“You Are the Angry Black Man”: Lone Ranger Lewis Hamilton Reflects on a Racially Abusive Incident While Celebrating a Small Victory

Being the only black driver on the grid ever since his debut in F1, Lewis Hamilton was always sensitive about racial inclusivity. He was always vocal about his passion for the cause. However, F1 did not always take his opinion seriously. However, the widespread protests after George Floyd’s death in 2020 changed everything. Hamilton became more vocal than ever and the ones sitting in the top positions in F1 finally took notice. In a recent interview, he recalled what it was like before that happened.

It is not just the F1 grid where Lewis finds himself alone in representing black athletes. Growing up while racing on karting tracks as well, he felt his culture was underrepresented. Moreover, that sometimes led to him enduring racial abuse. But ever since he has made it, he makes sure to bring about a change for good in the organizations he engages with.

In a recent Sky Sports interview, he told, “There wasn’t change, any movement until 2020, or 2021 really. These last couple of years, you’re starting to see some change but before that, was the lone ranger. Couldn’t really talk on the subject as it would just be, ‘oh, you’re the angry black man’. It was a difficult and very narrow path to walk, and a very long path to walk.”

“But since then, since 2020, I think created allies, the sport has, I would say better people in governance and running it have more empathy, are more open-minded, realizing that the more inclusive sport is better for them but just better for everyone that’s within it and more reflective of the outside world because we have a huge fanbase.”

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In an earlier interview, Hamilton also talked about the need for better leaders. For that, he talked about the possible role he can play in the future.

Lewis Hamilton fed up with current world leaders

Earlier this year in January, Lewis appeared for an interview with Jay Shetty. There he talked about how he cannot watch the news anymore because it is all filled with negative and “devastating” developments. He also talked about his disappointment with current world leaders who haven’t done much to deal with the situation.

In the On Purpose podcast, he spoke, “We need to create better future leaders. Look how bad our leaders are in government. We need to be a part of the next generation of thought leaders that are positive. So that’s what I’m trying to be a part of every day.”

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It is heartening to see him continue on his path despite facing immense resistance from different spheres. Hope to see more athletes in different sports realize the power they hold and channel it for good causes.