File image of Daren Sammy
In the wake of the killing of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, former West Indies captain Daren Sammy has been quite vocal about issues related to racism and on Tuesday voiced his opinion on why India still has a product with the name of 'Fair & Lovely’ in their market despite being a nation of diverse culture. Sammy feels that the product clearly hints at colourism.
“Your ad, Fair & Lovely says lovely people are the fairer people. That’s what it stands for, it hints at colourism,” Sammy was quoted as saying by Outlook in an interview.
Earlier on June 25, Hindustan Unilever’s Fair & Lovely announced that it will drop the word 'Fair' from the name of its product and restrict the use of White/Whitening',’ ‘Light/Lightening' from all its packs.
"We recognise that the use of the words 'fair,' 'white' and 'light' suggest a singular ideal of beauty that we don't think is right, and we want to address this," Sunny Jain, president of Unilever's beauty and personal care division, said in a press release.
The killing of Floyd has lead to the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign across the world with even social media going abuzz.
Meanwhile, in the world of sports, players are 'taking a knee' during matches amid lockdown to show their support towards the movement. Even the West Indies cricket team will be wearing the 'Black Lives Matter' logo on their jerseys for the impending three-match Test series in England.
Sammy also talked about the recently-revealed racism act during his stint at Sunrisers Hyderabad wherein teammate Ishant Sharma had referred to him as "kalu".
"We need a lot of education on how cultures view and respect racism or colourism. Ishant calling me something (Kalu) may have been done innocently but any word that degrades must be shunned. I have had a conversation with him and I have moved forward in life," said Sammy.
