After this weekend’s disgraceful displays of racism against Lewis Hamilton at Montmelo, the FIA have warned Spain that one or both races due to take place here this season may be cancelled if anything similar happens again.
Hamilton was subjected to calls of ‘puto negro’ and ‘negro de mierda’ as he carried out test laps at the Barcelona circuit. Other incidents included a rather odd group of people actually going to the trouble of blacking-up and donning t-shirts proclaiming ‘Hamilton’s Family’.
Many Spaniards are big fans of Fernando Alonso (Dullest Man Ever™) and some have apparently used his rivalry with Hamilton as yet another excuse to indulge their pathetic racist beliefs.
Racism in Spanish sport is a serious problem. Numerous black athletes including Barça’s Samuel Eto’o have been subjected to thoroughly unpleasant taunts in recent years. It’s not long since Luis Aragones was fined for calling Thierry Henry a ‘black shit’.
The best thing to do would probably be cancel both the Barcelona and Valencia races for a couple of years. It would teach honest, non-racist, F1 fans that in future, rather than standing by as a bunch of racist scum-suckers make everyone look bad, it would be best to turn around and smack them in the mouth. Also, it would probably help to reduce pollution and hepatitis infections in the race areas significantly.
Tom,
that really is despicable. It seems that previous efforts to eradicate racism at Spanish sporting events have been unsuccessful, and black footballers can still expect monkey chants and bananas thrown at them. (Although, to be fair, the fines issued against the football clubs and senor aragones could have been considerably higher.)
I agree, only by canceling the race will the public receive some sort of sanction for their behaviour because they’ll miss out on the race. However, it might be fair to argue that non-racist fans are also punished by this. Perhaps the solution is to have stewards forcibly eject anyone responsible for racist behaviour, turn them over to the police, fine them big and ban them for life. But, what are the chances that this kind of serious action will actually be taken?
Hi Jonathan.
Yes, the non-racist fans will be punished but unfortunately, I think this necessary. In Spain, it has become all too normal to ignore the racist minority or even say that “it’s not serious, it’s just a bit of teasing, sport’s always like that” – and people think this is enough.
Stopping the races will teach all fans that one person shouting abuse is too many, and that we all have to stand up and condemn racism when we see it. Standing by isn’t enough.
Denial is a national pasttime in Spain. The problem in Spain runs very deep. Canceling the races will be a good start but only a superficial measure. As you pointed out, many Spaniards see nothing wrong with the behavior that occurred in Barcelona, and until that changes, no permanent change is going to happen.
I agree with most of what you say, but the attack to Alonso is not justified. Nice call for violence, too.
Alonso is a dreadfully dull man. As to the violence, I’m not calling for it at all. I would say though that it’s better to punch a racist to shut him up than to stand by and let him continue. There is, of course, a middle ground. Something like a blog, for example.
I think personally its not racism. Its JEALOUSY!
Sorry, but its true. The “fans” involved from spain (I am not including all spanish – just the idiots involved here) You found out that Alonso doesnt measure up to hamilton, AND you found out that Alonso needed to cheat last year. I would be pretty upset too!
Hamilton is a better man, and a better racer than Alonso. Race and colour has no place being used as an excuse. It’s a poor advert for a country where countless foreigners no matter where they came from and no matter what colour they are – have always been made to feel welcome by the majority.
I feel sorry for the innocent people who have had their nationality and their good reputation tarnished by a bunch of jealous arrogant mindless thugs