The former player’s powerful testimony has shed light on a problem stretching far beyond Yorkshire Country Cricket Club and his sport
One of the grimmest aspects of Azeem Rafiq’s testimony to MPs on Tuesday was the fact that it was necessary. Until then, a shocking number of people had been willing to accept that even the use of a vile racial slur might be “banter”, or to dismiss it as a trivial matter; some asked why the cricketer had returned to Yorkshire, or smeared him, as if his own conduct might justify what was done to him.
His courageous and distressing account laid bare the full, appalling picture. Many of those watching recognised and identified with experiences that echoed their own, and with his pain and shame. It should not take a great deal of empathy or imagination for others to realise that being treated as he was might be devastating, both personally and professionally. But until he demonstrated his trauma, breaking down in tears before MPs, it was not truly acknowledged.
