It wasn't a joke, joke or 'mean' comment. The former's speech was racistpilotthe Brazilian Nelson Piquet, in an interview about an accident, last year, between the seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and the current F1 champion, Max Verstappen, in the last edition of the British GP. The interview was in 2021, but the video went viral on social media last weekend and became an exemplary case of structural prejudice in speeches considered ''normal''.
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''The little black guy got in the car and left. Senna didn't do that. (…) The little black guy left the car. It's because you don't know the curve; It's a very high curve, there's no way to pass two cars and there's no way to pass on the side. He made fun of himself,'' said Piquet, referring to Hamilton. The Brit's response came quickly and in clear Portuguese: ''Let's focus on changing mentality''.
In a continued post on Twitter, the pilotreflected on the expected changes inside and outside the racetracks. ''These archaic mentalities need to change and have no place in our sport. I have been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my entire life''.
The episode mobilized the top brass of Formula 1, where more voices joined the British. In official statements, the FIA and Mercedes, as well as teams such as Ferrari and McLaren, expressed support.
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One of the current symbols of black resistance, Lewis Hamilton uses his image to discuss racial issues. In 2020, he alluded to the 'Black Panthers'', with a purple, high-design helmet. In the first year since the death of George Floyd by American police officers, He wore a shirt that had his name printed on it.; protest that he also held when, in Brazil, a black man was killed outside a supermarket.
By assuming an active voice in the anti-racist fight, Hamilton became the target of retaliations within F1, disturbing the organization of the event, which considered opening an investigation into the content of the acts – the competition regulations prohibit political demonstrations. At the time, a punishment was studied for Lewis.
It's worth remembering: in Brazil, a crime of racism occurs when there is an offense to someone's dignity, based on elements relating to their race, color, ethnicity, religion, age or disability, with a penalty of one to three years in prison.
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Curto Curatorship
''It's not enough to not be racist, you have to be anti-racist'', summarized the American philosopher Angela Davis. But, how can we understand in more detail what made us get here? At UOL Ecoa, report provides an overview of the topic.
The class doesn't stop. The legal philosopher and president of the Luiz Gama Institute Silvio Almeida, author of “Sartre: law and politics” didactically breaks down the concept of structural racism for TV Boitempo.
The conversation can get even better and firmer if you stop to listen to a sincere and honest conversation about representation, blackness, struggle and life, in an exchange between Mano Brown and thinker Sueli Carneiro on the #ManoAMano podcast
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