BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,F1 fan
Date: 02 Apr 09 - 06:34 AM

See he has been caught at his work again ! Lewis Hamilton has been stripped of his third place at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix for deliberately misleading race stewards. So many cons in this sport. The novelty of this guy seems to have worn off.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: catspaw49
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 05:37 PM

You do Art? Really? Geeziz man, you must have some REALLY GIGANTIC POCKETS! ! !

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: artbrooks
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:12 PM

I like my Swiss Army pocket knife.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 12:39 PM

Linda Kelly: Yes, the road to Italy!

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 12:01 PM

Toblerone is vile-white Toblerone is the vilest.I don't think the almonds are almonds I think it is small pieces of metal designed to destroy your teeth. I cannot think of anything good to have come out of Switzerland-can you?

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: catspaw49
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 07:51 AM

yep

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 07:44 AM

But is that Toblerone really white? It does sound very interesting, though. BTW, can you get Toblerone in the States?

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:40 AM

Toblerone is Swiss too, they now do it in white chocolate.
Just a passing thought.
G. ¦¬]

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 08 Nov 07 - 04:09 AM

Well very shortly he will be able to say, in the words of the great Stan Freburg ' I'm Swiss, this way I don't offend nobody!'

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Azizi
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 08:04 PM

Mrrzy, sometimes people hear what they wanna hear. And sometimes they don't hear what they need to hear.

And that said, me and my afro hair are outta here.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 05:20 PM

To my eyes he's as "black" as Kelly Holmes - and that ain't black!!! When I first saw Lewis, I thought he was of middle-eastern extraction. But,then, I guess to some people they - middle-eastern people - are all black as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,sidelines
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 05:10 PM

This may come as a surprise to some of the morons on this board, but Hamilton's skin is, in fact, BLACK. Maybe not Nigerian, Nubian Prince black, but he grew up a minority. A black person in a white world.

Ancestry, Louisiana and slavery have nothing to do with it. You'd see that if your eyes were open.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 04:11 PM

Re; Halle Berry. I would guess that Halle Berry has had a hard time from "whites"; as she grew up, she was probably always being labelled black and ,as a result, she probably feels more comfortable being "black", as it were.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 03:58 PM

I know Ebbie, its stupid. Problem is I've been saying it for at least 40 years now and it still slips out every now and then.......like other things.........LOL

Thanks Giok. I long for the days of Clark and Stewart, of Chapman and Kenny Tyrell...........***sigh***.............F1 has become a showcase of technology and lightning fast cars but sadly not of racing. NASCAR is just as bad but "the show" is better.

The entire world is ready for a new series. Aussie Supercars are very close to that, they just need more promotion. Over on the SPEED boards, another guy and I proposed an entirely new open wheel series where a guy like Tyrell could still operate from his backyard, try new ideas, and win. And one where the driver was at least half of the equation. Never happen of course but........American Sprint Cars and Supermods still wind me up but the TV coverage is about non-existent. But at least there is some and the racing doesn't get any better.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,Mrrzy logged in one someone else's computer
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 03:46 PM

Mrrzy, for a lot of people of African descent, "Black" is much more than a skin color.

All I was talking about was skin color.

I've heard that American blacks of mixed slave/slave owner ancestry are getting into issues with black Africans who become American but then aren't what the American blacks would consider "african-american" because they have no slave ancestors, so they aren't "black" enough... see Obama, for example. *Sigh* Just because it matters to some people doesn't mean that I agree that people should have their noses rubbed in it constantly, which is what I feel all this demarcating of blacks is doing.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 03:41 PM

Going purely by what I have read on the internet (I know, I know), it seems that Halle Berry's Afro-American father walked out on the family when she was four, leaving the family to struggle in poverty in a deprived inner-city neighbourhood. Her (white) mother took on extra work, encouraged her in her career, and found the money to put her through stage school. If all this is true, how come Halle insists on being called 'black', and is quoted as being pretty scathing about the white audiences who see her films? Just asking.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 03:10 PM

Spaw, you say: "F1 has been allowed to become as boring as whale shit."

