I surely can't be the only one to notice that the last few weeks have been absolute heaven for the types who make up for their considerable guilt at daring to be born white by patronisingly, and in the sort of voice usually reserved for talking to stupid children, pointing it out every time a minority does something new and exciting, like it came as something of a shock to them that a black man from Stevenage can drive quite well, or that there were a gang of white supremacists waiting with baited breath to tell the world how McClaren had fitted jet boosters to his car to defeat the superior Aryan driving skills of Kimi Raikonnen.
As a man who never thought that any given race was worse than any other at, well, racing, I didn't find Lewis Hamilton's Formula One World Championship win particularly historic. It's not as if there was ever a ban on black people racing Formula One cars and for years the likes of Hamilton had been yearning to get in and were being banned by Bernie Ecclestone somewhat confusingly marching up and down waving the British Bulldog around. Drivers from 14 different countries have won the title over the years. The title has at one time or another resided in 5 different continents, and we even let a Frenchman win it, four times. It's too global and too spread-out to be a racist sport - despite a few Spaniards in gorilla outfits - and race was never going to be an issue the minute a black driver with the quality and inclination to claim a race seat came along. Congratulations to Lewis on winning his title and making us all proud to feel British again, but there really wasn't anything truly historic in his being black and winning a Formula One title. No-one gave a toss what colour Juan Manuel Fangio was when he became the first South American to win the title. He was just good at driving, as is Lewis.
The US election is another area where people have gone completely overboard. Barack Obama ran as a Democratic candidate and swept through states which are either traditionally non-racist and Democrat-voting, or borderline states with a large black population. The talk of making history is even more insidious in this case because anywhere where attitudes would truly have to drastically change, they haven't. All the southern states as usual all voted for a conservative white bloke, the same way they've presumably voted since they chucked our lot out.
I know I should be caught up in the whole furore of 'hope and change' and perhaps being British and having lived through New Labour's breathy promises of things only getting better has jaded me against such supposedly historic talk, but I am finding it difficult to see how things have changed as much as people are making out - even if the traditionally progressive party and traditionally progressive states have elected a charismatic young black man President, they are the states I would have always expected to do so if the right candidate came along, and the states with the deep-rooted racist ties, the deep south, all voted for a man who's entire campaign was based around calling Obama a Muslim terrorist, and his Satan's Barbie-doll running mate who's idea of wholesome family entertainment is mowing down Caribou in an Apache Longbow.
The proof that nothing has truly changed is Obama's security budget, which must surely be more than the GDP of most central American states because of the sheer amount of maniacs still hiding in deepest Missisippi who still see the President-elect as a house black with ideas above his station. That's not making history. Talk to me about making history when the Republicans nominate Senator Snoop Dogg in 2012, on a joint platform with Queen Latifah.
Actually, I hope that never happens. I absolutely cannot stand that woman.
Goodnight.
As a man who never thought that any given race was worse than any other at, well, racing, I didn't find Lewis Hamilton's Formula One World Championship win particularly historic. It's not as if there was ever a ban on black people racing Formula One cars and for years the likes of Hamilton had been yearning to get in and were being banned by Bernie Ecclestone somewhat confusingly marching up and down waving the British Bulldog around. Drivers from 14 different countries have won the title over the years. The title has at one time or another resided in 5 different continents, and we even let a Frenchman win it, four times. It's too global and too spread-out to be a racist sport - despite a few Spaniards in gorilla outfits - and race was never going to be an issue the minute a black driver with the quality and inclination to claim a race seat came along. Congratulations to Lewis on winning his title and making us all proud to feel British again, but there really wasn't anything truly historic in his being black and winning a Formula One title. No-one gave a toss what colour Juan Manuel Fangio was when he became the first South American to win the title. He was just good at driving, as is Lewis.
The US election is another area where people have gone completely overboard. Barack Obama ran as a Democratic candidate and swept through states which are either traditionally non-racist and Democrat-voting, or borderline states with a large black population. The talk of making history is even more insidious in this case because anywhere where attitudes would truly have to drastically change, they haven't. All the southern states as usual all voted for a conservative white bloke, the same way they've presumably voted since they chucked our lot out.
I know I should be caught up in the whole furore of 'hope and change' and perhaps being British and having lived through New Labour's breathy promises of things only getting better has jaded me against such supposedly historic talk, but I am finding it difficult to see how things have changed as much as people are making out - even if the traditionally progressive party and traditionally progressive states have elected a charismatic young black man President, they are the states I would have always expected to do so if the right candidate came along, and the states with the deep-rooted racist ties, the deep south, all voted for a man who's entire campaign was based around calling Obama a Muslim terrorist, and his Satan's Barbie-doll running mate who's idea of wholesome family entertainment is mowing down Caribou in an Apache Longbow.
The proof that nothing has truly changed is Obama's security budget, which must surely be more than the GDP of most central American states because of the sheer amount of maniacs still hiding in deepest Missisippi who still see the President-elect as a house black with ideas above his station. That's not making history. Talk to me about making history when the Republicans nominate Senator Snoop Dogg in 2012, on a joint platform with Queen Latifah.
Actually, I hope that never happens. I absolutely cannot stand that woman.
Goodnight.
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