West Indian all-rounder Darren Sammy has revealed that he was subjected to racist words during his stint with Indian Premier League outfit Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Sammy who was unaware of the racist connotation of the term felt the laughter it invoked at the time would help the team build a better bonding between the players.

But having recently learned that the term is used to degrade black people, Sammy said he has felt disappointed and angry. He has asked the people who called him by that racist word to come forward and clarify if they had any malice about it.

Read: ‘Aren’t you going to speak up against social injustice?’ Sammy asks ICC after George Floyd’s death

In a video released on his Instagram handle, Sammy released a powerful message urging people to not tolerate any kind of racial discrimination

Here’s the full transcript of Sammy’s Instagram video:

I’ve played all over the world and I’ve been loved by many people. I’ve embraced all the dressing rooms I’ve played in. I was listening to Hasan Minhaj who was talking about how people in his culture view or describe black people, but that doesn’t apply to all people.

But I said this because of something I experienced. So I felt I was angry after listening to him describing a word that they used to describe black people which he was saying is not in a good way and it was degrading.

Instantly I remember when I was playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013, I was being called the exact same word that he described that was degrading to us black people.

I instantly got very angry about it knowing what that word meant. I will be messaging those people. You guys know who you are. And I must admit at the time I was being called that I actually did not know what it meant. I thought it meant strong stallion or whatever it is. I had no problems with it as I was ignorant of the fact that I did not know what it meant.

But every time I was called it. It was Thisara Perera and me, there was laughter. So me being a team man I thought, ‘Hey teammates are happy, it must be something funny.’

But you could understand my frustration when it was pointed out to me that it was not funny at all. It was degrading. So I’m going to be texting you guys and asking you guys when you repeatedly called me that word over and over again to the point that I was even saying that’s my name, did you all mean it in any way, shape or form as a degrading word to me. As that’s very important. As I’ve said, I had great memories in all the dressing rooms that I have been in as a T20 player, as a leader in the dressing room, as a captain, I’ve always wanted to build up the relationship or build up a team, not break it down.

So, all those who used to call me that, you guys know yourself. You know, some of you have my numbers. Call me on Instagram or Twitter or wherever. Reach out to me. Let’s have a conversation because if it was in any shape or form what Minhaz meant, I’m very disappointed and I would still be angry and deserve an apology from you guys as i saw all of you guys as my brothers.

So talk to me, reach out to me. Please clear the air.

And to all the other boards as I mentioned earlier, this is why it’s important to take a stand against all the racial injustice against any human being. That is not acceptable. But for now, the movement around the world is that black people, everybody standing up against racism. That should be the message.

— Darren Sammy