Having visited Morocco only a few days ago, Lewis Hamilton’s next country on his itinerary was Senegal. He posted an update about the same on Instagram, which attracted a curious response from American DJ Diplo. However, his comments on Hamilton’s heartfelt post did not sit well with fans of the seven-time World Champion, who called him out on social media.
Hamilton wrote about the dark history of Senegal’s Gorée Island concerning slave trading. Diplo, however, dropped something completely unrelated. “U better go surfing,” the 45-year-old commented.
Instantly, Diplo got labeled as “insensitive” by fans on X.
That’s extremely insensitive ♀️
— Stefanie (@fastpitstop) August 16, 2024
Since 2022, Hamilton has been on a mission to explore his roots and the origin of his family name. That is why he has frequented the African continent, whenever he could find time. Regardless, the slave trade – a horrible stain in human history – is a sensitive topic, which Hamilton decided to talk about on his Instagram account. Diplo, meanwhile, brushed past the subject at hand and talked about something completely unrelated.
also, this comment straight pissed me off pic.twitter.com/76H2a05Ukw
— sim (@sim3744) August 16, 2024
Senegal is the sixth country Hamilton has visited in Africa, and he has a long way to go in his quest.
Hamilton’s Journey across Africa
Hamilton knows that his ancestors were from Africa – but that is all he knows. He wants to find out more, which is why he has been spending vacation time in several African countries over the last two years.
He has visited Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Morocco, and Senegal. And each country has brought him peace and given him a sense of belonging, as he continues to explore the land his forefathers came from.
Hamilton has found out the origin of his surname; it belonged to a slave owner from Scotland named Robert Hamilton, who had a plantation. There was a man there, named Davidson, which is where his grandfather got the name ‘Davidson Hamilton’ from.
Hamilton admittedly feels closer to his ancestors after unearthing previously unknown information about them. But he wants more to with Africa than making the occasional visit. African representation in F1 is next to zero, with no circuits on the calendar. The 39-year-old plans on contributing to changing that.
