Don’t let colour of skin cloud issue

1:40pm Friday 7th November 2008

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What have Lewis Hamilton and Barack Obama got in common?

Yeah, that’s right. They’ve both had a dream week.

I can’t be the only one who has got fed up with Obama being constantly described as America’s first “black” president.

He’s half-white for starters. Not that it should matter one iota.

The same with Hamilton. What has the colour of the guy got to do with what he has achieved?

Obama has risen to the most powerful position in the political world through his own ability, not his hue. Hamilton, likewise, has conquered Formula One for no reason other than his brilliance behind the steering wheel.

The only black-and-white issue in his eyes is the chequered flag he has whizzed past so majestically over the last nine months.

There is absolutely no need for the patronising inferences about his mixed-race roots.

Bigots will be bigots, black or white. Those numpties who thought it was funny to dress up and taunt Hamilton in Spain are depressing proof of that.

But let the vast majority of right-thinking people salute two individuals who have risen to the top of their game.

In the sporting case, Hamilton is not Britain’s first “black” motor-racing champion. He is Britain’s new world champion – with the potential to go on and become one of the sport’s best ever.

Surely that is something we should all get right behind.