Quote Originally Posted by Zico View Post
I know all about it. So its what.. 'positive racism'? There is nothing positive about doing the black power salute on the podium at a sporting event and accusing F1 as a sport of being institutionaly racist. What happened to George Floyd was utterly wrong but to tar every white person or instituition with the same brush has all gone too far now.
Just as in all groups (political parties included), there are certainly radicalized or extremist elements within BLM (though it's not a centralized organization). But I wasn't aware that Hamilton had made any comments tarring all members of any race or group with the same brush. If you can point something out or provide a link, I'd like to read it.


Someone better explain to Hamilton that its more likely a case of black people typically gravitating towards more athletic sports where they most often excel, making Motorsport more of a predominantly white rich mans sport.
I dont believe that black engineers/mechanics/pitcrew are being refused jobs in Motorsport because of their skin colour.
In the 3 years I studied Aero engineering I didnt see one single black engineer or mechanic start studying anything Engineering related, period... so there is maybe a wee hint in there as to why the disparity in numbers exists in F1.
Even with your anecdotal experience recognized, it still doesn't account for the fact that F1 (and Indy Car to a lesser degree) has always been a White male sport. AFAIK, there's never been any sort of serious recruiting or development initiative to get non-White prospects involved in the sport. This is, oddly enough, where NASCAR is more "advanced" than F1 in this area. I mean, let's be honest, at least in the U.S., there are loads of non-White engineering students at all of the top universities. And yes, while Black kids aren't as prevalent as Asians (including Indians), they are there. In my time at Bell Helicopter, they were there. At Cessna, they were there. At Boeing, they were there. Though under-represented when compared to the overall population, they were still there - it wasn't zero. But in F1, they are, for the most part, not there. Even worse, let's mention Asians, who are over-represented in engineering in the U.S., but who are all but absent in F1, outside of Honda and Toyota when they were there. Additionally, given F1's history (think apartheid when F1 raced in South Africa), it's not exactly ridiculous for someone to point out the fact that F1 is one of the least diverse major sports in the world. And given the former head of F1's past tendencies to make racially charged and (no doubt about it) sexist statements, that doesn't exactly provide a "good look", especially in the current environment. But F1's record of being silent on human rights issues has always been incredibly weak, as long as the checks cleared.

Look, it's fine to say "All Lives Matter" - that's certainly how it should be. But many of those who take issue with that statement point out that that hasn't been, and in many cases, still isn't the case in the U.S. There are still too many examples where a cop, who has clearly committed an offense, is either not charged or there are long delays and the charge is extremely light. Personally, I think that both race and socio-economic status play a part in many of these cases (Black or White, being poor and having a tricky interaction with the police might not be good for your health). But there's no doubt that race also plays a part in many of these cases. The cop who was kneeling on George Floyd's neck CLEARLY didn't think that he'd have anything to worry about. Look at how he casually had his hands in his pockets as he pressed the life out of the guy. Floyd was something less than human to him - his life certainly didn't matter. If the suspect had been an equally non-threatening White female, would he have been so bold and careless? I very, very seriously doubt it. And people know that. Hence, the outrage... misplaced or not.

Often I'm reminded of the famous line from Orwell's Animal Farm when I observe some of the goings on these days: All animals are equal... but some are more equal. Ol' George was a pretty smart feller - don't get me started on 1984.

Anyway, take it as you will. We all have a right to our own points of view. Hopefully we will begin to see better days and more tranquility for all as we move forward.