world world clueless

[389]

Gogo + Rei ⛓️⛓️⛓️💣💥🥀

[pro-royalty]

Renée Downer

[dcminions]

RENEÉ DOWNER 'CHECK' MUSIC VIDEO

[suiheisen]

society if sidney crosby let his curls grow out

[princemick]

LEWIS // Drive to Survive Season 6 Episode 10

[lewki]

the king.

[worldclueless]

Much to discuss after the weekend it seems. Buckle up cause this is a long one.

After the Brazil GP, a lot of swirling thoughts I’ve been feeling for the past few months made themselves apparent. 

First things first: Formula 1 and by extensions some of its fans, are incredibly tolerant to concerning behavior. 

The concerning behavior of bigotry (specifically racism) continues to permeate the sport like a moldy sock. Putting up some hashtags and PR statements do very little to address the issue. 

Through press conferences that have grown to become a soapbox that he could speak unchallenged through (cause for some reason journalists prefer not to really do their job nowadays), Max has positioned himself to be some sort of persecuted figure (???). 

The latest boogeyman is the British bias that Max and RedBull harp on about and how they favour most (a very important distinction as POCs receive no such grace) British drivers. 

He’s able to go on and on and on about how persecuted he is by the British media without an ounce of irony or perspective. What’s worse, he’s enabled by RB and its fans, again, without an ounce of irony or perspective. 

The way in which he is treated with kids gloves at times is truly stunning. His comments about ‘having the wrong passport in the paddock’ were distasteful. Point blank. Just utterly distasteful to have those words uttered by a white Dutch man with a Belgian passport. And for some reason, his fans do their very best to be extremely dense as to why it was so distasteful. 

And then he throws a hissy fit for his right to say swear words. I think it’s personally dumb to police drivers over silly things like this, but the way in which Max is more passionate about swear words than, let’s say, kneeling with a fellow driver over police brutality…I don’t know, the reaction is different. 

In contrast, the head of the FIA was willing to ban Lewis for 6 races after a joke about being black. I have to emphasize (because it’s so fucking insane) the head of the FIA, Jean Todt, considered banning Lewis for SIX (!!!!) races because he joked about being black (and it was a popular Ali G joke mind you). 

Like, do you seriously think being able to say a swear word is the sword to die by and make yourself a martyr over? Do you think me, with my black, melanated self gives a fuck if you can say ‘fuck’? 

Furthermore, when I think of the way some fans speak about Lewis, it’s also the specific wording that is always used when they speak about Lewis. Lewis has grown so much (as if you were talking about a wayward child and not a 39 year old man) or Lewis is such a class act (always setting him to a higher standard and expecting him to take the high road) or Never liked Lewis before but I really am starting to now (strangely is always said after he is charitable to others who spew venom in his face).  

RB and its fans, have absolutely no leg to stand on about being persecuted when their environment can tolerate racism. Additionally, they continue to host and tolerate the presence of Nelson Piquet who was blatantly racist to Lewis. Max was able to fix his mouth after his Brazil win to make himself the victim of discrimination by the British press again, and then go celebrate with his Bolsonaro-supporter girlfriend and her racist father without an ounce of pushback from any of the journalists. Like, do I need to spell out the dynamics at play here? 

When teams are hosts to figures like Trump and Rogan, are we really surprised that racist and discriminatory actions amongst fans is able to happen when the messaging is clear: we can tolerate this. 

And unfortunately, it’s true. Fans can tolerate it cause to put it bluntly: y’all do not give a fuck. 

The journalists continuously fail to critique the ways in which this racist sentiment is able to insidiously thrive within the F1 environment. 

That’s why I’m just so skeptical of messaging that is pushed by new fans that ‘F1 is for the girlies.’ Which girlies exactly? Certainly not for me. 

This makes me think of Kenzo Craigie. I was delighted to see him and Lewis interacting and going for a hot lap. I loved seeing Kenzo so excited about meeting someone that looked like him and was so successful in his field. It was such a powerful moment. But it left me with a pit of anxiety in my stomach. That’s because Kenzo seemed like such a bright-eyed and eager boy.

