Ecclestone denies condoning racism
Friday, 07 November 2008 11:51
The article below - culled from www.itv.com/F1 once more revealed the silliness of some old men in position of authority. Bernie Ecclestone's comment that the bigotted behaviours against Hamilton earlier this year in Spain and in Brazil was only a joke demonstrates his shortsightedness in social and racial matters. There must be a problem with some 70 year old white men (Bernie Ecclestone, John McCain and Silvio Berlusconi, to name a few).
Bernie Ecclestone has denied accusations he has condoned the racist abuse directed at Lewis Hamilton this year, after remarks made by him produced an angry backlash from anti-racism groups.
The Formula 1 supremo provoked controversy following an interview with BBC Radio on Thursday in which he claimed he thought the abuse directed at Hamilton at Barcelona in pre-season testing had been meant as “a bit of a joke”.
He also auggested that he didn’t think this incident or the Spanish website which caused controversy in the build up to the Brazilian GP was “anything to do with racism”.
Ecclestone’s comments have been condemned by anti-racism campaigners in the British press, with calls on him to resign from his F1 post.
The 78-year-old has since responded to the furore by saying that his past actions showed he wouldn’t condone such behaviour.
“I was the one who pulled the grand prix out of South Africa [after 1985] in support of Nelson Mandela because of bloody apartheid before these people knew anything about racism,” he told The Times newspaper.
He added that he had tried to get the Spanish Grand Prix organisers to get the spectators who had worn black face paint and wigs at the pre-season test to meet Hamilton face-to-face.
“I said to the promoters in Barcelona, ‘Let me go and get the people that blacked their faces up and bring them into the paddock and introduce them to Lewis and then see what they’ve got to say,’” he said.
“But the police said, ‘Don’t do it.’ I personally was going to get them.”
Ecclestone’s original comments were greeted with outrage from anti-racism groups on Friday.
The Kick it Out organisation, English football’s anti-racism campaign, said: “What Bernie Ecclestone said is shocking and disgraceful.
“In his position in Formula 1, and with the sway that he holds, for him to come out and say this…is very worrying and short-sighted.
“You would expect [him] to be protective of someone like Hamilton and use his authority to chastise these supporters.
“This will upset a lot of people, particularly young mixed-race and black males who are looking up to Hamilton and what he has achieved.
“People are entitled to support who they want but that is no reason for racist abuse, which this clearly was.”
When asked about Ecclestone’s comments himself at a promotional event on Thursday, Hamilton said that while he had not heard the F1 supremo’s comments he made it clear he didn't regard the taunts aimed at him as trivial or humorous
