Why is it rare to see a Black person racing?

It’s rare, surprising even, to see a person of color racing. You might see the occasional black person racing, but as a black woman myself, it’s something you don’t see every day.

So what’s the deal? Well, for centuries, black people have been excluded and rejected from specific sports and activities.

Although it has gotten “better” over the years, you’d be surprised to see how biased and discriminative Motorsport is.

Now, the rules of different Motorsport worldwide don’t say in their rule books that “Blacks can’t race,” but the price of these sports is remarkably high, which in turn puts the average black family at a disadvantage.

The average African American family makes only $63,985 a year, while the average White American family makes $99,632. The average White in the UK earns 65% more than the average Black.

Why share those demographics? Well, that shows how much African-Americans and other blacks are at an extreme disadvantage.

Formula 1 (F1) racing legend Lewis Hamilton, the first Black man in F1, claimed that “His father had to work four jobs to keep him racing.” Which drives home how disadvantaged Blacks are in the world of Motorsport.

This article is not to say that Blacks have been wholly kept from Motorsport altogether. That’s not at all what I’m saying. Some Blacks have made a name for themselves like Lewis Hamilton, Wendell Scott, Darrell Wallace Jr., Marc Davis, James Stuart, etc., to name a few.

Here are the Racial Demographics for Motorsport.

White: 87.9%

Latino or Hispanic: 6.1%

Black: 2.3%

This data shows much of a minority of Black people are in Motorsport.

My dad and I went to Road America in Plymouth, Wisconsin, to watch GT America.

We walked around the Racing cars, taking pictures and drooling over Porches, Mercedes, Lamborghinis, Bentleys, Acuras, etc. A tall Black man walked past us, and my dad stopped him to ask if we were allowed to go close to the cars. He smiled and said, “Oh, yeah! Look for the red Mustang, That one’s mine.” Both my dad and I looked at this man with our eyes big. We couldn’t believe that a Black man was in GT America! We were so excited that a Black man was in this sport that we took a picture.

I tell you that to show how much of a surprise and happy feeling it is to a Black person to see another one of your people in something as prestigious as Motorsport.

Lewis Hamilton is now working on a program to crush the barrier that keeps Black men and women from being excluded from Motorsport. We should also try to make the sport more diverse and affordable to the average black household.