Beckham in running to be top black sports star

Kunjufu · (#1 (**permalink**))

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Beckham in running to be top black sports star
By Adam Sherwin, Media Reporter

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IS DAVID BECKHAM Britainâ€™s premier â€œblackâ€? sports star? Itâ€™s a proposition about to be tested because the England captain has been nominated for an award that recognises multicultural achievement. He is a surprise contender at the NatWest Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy (Emma) awards in London next week to be televised by BBC Two. NI_MPU('middle'); Emmas are awarded for an outstanding humanitarian contribution to ethnically diverse Britain.

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Past winners include Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, Ray Charles, Maya Angelou and Stevie Wonder. Gordon Brown is expected to present a special award to Sir Bill Morris, the former trade union leader, at the Grosvenor House ceremony. The Sporting Personality of the Year features several black icons â€” the Arsenal star Thierry Henry, the World Cup rugby winner Jason Robinson, Michael Watson, the brain-damaged boxer whose marathon walk raised Â£20,000 for charity, and Henry Olonga, the Zimbabwe cricketer who sacrificed his career by opposing President Mugabeâ€™s regime.

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But David Beckham, hailed as a hero by Britainâ€™s black community, is also nominated for the award, which will be decided by public vote. His dress style, choice of jewellery and musical taste have made him the first white British sports star to become an icon among ethnic minorities. But it goes deeper, said Paul McKenzie, who produced the documentary film Black Like Beckham for Channel 4. â€œRemember when he was vilified for being sent off in the 1998 World Cup? People we spoke to said, â€˜Now he knows what itâ€™s like to be a black manâ€™.

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â€œThe black community identifies with that suffering and his current problems with the tabloids. We are used to seeing black heroes torn down by the media. He is the first white British sportsman to be a pin-up on black and Asian bedroom walls.â€? Beckham sports the most obvious signifiers of â€œblacknessâ€?. He has a tattoo of gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur, he dazzled the Queen with â€œblingâ€? jewellery at the Palace and boasts a bulging designer wardrobe.

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His collection of classic hip-hop records would shame many clubs. He developed a taste for Caribbean food from former Manchester United team-mate Dwight Yorke and is willing to take a public stand on racism. Bobby Syed, who created and founded the Emmas, said: â€œWhen black England players were jeered in Eastern Europe, David came straight out and said how disgusted he felt. This elevated his standing with ethnic communities.â€? But not everyone was impressed with Mr McKenzieâ€™s description of Beckham as an â€œhonorary brotherâ€?.

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His Black Like Beckham programme was criticised for presenting â€œblacknessâ€? as a collection of consumer status symbols. Beckham could be joined on the winnerâ€™s podium by Greg Dyke. The former Director-General of the BBC is nominated for Media Personality of the Year in recognition of his personal support for the BBC One documentary The Secret Policeman, which exposed racism among police recruits. Other nominations include: Lord Dholakia for Public Figure of the Year, and for Best Comedy/Comedian, 3 Non-Blondes, Inder Monacha, Lenny Henry and Meera Syal. The Best British Music Act/Production nominations also include Lemar, Big Brovaz, Jamelia, Joss Stone, and Rishi Rich Project, and for the Best International Music Act/ Production, BeyoncÃ©, Outkast, Missy Elliott, The Black Eyed Peas and Norah Jones. Nominations for Best News Journalist include Clive Myrie, Nina Nannar, Lisa Aziz, Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Navdip Dhariwal.

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Kunjufu · (#2 (**permalink**))

Sorry but this Beckham business is really beginning to P me off big time... How in the hell can Beckham be nomionated for such an obviously ridiculous title.. Am I the only one who thinks this has gone too far and that this nomination is an insult and totally disrespectful to our people and culture..?

IYALLAH. · (#3 (**permalink**))

Purlease they dont know what the hell they are talking about! - You're right, it has gone too far and as usual it isone white man getting big up for doing general things thata million black people do everyday!!!!

It is a p-take.

PEace~

alliyah4eva2003 · (#4 (**permalink**))

david beckham is white. it makes no sense.

MyThoughts · (#5 (**permalink**))

So whats the whole point in their analysis of Beckham - that he is turning into a wannabe black man. What has he done for ethnically diversed Britain. He was disgusted at racist jibes. WOW

Black people have identified with Beckham. OK. Lets put this in perspective - he got vilified by the nation for costing them in a football game by his own stupidity (yes it was over the top but that is beside the point) But still was earning Â£60000 and up a week.

