Going to hopefully make an exciting season ahead. I hope Hamilton kicks the Spainard's arse on the track..... Spain could lose F1 races because of racist taunting of Lewis Hamilton 1 day ago MADRID, Spain - Spain could lose both its Formula One races following the racist taunting of driver Lewis Hamilton by spectators. The sport's ruling body said Monday the abuse aimed at F1's first black driver during weekend testing at the Barcelona circuit might result in sanctions. Punishment could lead to the removal of two races from the Grand Prix calendar - the Spanish Grand Prix on April 27 in Barcelona and the European GP on Aug. 24 at Valencia. FIA, the governing organization, said it will write to Spanish authorities to learn what happened before making a decision. "Formula One is a global, multicultural sport," FIA said. "It does not have scenes like this in its history and doesn't want to see scenes like this." Hamilton finished second in the drivers' championship last year in his rookie season. Spectators aimed abusive gestures and shouted racist abuse at the 23-year-old driver when he moved between the McLaren motor home and the team's garage at the Montmelo circuit on Saturday. A group of spectators wore wigs, dark makeup and T-shirts with the words "Hamilton's Family" scrawled on them. The circuit said Monday it may take legal action against those spectators involved in the racist taunts. "The truth is that I feel somewhat sad, I am in love with this country, and especially the city of Barcelona and this circuit, which is one of my three favourites," Hamilton told sportlifepress.com. "The people in Spain have always been very warm with me, and even though I imagined what might happen it has not been pleasant." In Spain, Hamilton is widely blamed for Fernando Alonso's failure to clinch a third straight championship last season after the Spaniard joined McLaren from Renault. Alonso, who has since rejoined Renault, finished third in the drivers' standings. "I would like them (the Spanish fans) to understand my position," Hamilton said. "The only thing that I have done is to try to give the best of myself and try to win the championship. At no point have I tried to deliberately prejudice Fernando, but the fight has been very tough and my image in Spain has been severely damaged." McLaren said in a statement it has raced and tested on Spanish circuits for many years, and "everyone connected with the team regards Spain and the Spanish people with great affection, Lewis included." British Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe condemned the "sickening" conduct and said he would write to his Spanish counterpart to express concern. "Racism should not be tolerated and this is not the first time British sportsmen have been racially abused in Spain," he said. "This brings in question whether the Grand Prix should be held at this track." The Spanish motor sports federation expressed "absolute repulsion" at what it described as the actions of a few. "These idiots that are confusing sporting rivalry with violence should be aware that the federation has a zero-tolerance approach to this issue," it said in a statement. Circuit staff erected barriers around the team's paddock Saturday while banners making references to Hamilton and team boss Ron Dennis were removed. The stands directly above McLaren's garage were cleared to ensure no debris could be thrown down when the car returned to the pit lane. Sunday's testing was incident free, with Hamilton stopping to sign autographs for fans and pose for pictures. Circuit director Ramon Praderas said extra measures - increased security, more short-circuit video cameras - were already being planned for the Spanish Grand Prix. Praderas said he already requested a meeting with police. Banners at testing in Valencia last month made remarks about Hamilton and Dennis, but did not take on a racist message. Those were subsequently removed by staff. In 2004, England soccer players were subjected to racist abuse during an exhibition game in Madrid, days after national team coach Luis Aragones made a racist remark about then-Arsenal striker Thierry Henry. FC Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o also attempted to leave the field after being subjected to monkey noises by Zaragoza fans during a league game in 2005.
Spain is a very interesting cultural study. Spain has always been a gateway for North-Africans trying to migrate to Europe. Not only do they have a different skin tone, but many of these immigrants are Muslim which you can imagine causes additional tension in a Catholic country. This struggle dates back hundres of years. In the 1400s and 1500s the Catholic church attempted to cleanse the country and forced Jews and Muslims (Moors) out of the country. Not much has changed. Generally speaking, Spaniards have much apprehension towards people of African decent. But pointing a finger at Spaniards is a bit hypocritical. There is a clear parallel to our own immigration/racism issues towards Latin American immigrants. Racism is rampant in Texas.... and building a physical wall along the border is just a modern version of the Inquisition. It really is NO different. It is all very sad.
I was not comparing the physical act of building a wall with the atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition, but rather the idea of cleansing a nation of people of a different background and/or beliefs. My point is that the motivation for both actions is the same... even after hundreds of years. Don't argue that we are not 'cleansing', but that we are simply keeping new foreigners out. Those who believe a wall should be erected also generally believe immigrants who are already here should be deported.
Tex Pete, Question for you. Let's say we build this wall along the border. Who is going to build it? Where will we find the labor? Do you think the average american joe is willing to work out in the middle of the West Texas heat for minimum wage? Nope. It'll be these immigrants. The irony! It is simple economics that for an economy to thrive, we need laborers willing to work all types of jobs, not just desk jobs. These immigrants pay taxes. They pay the same tolls on our roads. They pay the same sales tax at the grocery store. The only taxes they don't pay are Federal Income taxes.... so why not establish a program which allows them to pay taxes without necessarily granting them citizenship right away? Every time that idea comes up in congress, it is shot down by right wing politicians that simply don't want more hispanic immigrants coming across the border. Secondly, a large percentage of these illegal immigrants are indeed paying Federal taxes. Recent studies have shown that in order to get certain jobs (working in restaurants, etc), they provide fake social security numbers. As such, taxes are deducted from their pay checks. Yet these people never get the benefits of having paid those taxes. They aren't covered by federal health programs and can never expect to see a penny of that in social security. Lastly, these people make so little money, that based on our current tax codes, they would likely be paying very little anyway. I could debate this for days. Like I said, maybe we should move this thread to another board.
Of course there are many reasons that building a wall is just a stupid political show by politicos on both sides of the fence. Most of what StuckAtWork is spewing, however, is just propaganda to further an agenda...such as the nonsense that illegals don't get health benefits, etc, from taxes they may (or may not) pay. Working in emergency services, I see first hand on a daily basis how much these folks benefit from, abuse, and overload the system that we pay for. Food for thought the next time you or a loved one needs emergency medical care and it seems to be taking forever for the fire truck and ambulance to arrive. As for the "illegal" term simply being a cover for our real feelings about the skin color or race of those coming across the border, how then do you explain the many, many Mexican-Americans in Texas and other border states who are bent on keeping illegals out as well? As for the treatment of LH in Spain by a stupid group of "fans", it was sickening and abhorrent. However, for the British authorities to call for the cancellation of both Spanish dates is just a laugh. Silverstone has been under fire by Bernie for some time. This seems an obvious attempt to take some of the heat off. Regardless, I'm sure the promoters of these races will take care of this problem. They have too much to lose to sit on their hands. Besides, it doesn't seem right to punish a whole country of F1 fans for the acts of a few idoits.