I have lived on both coasts of the United States and have seen a lot of whales but I have never seen any 'whale shit'. I suspect I, for one, would be interested, not to say, excited, if I did. Do you suppose it comes in pellets like those of rabbits and moose or perhaps it is more like the output of geese and cows?

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 02:41 PM

Hear hear Pat.
G

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 02:14 PM

It tells me he'd like to be known as "Black.".......I think he'd also like to be known as World Champion and he's off to an excellent start.

Max Mosley is a horse's ass of major proportion but his comments were more to the fact that someone else would have (or already had) come along to revitalize F1. He said how much Hamilton HAD done for the sport in the UK but "feared the Schumacher Effect" where the domination of MS at Ferrari had prompted many followers to ask for something to slow him down. He then went on to say if it had not been Hamilton it would have been someone else. What he really meant to say was, "Look Lewis, I would be your biggest fan except you drive for Ron Dennis."

I don't like Mosley, wasn't a fan of his as a driver, and between he and Bernie, F1 has been allowed to become as boring as whale shit. Real "racing" is virtually non-existent as they have "ruled" themselves to death. To pass someone requires written permission 3 weeks in advance of the event. NASCAR is almost as bad but at least they do "Race" even though its manufactured through the rules as well.

Thank god for Sprinters,Midgets, and Super Modifieds.......and Aussie V-8 Supercars!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 01:02 PM

What does the fact that Lewis calls himself black tell us?

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Azizi
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 12:54 PM

Mrrzy, for a lot of people of African descent, "Black" is much more than a skin color.

While the dominant skin color for persons who live in sub-Saharan nations imay not be as varied as that of African Americans {people of African descent from the USA who are identified as Black},but I've seen enough sub-Saharan Africans to know that all of them do not have very dark. There may be other reasons for this, but certainly there's been interracial mating between Black Africans and Europeans during the centuries of contact between these two populations.

With regard to the educational system, not mentioning "White" doesn't mean that kids don't get that they are learning "White stuff" when they learn about the history and cultures of selected European nations; when they see only European music classified as "classical", and when White authors and poets are the focus of much of their English literature curriculum, and when the history of the USA is taught from the vantage point of White folks. In that sense, every month is White history month.

This matters because-as you put it "What I object to is if you're white, you're normal, but if not, then you belong to some SUB-category - not just another category".

And you also answered your question about why there is a Black mayors' association- " Not that the whites need anything special for them"...

With regards to schools, given the fact that personal & institutional racism and prejudice are still virulent in this nation {and other nations}, groups & individuals that are targeted must work out ways that help children and youth develop and reinforce both group esteem and self esteem. Group esteem is actually an important part of self-esteem which may be taken for granted by White people who live in a predominately White nations. For instance, when White school students learn about European emperors and European kings and European queens, they receive positive group affirmation. African Americans {and other people of color} much less frequently receive the same kind of group affirmation in schools, and in the mass media. In the USA, Black history month {which used to be Black History week} was created to address this gap. But it is far from enough and it's "the first Black person to achieve something" approach is far from acceptable for many Black and non-Black parents and educators who are interested in quality multi-cultural curriculums for children/youth.

Again, I applaud you Mrrzy for your belief that a person's race shouldn't matter. Unfortunately, race DOES matter in the USA and elsewhere. Indeed, in some circumstances a belief that your race and other people's races do not matter can lead to injury or death.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 12:15 PM

That's because Schumacher was driving for Ferrari, and from what I can see, they call the shots in F1. They are always the first team in the steward's office complaining if anybody impedes them in any way. In fact I'm still highly suspicious of the part they played in Maclaren's disqualification from the constructors championship.
They didn't suffer for their illegal device that they were forced to remove from their car earlier in the season either.
G

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,Dabo at work
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 12:08 PM

I found it ironic that Mr Mosely, who's in charge of F1, said Hamilton was bad for F1 because he is dominating F1 didn't seem to have the same opinion when Schumacher was winning it all.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,Dazbo at work
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 12:04 PM

Ebbie, I agree that in many cases English and British are considered, wrongly, the same thing. It seems to me from this side of the Atlantic, however, that the large numbers of US Americans who consider themselves to be Irish, Scots-Irish, Welsh etc do seem to understand the difference yet 'forget it' when talking about bad things from history. The BBC do it too; a few weeks ago a programme about ancestors was in Southern Ireland and, although talking about events around 1800, continually referred to the English government/troops etc rather than British.

