Graeme Smith became the first white English-speaking former South African player to express his support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement on Friday (July 17). Language is important since the five white Afrikaans-speaking current internationals did so earlier-and because the colonial history of the country, formalized in the apartheid policy that has since been dismantled, was primarily the work of Afrikaners. “Black Lives Matter,” Smith wrote on his Twitter account. “As cricket director at Cricket South Africa, a former Protea and captain, a player, a father, an uncle, a friend and, most importantly, a South African fellow, I am proud to help this extremely important movement.
