Lewis Hamilton and anti racism

[Changemyname901]

I don’t really understand Hamilton’s anti-racism stance. He is loudly campaigning against Black racism and that’s great, no complaints at all, good for him. But then he spends his free time hanging out with Philip Green, enjoying the spoils of Greens wealth, hanging out on his yacht, wearing his clothes. All of which Green has got from using slave labourers in places like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. He is well known for exploiting people in such countries from young ages.

This makes no sense to me? How can you talk about slavery, as Hamilton has, but then enjoy the spoils of and be good friends with a man who uses slave labour to create his clothes and his empire? I feel like it’s selective. If you’re fighting racism, shouldn’t you be anti all aspects? I’m not saying he should be campaigning about other aspects of racism or modern slavery, if his passion is Black racism then that’s not a problem, he doesn’t have to shout about all other issues in the world, but I feel very cross that he can overlook Greens behaviour and physically benefit from it when he is such an advocate of anti-racism? Green has also been accused of racism and a black worker reported that he said something which I won’t repeat. How can Hamilton overlook all this? Am I being unreasonable to think this? It’s pit me off him to be honest, and I have zero desire to listen to him because I feel like it’s so hypocritical?

Before anyone questions me, I try very hard to shop ethically for food (and clothes when I bother to buy them), so I feel as though I can comment. I wouldn’t support someone like Topshop. Hamilton May also shop ethically, but to hang out on holiday on his yacht and enjoy his wealth just seems such bullshit to me?

@poloevi you are aware that a lot of the women who are being raped on a daily basis so they can keep their slave labour jobs are Black right? So it’s racist of me to call that out?

[quote lynsey91]**@Notverybright so if you could live somewhere like Monaco you would refuse?

I certainly wouldn't. As I said, good weather, low crime. The weather in the UK is shit and the crime is high and getting higher. Good luck to anyone rich enough to be able to live in Monaco[/quote]
Yes, maybe it’s because I’m not rich, and most likely never will be, but I believe in paying taxes and I am against other privileges such as private education too. That’s my stance and I would like to think I would keep it if I were rich. I very much respect celebrities such as Marcus Rashford and stormzy (can’t think of any white ones at the mo’, I didn’t deliberately only choose other black men) who use their money to help the disadvantaged.

I don’t see why black people have to care more about modern slavery compared to any other races. We can all try our best but it is impossible to live a completely moral life in today’s society.

So who in history has protested for something and created massive awareness or change, yet been perfect in all areas of thier lives?

What's the idea, he shouldn't protest about BLM unless he protests about everything else?

Agree

Damn it got beaten to the “Stevenage slums” comment.

The guy is a massive tax dodging twat.

I opened this thinking it would be a really racist post, but actually I agree.

I think we can't be selective about the way in which we fight racism: we need to combat it in all its forms, which includes slave/sweatshop labour and the disproportionate effect of climate change on the global south. Saying this does not in any way invalidate the specific claims of BLM, which are vitally important.

[quote Changemyname901]@poloevi you are aware that a lot of the women who are being raped on a daily basis so they can keep their slave labour jobs are Black right? So it’s racist of me to call that out?[/quote]

I am. Which is why I look forward to you informing literally every single mumsnet user that talks of a high street brand of this fact. And of you calling out every single celebrity that has been seen in a picture with Philip Green (spoiler alert: its a lot).

@poloevi if they’re publicly campaigning for race rights and wearing Levi’s then of course I would?

Here are all his chums. They would all have known that factories use slave labour.