One way to wind up a Scotsman (or woman) is to call them English. It winds me up when the British are called English.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 11:56 AM

"Hamilton's Buddies Left Cold by Motorsport
So far he's never had the chance to race against another black driver. Even his friends are more interested in football and basketball, Hamilton says. It's not only a matter of likes and dislikes, it's primarily a question of money. Lewis' father Anthony, whose own father emigrated to England from Trinidad, had to take on two jobs in addition to his regular employment on the railroad in order to finance his eldest son's hobby. It all began with little electric cars on a vacation trip.

Sponsors Hoping for a "Tiger Woods Effect"
For Lewis Hamilton himself, his skin color is no big deal. "It's more a thing for the media to talk about. The way I see it, my color is an advantage in that it's something people talk about," says the young man with the perfect manners. "Being the first black man doesn't matter much to me personally, but for the sport itself it probably means quite a lot." The sponsors especially are hoping for some kind of fast-moving "Tiger Woods effect"."

From a Credit Suisse magazine report.

Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 11:49 AM

Dazbo: "Strange isn't it: All the bad things in the British Empire were done by the English - nary a Scot, Welsh or Irish did anything that we would consider wrong today."

I think the explanation is that on this side of the big water, we tend to refer to the British Isles as 'England' in the same way that Europeans - and Brits - call us 'Yanks'. Or anyone not of obvious other-extraction is assumed 'white'. Blanket designations are not accurate, only convenient.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 11:30 AM

I did say that I grew up in *sub-Saharan* Africa, where the natives are all very, very black, and don't show up on film if there are whites in the picture, they look like a person-shaped sillhouette. I didn't say all Africans are black.
And black IS a skin color. That was what I was talking about, skin color.
And my point about the black this and black that in the education system, but never any white this or white that, is that if they are teaching white stuff it's the default value, and nobody says white, but if it's about black people suddenly it's about blacks. Why not have it all be about PEOPLE - and NOT constantly remind people of their skin color and how much it matters? How about ignoring it and letting people judge others on their character? What I object to is that if you're white, you're normal, but if not, then you belong to some SUB-category - not just another category.
Why is it OK to have black history month and not white history month? Why is there a caucus of black mayors but not of white ones? Not that the whites need anything special for them, it's just that the whole thing simply stresses the fact, which should be of little consequence, that some people have different skin colors than others. Grr.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Wolfgang
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 10:37 AM

Some remarks about the terms:

Black: When I fist heard or read that Colin Powell was termed "black" I thought that was a simple error. I my personal perception he was "white".

African American: That term might make a bit of sense inside the USA but I hate it on an international level of discourse. It has been noted with a mixture of amusement and scorn in Europe that a CNN speaker spoke about "African American" rioters in Paris (2 or 3 years ago). In such a context, the use of this term is simply a sign of US arrogance in my eyes.

Caucasian: I have never heard that term being used in everyday language outside of a science context. Recently, Russian neo-Nazis have started a racist campaign against "Caucasians". They mean, of course, those dark-skinned (from a North-European POV) people like Chechens, Ingush, Avars etc. They are white supremacists who look down on "Caucasians".

BTW, in German the respective term would not be African German but German African. That would now mean a German of African descent and at the times of my grandfathers would have been a German living in Africa. But the term Afrogerman is also in use.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Bee
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 10:35 AM

I have, somewhere in my stored books, a nineteenth century British Officers Training Manual, in which both Scottish and Indian regiments are referred to as Black troops. There is a whole section regarding the leading of these troops, seperate from the rest of the manual.

It is interesting to read some of the history behind these colour designations.

I have noticed, in the past few years, that locally anyway, the newspapers and television news have stopped constantly referring to people by their colour, unless it is entirely relevant to the story. For example, in the case of the shark attack mentioned above, why was the colour of the people involved relevant? It wasn't. What appears to be relevant is that they may have been reckless young men, 'reckless', 'young', and 'men' being the desciptors relevant to the story.

