Beckham is up for the award at the NatWest Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy (Emma) Awards next week, after being hailed as the first white Britsh sporting icon amongst ethnic minorities.
The Emma Awards, now in their seventh year, will be screened on BBC Two and are awarded for an outstanding humanitarian contribution to ethnically diverse Britain. Past winners include Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.
Now, Beckham is up against black icons including Arsenal star Thierry Henry, world cup rugby player Jason Robinson and Henry Olonga, the Zimbabwe cricketer who sacrificed his career by opposing President Mugabe's regime.
Beckham's status as a 'black' icon has been documented before. A Channel 4 documentary earlier this year, 'Black like Beckham' set out to prove that Becks is black in all but his looks because of his taste in clothes, cars and music. For instance he is a huge fan of classic hip hop, sports a tattoo of gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur as well as having a designer wardrobe and lots of 'bling' jewellery, such as diamond studded earrings and watches.
Producer of the documentary Bruce Hepton told newspapers at the time, "Britain doesn't have genuine black superstars like Michael Jordan. We have David Beckham instead."
However, Bobby Sayed, creator and founder of the Emmas, says there is more to it than that, and has praised Beckham for making a stand on racism, such as the time when the star said he was disgusted when black England players were jeered in Eastern Europe.
Not everyone is happy with Beckham being described as an honorary brother however. The 'Black Like Beckham' documentary was strongly criticised for presenting 'blackness' as a collection of status symbols.
Other nominees in this year's awards category include 'ER' actress Parminder Nagra for best actress; Greg Dyke for media personality of the year following his support of the BBC One documentary 'The Secret Policeman' which exposed racism amongst the police force; and Krishnan-Guru-Murthy who is up for best TV journalist.
Other guests attending this year's Awards Ceremony include Chancellor Gordon Brown, who will present Sir Bill Morris with the Lifetime Achievement Award, Tory leader Michael Howard and Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.
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