Kate Moss
Sienna Miller
Naomi Campbell
Cara Delevingne
Leonardo DiCaprio
Liz Hurley
Gwyneth Paltrow
Beyonce
Rita Ora
Rihanna
Andrea Bocelli
Harry Styles
Liam Payne
Tony Blair
Kristen Bell
Anna Wintour
Ollie Locke
Tom Jones
Richard Desmond
Kate Hudson
Nick Grimshaw
Bill Clinton
Joan Collins
Britney Spears
Sylvester Stallone
Jennifer Lopez
Stevie Wonder
Robbie Williams
Alexandra Burke
Jemima Khan
Tess Daly
Vernon Kay
Alesha Dixon
Jamie Redknapp
Alexa Chung
Stirling Moss
George Benson
Michael Aspel
Bruce Willis
Little Mix

I mean, he may be a hypocrite but I find it super interesting that he is picked on so frequently.

Any celeb that campaigns/does charitable activity could probably be deemed a hypocrite.

But no ones perfect, and if you have tried, it’s actually extremely difficult to be totally ethical. I have friends who work in the oil industry. I don’t approve of what their companies do, and I know that by working for them they are complicit. Should I stop being friends with them?

Do you have some inside details on his friendship with Philip Green? Do you know how he feels about it, what conversations they’ve had? Probably not.

Find it very interesting that you’ve chosen Lewis Hamilton of all people to pick on for this. If you had a list of people it would seem a bit less targeted tbh.

Schumacher I found boring plus he was a dirty driver. something that Lewis can never be accused of

Hmm... I don't think you can really make a statement like this with any objectivity because the two drivers (mostly) competed under different legislation.

Hamilton's penalty for forcing Albon wide in Austria would be labelled 'dirty' if Schumacher had acted that way in the mid 90's, similarly, the blocking antics employed by drivers back then have been largely eradicated by rule changes, so it's impossible to judge which of the current crop of drivers may or may not have indulged in that sort of thing. By all indications, the Albon incident being only the most recent, Hamilton is on no way reluctant to get his elbows out on the track. See the number of times Massa was punted during overtaking attempts, or that he and Rosberg had intra-team collisions.

The reality is, the drivers simply aren't permitted to be as 'dirty' as they formerly were.

Jesus how can a knobhead like Philip Green have so many more friends than me?

@SharonasCorona

Here are all his chums. They would all have known that factories use slave labour.

Kate Moss
Sienna Miller
Naomi Campbell
Cara Delevingne
Leonardo DiCaprio
Liz Hurley
Gwyneth Paltrow
Beyonce
Rita Ora
Rihanna
Andrea Bocelli
Harry Styles
Liam Payne
Tony Blair
Kristen Bell
Anna Wintour
Ollie Locke
Tom Jones
Richard Desmond
Kate Hudson
Nick Grimshaw
Bill Clinton
Joan Collins
Britney Spears
Sylvester Stallone
Jennifer Lopez
Stevie Wonder
Robbie Williams
Alexandra Burke
Jemima Khan
Tess Daly
Vernon Kay
Alesha Dixon
Jamie Redknapp
Alexa Chung
Stirling Moss
George Benson
Michael Aspel
Bruce Willis
Little Mix

Exactly.

The link you're making between the pic and his right to protest an issue that affects his life, even at the height of his success, is MAD!

How/why this question even crossed your mind speaks volumes.

Again, who historically has successfully advocated for change with a perfect record? Or not LOOSELY been linked to questionable people.

How do you know Phillip Greens business operations even crossed Lewis's mind. Perhaps we're putting a lot of expectation on a sportstar!

Kate Moss and Philip Green have been good mates for years. Just as other superstars have. Are they okay to keep that friendship because they're not protesting about BLM?

Are you as concerned with climate protesters that eat meat? Or feminists that shop in Tesco?

The more you think about your OP the less sense it makes.

If you 'believe' in BLM, surely you should be happy that a superstar is raising awareness. Not, starting a thread in a white dominated space to attack a young black man who has taken a picture with another person, implying that their not qualified to raise awareness because of it.

I can understand if it was Esther Rantzen taking a pic with Gary Glitter this is a stretch by anyone's imagination. A stretch that posters are happily engaging in nevertheless.

Seriously. Why not focus on Boris Johnson's relationship with Donald Trump or something. You know, a person who should be held to such high standards as they actually have power over peoples lives.