Years ago, before the end of apartheid, I was at a party where one guest was a young South African man. There were several Black (generally preferred designation in NS) Nova Scotians there as well as many White Nova Scotians. For the most part, Black Nova Scotians are of very mixed ancestry. A group of guests, including a Black couple, were talking to the South African about colour, the thing being, this young fellow supported Apartheid, and he vigorously claimed to be White, and at one point even showed his identification papers that said so. But to the Nova Scotians at the party, he appeared physically to be an obviously racially mixed person who, in Nova Scotia, would definitely self identify as Black. He claimed he could not see this at all, yet when asked, identified everyone in the room he thought was non-white, including one person whose appearance was much more ambiguous than his own.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 10:19 AM

"In my opinion, a person who has one White biological parent and one biological parent who is Black {or who has some Black ancestry} should be allowed to consider him or her self White no matter how dark their complexion is, no matter how frizzy their hair is, and no matter how his or her other physical features look."

Azizi, I totally agree that a person should have that right, but I do have a couple of questions.

Why, in God's name, would anyone want to exercise it?

What is so bloody special about being white?

I am white, and the predominant feeling I have about that fact is shame. I am constantly made aware that I have enjoyed advantages and benefits not open to my black contemporaries, by virtue of my colour.

I should think that the one asset that any black, or biracial person would cleave to is pride in his/her origins.

I don't know how things went in the USA, but over here it was the black population who decided that "black" was their choice of descriptor, and it would be a brave and foolish man who would use the word "negro", though the meaning is identical.

As for Lewis Hamilton, to me he is just a supremely talented young racing driver, whose success in setting the world of F1 alight has absolutely nothing to do with the colour of his skin, but I suppose that the media hacks have to find a tag to hang their stories on.

Shame really, as it detracts from the achievments.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,Santa
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 09:57 AM

Slavery was the normal way of running a state/country/city for the vast majority of history. The white/black thing is only a (comparatively) recent variation. The Roman Empire ran off slavery. The Vikings raided to catch slaves, as the most profitable items they could find. The Arab culture was based on slavery - an Arab wreck found recently in the English Channel is thought to have been wrecked during a slave raid. Central American cultures ran on slavery.

Now stopping slavery - that's something else.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: artbrooks
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 09:32 AM

I am reminded of the story (which I probably have wrong) of the matron in New Orleans back in the 1950s or 1960s who was discovered to be 1/128 black. She had to get her drivers license changed to say "RACE: Negro" and lost her cherished membership in the Daughters of the Confederacy.

We are all colored, in shades ranging from light pinkish-tan to very dark brown. Many of us have "unusual" physical characteristics such as blue eyes, tightly curled hair, or epicanthal eyelid folds, because we descend from a population group that developed in isolation. We have family/extended family/national/ethnic histories to remember and cherish. We all belong to the same race - human.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 09:07 AM

I wonder if the unifying aspect of most of the practies of slavery was not some religion or other preaching that others were inferior.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Grab
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 08:52 AM

uniquely inhuman and impersonal version of race relations

Certainly inhuman and impersonal, but sadly not unique. The Spanish and Portugese weren't any better than the English in how they ran Central and South America. And look up slavery internal to Africa and the Middle East, to find that Europeans were (to their mind) merely using a pre-existing system of trade. And for more inhuman and impersonal, look up Cetewayo or other historical African leaders, or even "Hutu" and "Tutsi". Or hell, look up "Orange Order" for what whites will happily do to whites from a different tribe.

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 08:46 AM

Glad it's not just me Azizi :)

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Azizi
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 08:39 AM

eanjay, whatever you got is catching :o)

Here's a correction to my last post:

"For instance, I find Peter K (Fionn)'s 07 Nov 07 - 07:41 AM to be very interesting".

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Azizi
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 08:20 AM

Although the person who was/is the initial focus of this thread is not from the United States, most of my comments refer to the United States since that is where I "live, move and have my being".

However, one of the reasons why I like Mudcat is that it provides opportunities to engage in "conversations" about various subjects or the same subject from persons from various nations in the world.

For instance, Peter K (Fionn)'s 07 Nov 07 - 07:41 AM to be very interesting. Prior to posting on Mudcat, I didn't know that "Black" was used by some Asians in Great Britain and some Indigenous people in Australia to refer to themselves or that others used it to refer to those populations.

