racing driver Lewis Hamilton,media call him black,not mixed race or half white,always black. any ideas.?

Answer 1

It's a bit dodgy. Why is a mixed-race person never described as white? It's almost like they're saying that white is pure, and anything that has bred with white… isn't.

Answer 2

It's quite difficult to describe someone who isn't the colour of coal, because brown is such a variable colour.

People like to make distinctions for all sorts of reasons, and racism is not necessarily one of them. The same is true of Yorkshiremen, Lancashire men and Londoners.......they like to have a recognisable identity.

It wouldn't be very polite to refer to Lewish Hamilton as a coffee-coloured, British-born home-counties boy would it; so maybe "black" makes it easier?

Anyway, I couldn't care less if he were bright-blue, but it may matter to Lewis himself.

Whether he is black, half-cast, British, southern, mixed-race or a mistake is all quite irrelevant.

The fact is, he is a super-talented guy with a likeable personality, a great father and a lot of admirers.

Answer 3

It maybe the way he views himself. For instance Halle Berry mom is white, but she said her mother raised her as a black woman,because she said that is the way the world will view her(right or wrong). Be honest with yourself if you were watching CNN and they had a photograph up of a "light skinned" man and they said that he robbed a bank. Wouldn't your first thought be that he is black. However when they are doing something "noble" we can see all their ethnicities(Obama,Vin Diesel,Tiger Woods,Halle Berry). Wentworth Miller from "Prison Break" is half-black, but people just assume he is white(because of his complexion). So to answer your question its an identifiable thing. However it doesn't matter what you call him it doesn't change his biracial background. Also the media who write these stories are mainly white. So they tend to write how they view them(I dont think its calculated or racist)

Answer 4

This whole issue of identifying famous people, especially athletes nowadays by race is quite stupid. And who cares whether they say hes black. He is black. Not a 100%, but he is still black. At the same time his mom is white so hes half and half. It's just a matter of choice as to how you label him. I'm not calling you stupid, but the people who are labelling people like that are. This is exactly what they did with Tiger Woods, and that turned out to be quite controversial, but I think this is just one of those colonial mentality things, that once you have black in you, even if its like one person, you're considered black. Plain stupid!!!

Answer 5

Hi,
I am not bothered as to the colour of the car or the driver.
It makes no diffence.
My only prejudice is that Lewis is, to me, a Hertfordshire local lad made good. So he has my double support.
I cannot see why the media even mention his origins.
I wish him well this afternoon.

Answer 6

I heard someplace that once you're a million/sixteen or a million/32 black then you are considered black. yet previous that i think of it extremely is cultural besides. for the period of slavery circumstances somebody who replaced right into a million/2 black could desire to nonetheless be bought as a slave and in lots of circumstances replaced into. I additionally heard that for the period of those circumstances some woman replaced into arrested for marrying a white guy through fact she replaced right into a million/sixteen black. those definitions of blackness have stayed with us.

Answer 7

the media are making a big deal out of his skin colour which, by the way, is very dark. he is in fact the first 'black' driver in F1 so that in itself is a headliner. like i said before in a Q very similar to this one, when he has won a few championships and proves he has longevity the 'black' label will be dropped.

Answer 8

People who are mixed race are often referred to as black. Anything darker than white is called black because he's not caucasian (not sure I spelt that right). Does it matter?

Answer 9

It's really just sad that they refer to him by colour at all!
I have friends I occasionally refer to by race - when the information is pertinent - otherwise they are just friends. Ditto friends of different religions, sexual persuasion, career preferences.
Maybe they think referring to him as black means he drives faster?

Answer 10

I think it's very sad that the media continue to focus on a person's skin colour - isn't it time we got past that and just talked about 'people'?