The focus on Lewis Hamilton absolutely has nothing to do with the fact he is black. Yeh right. Just like every other black sportstar.

@Home2018

The link you're making between the pic and his right to protest an issue that affects his life, even at the height of his success, is MAD!

How/why this question even crossed your mind speaks volumes.

Again, who historically has successfully advocated for change with a perfect record? Or not LOOSELY been linked to questionable people.

How do you know Phillip Greens business operations even crossed Lewis's mind. Perhaps we're putting a lot of expectation on a sportstar!

Kate Moss and Philip Green have been good mates for years. Just as other superstars have. Are they okay to keep that friendship because they're not protesting about BLM?

Are you as concerned with climate protesters that eat meat? Or feminists that shop in Tesco?

The more you think about your OP the less sense it makes.

If you 'believe' in BLM, surely you should be happy that a superstar is raising awareness. Not, starting a thread in a white dominated space to attack a young black man who has taken a picture with another person, implying that their not qualified to raise awareness because of it.

I can understand if it was Esther Rantzen taking a pic with Gary Glitter this is a stretch by anyone's imagination. A stretch that posters are happily engaging in nevertheless.

Seriously. Why not focus on Boris Johnson's relationship with Donald Trump or something. You know, a person who should be held to such high standards as they actually have power over peoples lives.

The focus on Lewis Hamilton absolutely has nothing to do with the fact he is black. Yeh right. Just like every other black sportstar.

Yes! This!

And answer, if he was protesting/raising awareness of anti-semitism, or the Rohingya crisis, would you say that pic invalidated his right to do so?

Hamilton irritates me a lot. He's preaching now about the climate, the man who apparently used a private jet to run errands like pick up sushi. 🤔

I never understand the level of criticism he gets, and I can't help but think so much of it is based on the colour of his skin. It's abhorrent. I often wonder why Andy Murray, the most successful British tennis player has a knighthood, and Lewis Hamilton, the most successful British F1 driver, both of the same generation, does not. Hmmm....

He gets so much more hatred than other f1 drivers. I've never thought he is arrogant- he's confident (as he should be) and always seems friendly (everyone seems to love Kimi Raikkonen- to me the 'ice man' and basically being rude af to everyone routine has surely worn thin by now). I don't get the comment that he 'throws his team under a bus' he seems to have a great relationship with Mercedes and Toto Wolff. His achievements are incredible, made all the more so by how hard he and his family worked to get him there. He is from a working class background, completely different to many of the other drivers.

I'm a fan of his, no I don't think he's perfect, who is? But I understand and respect completely his stance on BLM and it's obvious why he feels the way he does. The racism he experiences is disgusting. His voice is a powerful and unique one and it's great he can step forward like he does. The people criticising him for the t-shirt on Sunday- you are aware that Mercedes backed him completely? Good on them for doing so.

As a black person, for years I have been seeing so and so irritates me, or so and so is aggressive, has a chip on their shoulder, should be grateful, has a bad attitude, is entitled, is uppity.

I was about 9 when I asked my mum why the papers were always so negative about black sportstars in a way they weren't with white people, and not lauded by the general population for their BRILLIANCE as a result.

Nothings changed.

And of course, again, it's not because of racism. There is NO correlation between say Stirling, Lewis, Serena Williams and the many others that have come before them. Of course.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Olympics_Black_Power_salute#:~:text=%20%20%20%20v%20t%20e%20Black,1968%20Olympics%20Black%20Power%20salute%20COINTEL%20...%20
The three medallists involved in this were completely ostracised by the sporting establishment including the Australian silver medallist. They did what they thought was right. I know bugger all about them or whether they were friends with retail millionaires. Because it doesn't actually matter.

@SharonasCorona

Here are all his chums. They would all have known that factories use slave labour.