On the other hand black people struggled to earn a living, struggled for an equal footing with their white counterparts, forced out of their own land, was killed,spat on, called this and that, made to feel likethey were worth nothingWHY? because of the colour of their skin and greed of anothernot because of their own stupid mistakes. Empathy and identification - some1 tell me where

And why oh why do these supposedly "conscious" black people in the media who always believe they are doing their bit for us as a people, like to belittle us by mentioning a certain aspect of our culture that loves to pushed forward as what we are all about - bling bling, clothing hip hop and to say dwight introduced him to Caribbean food is cause for him to win an award these people can't be serious.

Isn't Beckham just a famous case of a white person that has latched on to the superficial aspects of a culture that is becoming all to prominent as the only thing that black people are about.

OR

Are they simply by nominating Beckham a not so subtle stunt to attempt to gain publicity for an award ceremony that is not really mainstream by using his status as a global icon.It seems to me that these black people cannot be serious with their comments and are trying hard to make it seem sensible to the not so sensible - which sadly is half the population.

Final point:

Don't people understand we are not black coz we wear bling bling jewellery, or coz of the clothes we wear or coz we listen to hip hop or the food we eat we are BLACK coz God made us that way, it is the colour of our skin not the things we do.

MyThoughts

~Peace~

LadyDay · (#6 (**permalink**))

INSULTING. BIG TIME david beckham aint one of ours and if he gets an accolade meant for a black person asian person etc i will complain EMMA unno 'tupid eeh

Ms_Underst00d · (#7 (**permalink**))

are they taking the absolute ****???

Burning Spear · (#8 (**permalink**))

I'm on the outside looking in on this situation,but what has Beckham done lately? Seems he's been mediocre in the Spanish Liga, and the last FiFa ranking has England in 12th place. so even as his on field exploits have dropped he continues to rake in the $$$$.

Seems that the brother for Arsenal has done more in the last few years without the tenth of the acclaim.

Are there any Black UK athletes that are getting any shine (accolades) that can deflect some of this Beckham nonsense? What about Sol Campbell,Emile Heskey,and others?

SoulRebel · (#9 (**permalink**))

BlackMatta wrote:

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What's Adam Sherwin on about?

How did he get from "the England captain has been nominated for an award that recognises multicultural achievement" to "Beckham in running to be top black sports star".

Answer: Bobby Syed, the guy behind the EMMA awards. A shameless opportunist, who feels no compunction about using the Black Like Beckham hook to get publicity. He cares what we might think? Yeah, right...

Mafdet · (#10 (**permalink**))

@Kunjufu

Its so crazy to me I have to laugh......just like I laugh at the hysteria over Joss Stone, just like I laugh at the new king of pop title that was given to Justine Timberlake which Michael Jackson previously held.......every field every celebrity category you can think off they have or are creating a white counterpart that rightfully should be held by a person of colour, when all these whites do is immitate. Now I sit and laugh because I personally don't buy or suppport any of these fake wannabes but I will yep I WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY IF I EVER SEE ANY DUMB ARSE CATWEASLE LOOKING WHITE FOOL JUMPING AROUND SAYING THEY ARE RASTA TOUCH ON MY ROOTS REGGAE!!!!blknoway

But back to this Black Beckham rubbish I pray this doesn't result in another tv docuementary with stupid black people backing such rubbish up like the previous "Black like Beckham" programme.blkheadbang

wotsits18 · (#11 (**permalink**))

LadyDay wrote:

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INSULTING. BIG TIME david beckham aint one of ours and if he gets an accolade meant for a black person asian person etc i will complain EMMA unno 'tupid eeh

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Agree agree agree, 4 reel wat do they not think we wouldn't say n e thing..Wat I hate is the high jack'n of "our" things which in turn makes it ok 2 b banded about as sum new acceptable thing "FCUK OFF"..!!

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There are so many awards etc: that can be handed out & 1 of the main reasons why black/ethnic peeps made their own was b'ca of the lack of recognition in/from society which generally consists of the "white" concensus..

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Wat I really hate rite now is the word "URBAN" esp: when it is used in place of the word "BLACK" 4 fcuk sake wat else is go'n 2 b taken from us..Oh yeh the MOBO's, Music Of Black Origin, will now have sum sort of reference 2 urban in its title..WHY..!! I dont know sumting like Music Of Urban Origin..Bullshite rubbish..

Miss Brighter Days · (#12 (**permalink**))

Its all been said above. WHAT A BLOODY CHEEK! I've had arguments with people in my office about this. When they tried to DEFEND THE NONSENSE NOTION THAT BECKHAM IS AN HONORARY BLACK MAN! Its just plain insulting. What are they trying to say, that being black is what clothes you wear, and what music you listen to!

Anyway BB - I will help you write that letter.

IDIYOTS