I continue to lament that there are so few people of color who post on this forum {or perhaps I should say "people of color who acknowledge that fact}.

It would, for instance, be very interesting to visit Mudcat and "hear" from Asians, Latinos, and other people of color-on this subject and on other subjects not pertaining to race/racism.

Maybe that will happen soon.

Where there's life, there's hope.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 08:07 AM

Belgian - perhaps I shouldn't post again today!

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 08:06 AM

too many nights!

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 08:05 AM

Peter K (Fionn)

I had a bad night night last night with my posts!

unlike someone who posted in the same minute as Joe

That was me and what I was meaning was that I was agreeing that the word black could have been replaced with something like the first Russian, Canadian, Indian, Belgium, Scottish .......... person to do so. I didn't mean to agree that the black should be replaced by white.

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Azizi
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 08:03 AM

Here's a longish excerpt of a review of Notorious in the Neighborhood: Sex and Families across the Color Line in Virginia, 1787-1861 {The University of North Carolina Press} Joshua D. Rothman:

"Rothman examines another aspect of slavery and segregation, namely interracial unions and relationships, to arrive at the conclusion that many whites in the South engaged in liaisons with blacks regardless of their social standing or class. The author focuses on Virginia because that region often personified the opinions and stature of the South as a whole....

Rothman's sources-including the requisite court records, divorce filings, newspapers, government records, and narratives that are the bread and butter of the social historian-easily bolster his thesis. The author argues that during the early national and antebellum period, relationships between the races flourished as long as the people involved followed an important caveat. His first example is the Thomas Jefferson/Sally Hemings entanglement. Rothman argues that nearly everyone in Albemarle County, Virginia, where the founding father resided, knew about his relationship with one of his slaves. The white population tacitly accepted this technically illegal union because such relationships were frequent but kept under wraps. In other words, as long as those involved remained quiet about their sexual activities with slaves, no one called them on it. The author claims that the attempt to expose Jefferson's relationship for political gain actually had the reverse effect: white southerners resented having their double standard exposed to the light of day. The other example Rothman cites, the David Isaacs/Nancy West attachment, provides reinforces the author's conclusions about the Jefferson/Hemings acquaintance while also providing a counterpoint. In this case, whites brought charges against the two because they openly flaunted their illicit liaison. Again, as long as people involved in an interracial affair kept the matter close to the vest, little usually came of it....

Repeatedly, the book uncovers evidence that race was not intractable but rather a nebulous conception upon which generations of whites erected increasingly baroque legal, political, and economic policies...

"Notorious in the Neighborhood" excels in providing yet further proof that race is a socially constructed notion owing more to ideology than biology. The author proves that race, at least in Virginia during the period in question, meant different things to different people at different times. The legal codes defining race changed several times, something that could never happen if race was a fixed category. Rothman discovers that efforts to tighten up racial categories, to institute a precursor to the notorious "one-drop" rule of the later Jim Crow era, deeply concerned many lawmakers who believed that meddling with blood quotients could redefine many white people as black. If race never changes, how could someone suddenly become black or white with the flick of a pen? The racial policies of the South assumed idiotic heights as judges, politicians, and other civil authorities navigated through the strange new world created by the increasing mixed blood population. When confronted with the reality of interracial offspring, laws defining racial separation and identification hiccupped. The best example Rothman gives of the ambiguity of the race system sits at the beginning of chapter six where he spells out sixty-one different racial categories recognized in Virginia during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries."

http://www.africaspeaks.com/community/modules.php?name=Amazon&asin=0807854409

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Azizi
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 08:00 AM

Voluntary interracial relations probably occurred in pre-civil war United States between White men and Black women who were indentured servants. And voluntary interracial relations also probably occurred between White women and free Black males or freed or still enslaved Black males. However,given the deadly consequences for the Black men, but also probably for the White women, these White women/Black male voluntary relationships were undoubtedly far fewer than the voluntary and involuntary White male/Black female relationships

Post African American emancipation in the United States, Black men/White women interracial relationships seem to be far more numerous then the reverse. That said, it's definitely not uncommon to see and hear about White men/Black women romantic relationships.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 07:41 AM

Spaw, if an eskimo-French guy was the world's best cricketer, that would be a man-bites-dog story whichever way you described him.