Kate Moss
Sienna Miller
Naomi Campbell
Cara Delevingne
Leonardo DiCaprio
Liz Hurley
Gwyneth Paltrow
Beyonce
Rita Ora
Rihanna
Andrea Bocelli
Harry Styles
Liam Payne
Tony Blair
Kristen Bell
Anna Wintour
Ollie Locke
Tom Jones
Richard Desmond
Kate Hudson
Nick Grimshaw
Bill Clinton
Joan Collins
Britney Spears
Sylvester Stallone
Jennifer Lopez
Stevie Wonder
Robbie Williams
Alexandra Burke
Jemima Khan
Tess Daly
Vernon Kay
Alesha Dixon
Jamie Redknapp
Alexa Chung
Stirling Moss
George Benson
Michael Aspel
Bruce Willis
Little Mix

Ok out of this list I’d say the hypocrites were:

Leonardo DiCaprio
Gwyneth Paltrow
Rihanna
Tony Blair
Kristen Bell
Kate Hudson
Bill Clinton

The others on the list I don’t think have preached to us ordinary folk about anything, although I don’t know much about them so I’m probably wrong on a few.

I am taking on board pps comments though, and I agree that it’s better to be a hypocrite and make some positive changes in the world than just to be a self serving asshat in all circumstances.

We’re all hypocrites in some ways.

@Changemyname901

I don’t really understand Hamilton’s anti-racism stance. He is loudly campaigning against Black racism and that’s great, no complaints at all, good for him. But then he spends his free time hanging out with Philip Green, enjoying the spoils of Greens wealth, hanging out on his yacht, wearing his clothes. All of which Green has got from using slave labourers in places like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. He is well known for exploiting people in such countries from young ages.

This makes no sense to me? How can you talk about slavery, as Hamilton has, but then enjoy the spoils of and be good friends with a man who uses slave labour to create his clothes and his empire? I feel like it’s selective. If you’re fighting racism, shouldn’t you be anti all aspects? I’m not saying he should be campaigning about other aspects of racism or modern slavery, if his passion is Black racism then that’s not a problem, he doesn’t have to shout about all other issues in the world, but I feel very cross that he can overlook Greens behaviour and physically benefit from it when he is such an advocate of anti-racism? Green has also been accused of racism and a black worker reported that he said something which I won’t repeat. How can Hamilton overlook all this? Am I being unreasonable to think this? It’s pit me off him to be honest, and I have zero desire to listen to him because I feel like it’s so hypocritical?

Before anyone questions me, I try very hard to shop ethically for food (and clothes when I bother to buy them), so I feel as though I can comment. I wouldn’t support someone like Topshop. Hamilton May also shop ethically, but to hang out on holiday on his yacht and enjoy his wealth just seems such bullshit to me?

"Slave Labour" and Slavery cannot be compared

I don't get the comment that he 'throws his team under a bus

Every single time he pits and ends up on the 'wrong' tyre, in traffic, or behind an opponent, he whines down team radio about 'why did you put me on this strategy/tire/stop now' etc, implying that he plays no role at all in decision making and has no control over mid-race adaptations.

If that's true, then he's nowhere near the level of his predecessors in terms of thinking on the fly and tactical and strategical projection, and if it's untrue, then he's simply a whining brat who is incapable of accepting his own culpability.

You try dissing and squabbling with your own employer in a public setting and see how far you get. Never mind how that must make his colleagues feel, who work their arses off just to provide him with the means to drive a competitive car, when he implies that the reason he isn't at the front is because they have screwed up, and he couldn't possibly be complicit. It's arrogance personified.

We’re all hypocrites in some ways.

Very true, we are. Even OP doesn’t say she shops ethically, just that she tries very hard to. I

Every single time he pits and ends up on the 'wrong' tyre, in traffic, or behind an opponent, he whines down team radio about 'why did you put me on this strategy/tire/stop now' etc, implying that he plays no role at all in decision making and has no control over mid-race adaptations.

You’re quibbling about he says during a live race when he can be smashed into at any time by a car driving 60 miles + per hour?