Suggestion for collective worship

So is David Beckham black?

So is David Beckham a black man? Well, you have only to look at his bronzed skin and blonde hair to say, no, he is not.

But wait a moment. Did any of you see a programme on television during the Easter break when black journalist Paul McKenzie put forward his view that Beckham is black?

He pointed out that Beckham enjoys black music, like hip-hop and rap. He likes to wear jewellery as black people do. He is cool like black people. He gets on well with blacks and goes to their clubs. And black people have taken him to their hearts.

But maybe this does not mean that Beckham is black - just that he feels free to mix with anyone and to like what he likes, whatever group of people have created it.It does not matter to him whether people are black or white, or whether the things he likes are those enjoyed by whites or by blacks, or both. He is no racist.

Beckham is a superstar. And (as Lord Rees-Mogg wrote in the Times in April 2003) he is as much a star for the poor as for the rich, for black as for white, for Asians as for Europeans, for men as for women, for gay as for straight, even for football haters as for football lovers.

And perhaps what all this means is that we are learning to stop dividing people up - black, white, young, old, tall, short - and are beginning to enjoy our multicultural world.

If Beckham is black, perhaps we can all be black together.

Read more about David Beckham

David Beckham supporting the NSPCC

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