When I saw the BBC interviews of Lewis as a child, I never actually saw a happy young boy. There was always deep sadness I detected in his voice when he spoke of his experiences as a young black racer. Recently, after Lewis spoke about suffering from depression that stemmed from the racist abuse he suffered as well as the high expectations placed on him, this confirmed my suspicions. 

Kenzo, in contrast, through my limited viewings of his interviews, seems relatively happier in his demeanor. And this is what I fear. I fear the way in which F1, its fans and the FIA will stomp out the light in his eyes. I don’t want to see this happy young black boy have his joyful spirit stomped on by an unrelenting organization. What’s worse, his Britishness will not shield him from any of the British bias (lol) that fans screech about. 

Bigotry will always thrive if there isn’t continuous action to address the problem, and I have zero faith in the FIA stepping up to meaningfully take action. 

Anyway, I think I’ll only stick around so long as Lewis is around cause I don’t think there’s much for me here as a young black woman. This sport would never love me back.

[princemick]

LEWIS WINS THE 2024 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

[worldclueless]

trying to gather my thoughts and put this as eloquently as possible.

if you haven't caught up, recently jenson button gave an interview in which he gave advice to lewis hamilton about his move to ferrari. unsurprisingly, this spurred some 'discourse' (shudders) about how lewis ex-teammates-turned-pundits (mostly nico and jenson Imao) tend to give weird borderline-psycho analysis about lewis even though it has been quite a significant amount of time since they were teammates and who knows if this analysis is even too applicable to lewis as he has changed A LOT since his tenure with them.

and again, unsurprisingly, this brought out a chunk of the fanbase that can never pass up the opportunity to give a dig at lewis and treat guy's like jenson and nico's words like gospel. one frankly gross post went on and on and on about how unbothered jenson was during his time as lewis's teammate (no he was not) and how much of a paranoid weirdo freak lewis was about being challenged by a teammate (never mind the fact his first teammate was fernando fucking alonso).

and this is a worrying trend i see growing amongst a faction of f1 fans who try and ignore the context of lewis and his place in the sport. lewis is a black man in a predominantly white sport. jenson nor nico, no matter how much people will place them on some babygirl pedestal, will NEVER know what that means or what this is like so whenever i hear them recount their time together as teammates, the context of this is always lost.

in 2011, lewis had split with his dad as his manager and was going through a tumultuous time with his girlfriend, nicole. i don't know about you, but if my personal relationships with the people i cared about were on rocky grounds, that would tend to affect how i interact with people at my workplace. nevermind the fact that it was also magazine gossip fodder. that type of spotlight affects you heavy. especially working in the toxic environment of early 2010s mcclaren.

nowadays, lewis, at best, is professional and cordial with both jenson and nico which is not a problem but for some reason some fans think lewis's attention and time should be spent fawning and talking about these men. they're unable to see him as somebody that is not fanfiction fodder for their white faves and it is generally disturbing the lengths they will go to to justify their lack of empathy, compassion, and consideration of his place as he tries to exist within a space that was resistant to accommodating his identity (2007 barcelona testing anyone?).

and if it wasn't bad enough, these same 'fans' have the cheek to imply that hamilton is psychologically weak for not engaging with these guys beyond a professional level. the same man who was racially abused by grown white adults since the age of 12 is psychologically weak. wow. truly stunning. and these fans always give a half-hearted "yeah of course lewis has gone through some racial trauma but-" but nothing. end of. your what fav and you have no fucking clue as to what racial trauma does to black children and how it seriously impacts them. so don't ever try to erase this impact. you're overstepping: it's not your place.

so if it wasn't clear: lewis hamilton does not owe your white fav anything. if he wants to mind his business while rolling by in his scooter, that's not a problem. you brocedes/slagclaren types that only tolerate him for his proximity to these white men are frankly, racist, and your pathetic attempts to hide behind your racism because lewis isn't as perfect as he tries to be' (yeah no shit) make it such a hostile environment for black fans who can smell your bs from a mile away.

[wanderingnewyork]

Houses in #Crown_Heights, #Brooklyn.