Tunesmith is offbeam with this thread and Joe Offer dealt with it admirably (unlike someone who posted in the same minute as Joe).

It is a sad reflection on the Mudcat membership that tunesmith is able to say so confidentally "We might just as well call them white." He's right of course. With the exception of just one or two Mudcatters, this is indeed an us-and-them matter. Maybe that is why so much of the emphasis here is on what whites are comfortable with rather than on the terminology that blacks prefer.

In South Africa and Britain the term half-breed is derogatory, carrying the pejorative values mentioned by someone above. A widely acceptable term for someone of mixed parentage such as Lewis Hamilton is mixed-race. However colour-based terms are widely used as a kind of legitimate shorthand, but with no intention to be accurate in the literal sense. In this case it is quite usual for mixed-race people (and many Asians) to identify themselves as black rather than use precise colour-chart terminology such as (say) "caramel with a hint of magenta."

An explanation I have heard for this is that to use terms other than black can sound like an attempt to disown the black element, or to establish a favourable differential over people who are "more black." In other words it might be seen as conforming to an assumption that white is better. Certainly the term "coloured" is specifically avoided, this being a throwback to the apartheid era when it was an official classification and carried privileges denied to "blacks" (a blatant application of "divide and rule" which the Boers had learnt so assiduously from the Brits). Note I am talking only about South Africa and the UK.

My guess, based on the attitudes of my black friends and more particularly my mixed-race friends (who were officially classed as "Cape coloureds" within their lifetimes) is that Hamilton will be perfectly happy to be called black. I ciouldn't say about Woods as the terminlogy might have different nuances in America.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: artbrooks
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 06:50 AM

Dazbo, it is not unlikely that one or more of the male Scots transported to the colonies in the mid-18th century had sexual relations, voluntary or otherwise, with a black fellow-slave.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: GUEST,Dazbo at work
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 06:11 AM

Quoting from Poppagator:- "Certainly, before 1776, all those rich white planters who bought and managed African slaves in Virginia and the Carolinas were Englishmen who would only gradually assume a newly created national identity.

The English (and/or English-speaking) slaveowners of colonial America maintained and promoted a uniquely inhuman and impersonal version of race relations"

Strange isn't it: All the bad things in the British Empire were done by the English - nary a Scot, Welsh or Irish did anything that we would consider wrong today.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: goatfell
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 05:07 AM

or that should be those who don't like calling other people black or brown I mean I was watching the news years ago and some idiots were killed by a shark and the news caster said that they were non whites, I mean what the hell is that, they were all blue, or green, or any other colour under the sun, but each to his own

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: goatfell
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 05:05 AM

If these people don't like being called Black then that's their problem, and I agree he's British and proud

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Mr Red
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 05:00 AM

Whatever you call him it should include the word talented.
If Stirling Moss can predict he would be world champion it says it all. OK 2nd to a man that took how many years to do it? Close but no cigar maybe but he beat his team mate and had him rattled just by his skill. Some rookie.

AND he's British and proud.

If he wants to be called black - where's the arguement? If he doesn't you got a point, but the man has too much gravitas to be drawn into the fray.

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: goatfell
Date: 07 Nov 07 - 04:35 AM

he's brown and not black, I just hate Politcal Correctiness.

For example, you are not allowed to use the term brain storm because the people that look after people that take fits says that offends them so you have to say now something like thought shower, in other words brain washing

Subject: RE: BS: Lewis Hamilton - black?
From: Azizi
Date: 06 Nov 07 - 07:56 PM

In addition, Mrrzy's statement that African Americans who travel to Africa find out that they are sho'nuff not black presupposes two things:

1. that black is just a dark skin color
and
2.that all Africans have dark skin color

Not to mention that it is not true that prior to the end of US slavery all African Americans with White ancestry got that White ancestry as a result of White men raping Black women.

And it also isn't true that African Americans since the end of the US civil war have White Ancestry [only] because of rape.

If Mrrzy's Black friends don't want to acknowledge any White ancestry that they know that they have, that's on them. But the reason they gave her, doesn't hold true for most Black people I know.