Ecclestone counters critics, saying ‘I am not anti black people’
Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has dismissed criticism on a recent remark perceived as racist, and attacked the new leadership under Chase Carey.
F1 bosses and world champion Lewis Hamilton attacked the 89-year-old Ecclestone after he told CNN that black people were often more racist than white people.
But Ecclestone told the Mail on Sunday paper that “It is not my fault that I am white.
“I am not anti black people. Quite the opposite. I have always been very much in favour,” he said.
“Over the years, I have met a lot of white people I didn’t like, but never a black person I didn’t like.”
“I’ve been mugged a couple of times, once by three black guys. I ended up in hospital, but even after that I was never against anyone who was black. I don’t think of Lewis as black or anything else. He’s just Lewis to me,” Ecclestone said.
“If a black person or a white person gets turned down for a job you have to ask why. Was it because of their skin colour, or was it because they weren’t up to the job? That is what I was saying.
“And then people go on these marches, organised by quasi-Marxists who want to bring down the police, which would be a disaster for the country. If you asked most of them what exactly they were protesting about they probably wouldn’t know.”
Hamilton has lamented racism in the sport as part of the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the death of George Floyd in police custody in the United States, and F1 is now aiming for more diversity in the sport.
But Ecclestone said in the direction of F1 and Carey: ‘I’m glad he said I have no involvement in Formula One, so I can’t be credited with all the things they’ve not done.
“They have jumped on this racism thing suddenly because of events in America. Now Chase has put in all of 1 million dollars – enough to get a mechanic into go-karting. Maybe he should concentrate on doing what the shareholders want. Covid was good for him. He could blame everything he hasn’t achieved on that,” Ecclestone said.