANS

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