I guess the point which “got my goat” in terms of the American coverage of the F1 rookie was that the American media was projecting our own standards or perspective onto an international sport which exists globally. The British media, and the driver himself, regard him as British, so it felt ignorant for the American media to make a big deal out of something (skin color) which wasn’t an issue at the place where it was actually happening. The British media focused on him because of his incredible skill at such a young age, not because he happened to be black. I wouldn’t think of it as admirable as much as a matter of fact, since the BBC news covers sports which involve countries all over the world (soccer, rugby, motorsport, cricket, etc.).

I felt that it was just another example of how egocentric the American consciousness is in regards to the rest of the world. F1 is an international sport with drivers from 5 of the 7 continents and races are held across those same 5 continents. The differences of color or race or nationality are already taken for granted and accepted, because everyone is used to interacting within a global community. I guess America is still quite behind in terms of thinking that way.

(As you can tell, I’ve digressed into a rant which far exceeds the scope of the original topic. Sorry.)

On one hand, I think that the “colour blind” and “no colour lines” bumper sticker phenomenon is kind of ignorant in itself, because when the person is in plain view and people proclaim to “not see any colour” I simply think they’re lying, the same way people who say they have “no bias whatsoever” are lying. I’m more of an advocate of embracing differences rather than ignoring they exist because race is very much a part of everyone whether we admit it or not. But using it to be divisive is an entirely other matter.

In your case, however, with the BBC not mentioning he is black that is pretty admirable I think. But then again, I don’t think American news proclaiming he is black is a bad thing because that is somewhat of an advancement of an African-British (or is he African-American?) competitor in the sport, of which there are very few. It’s a double-edged sword but all the same I don’t know that I really agree with ignoring race as being an issue completely. I see much more advancement coming from the embracing of our differences.

The BBC Sport website’s coverage of his season always referred to him as a Brit and almost never made any mention of his skin colour during all of their coverage. However, ESPN and other American sports media ran huge features on the fact that he was BLACK.

Sigh. Things like this make me think that American is still rather immature when it comes to dealing with the “race issue.” True maturity/progress comes when we don’t see a person’s skin color anymore, no?

i guess we’ll just have to wait till the Star Trek-era to eliminate these things.

While visiting other countries I’m reminded of this and contrast the natives with that and well, since I’m a visitor I think it’s imperative to remember that I’m the visitor and that people are not going to be prepared to think in the “American PC,” non-prejudiced mindset. It requires add’l patience but indeed, it’s an educational experience to come out of your comfort zone. Just because you and I are offended doesn’t mean that the person who did the offending necessarily intended to be.

I look upon every chance at interaction as an opportunity to learn something while traveling. It’s been really eye-opening. And great.

@Franksabunch: And why would you, you newlywed? Hope you’re enjoying your married life and I can’t wait to catch up!!

@big league: Aw thanks. “Ignorance” by definition tends to cover a lot of grey area but you know, I think there’s just as much knowledge I myself can gain from everything to shed light on my own ignorance.

But then again, there are many other societies not as willing to embrace a multi-ethnic social makeup as much as the U.S. There’s plenty of flaws in our culture, but at least there are many of us trying our best to make it better… in a way, everyone benefits eventually.