#f1 rambles

arvid was born in virginia water (surrey, england) to a sweedish father and a british-indian mother

lewis was born in stevenage (hertfordshire, england) to a british father with grenadian roots and british mother

arvid was raised being exposed to both indian and sweedish culture, but people only recognize him as simply british, or, when people focus on his ethnicity, swedish

lewis was british-born and british-raised, yet people frequently refer to him as african, "black first," or otherwise describe him through his non-european ancestry

side note, these drivers are often called by the race of their fathers (arvid, european; lewis, african/caribbean) while their mother's heritage is completely ignored.

arvid's indian heritage is often minimized or ignored altogether, with many people defaulting to seeing him as white and tanned or simply european

lewis, meanwhile, is rarely afforded the same treatment; his black heritage is consistently foregrounded, even when his nationality is the topic

both of these drivers are mixed-race british drivers with one european parent and one parent whose heritage traces outside europe

neither was born in india, grenada, or anywhere outside of england, yet only one is considered to be european

and this isn't to say either identification is inherently wrong. mixed-race people can and often identify with some or all parts of their heritage

the issue is that outsiders often make those choices for them and judge when they show another part of their ethic culture

arvid can be indian while being british and sweedish

lewis can be british while being grenadian

ultimately, both arvid and lewis are british drivers that race under the british flag. both have multicultural family backgrounds. both have one parent with european ancestry and one parent with non-european ancestry

the difference lies less in their biographies and more in how society chooses to interpret and label them

anyways this was just a straight up yap session because it just irks me so bad