NASCAR Bans Confederate Flags
There’s something I never thought I’d live to see.
Ahead of its Cup Series race Wednesday night in Martinsville, Virginia, NASCAR said it is banning the flying of Confederate flags at its races and other events.
“The presence of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry,” NASCAR said in a statement on its website.
“Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special. The display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties.”
This week, driver Bubba Wallace, the first full-time African American driver in the Cup Series since 1971, called for NASCAR to go further than 2015, when it asked fans not to bring the Confederate flags to races.
NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace will have Black Lives Matter paint scheme on car at Martinsville Speedway race
“No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. It starts with Confederate flags,” Wallace said. “Get them out of here. They have no place for them.”
Initially, Confederate flags did not bother him, Wallace said, but after educating himself he sees how uncomfortable it makes people.
“There’s going to be a lot of angry people that carry those flags proudly but it’s time for change,” he said.
At a race Sunday, Wallace wore a “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirt in solidarity with protesters around the world who have been calling for justice in the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Wallace plans to race a Black Lives Matter paint scheme on his car Wednesday night on a track where he had success as a driver in the trucks series.
This is clearly a good thing they should have done ages ago.
That said, it seems as if it might distract people from the issue of police brutality.Report
The people that it will piss off are largely the people that are OK with police brutality (as long as it doesn’t touch them).Report
No doubt. And indeed, I don’t mind seeing those people made angry. The whole “die mad about it” is a lovely thing.
I guess the issue is this: I can be as petty as anyone, but I at least recognize when I’m being petty. I want more than that though.
Anyway, pissing off bigots is not the real goal, not long term. The goal is justice. Angering bigots will not on it’s own produce justice. Moreover, justice requires more than symbolic change. There needs to be substance.Report
The meltdowns from racist confederates outing themselves on NASCAR’s facebook page are simultaneously delicious to read and terrifying in their number.Report
“Racist confederates” is a misnomer. There are confederates (people who believe in the supremacy of states’ rights) who are not racist. And there are racists (those who believe in the supremacy of one race) who are not confederates. You need to do a better job sifting the wheat from the chaff.Report
If you are unable to grasp how continuing allegiance to a secession attempt whose “corner-stone” was racism is inherently racist, or how the “supremacy of states’ rights” cry is inseparable from racist dog whistling, you may need to be updated on history.
The fact that there are racists who are not confederates is precisely why I made the point to use the terming “racist confederates” to describe those who are melting down on NASCAR’s facebook page.
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/cornerstone-speech/Report
“You start out in 1954 by saying, “N[redacted], n[redacted], n[redacted].” By 1968 you can’t say “n[redacted]”—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff,”
And this is precisely what Reagan did in 1980 at Neshoba County Fair, standing on the graves of murdered civil rights workers while shouting “states’ rights”.
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/Report
When I was a kid on the 70s, born in Atlanta, I didn’t really know anything. My friends and I thought the rebel flag was cool, cuz rebellion was cool. So was getting in fistfights. So were skateboards and punk rock. Over the decades we grew up and realized what that flag meant.
I still like punk rock and skateboards, although I’m way too old to participate much myself. The rebel flag, however, is racist as shit.
We all know what it mean, so miss me with that bullshit.Report
Agreed, and we are getting 0% substance on this racial justice question from BLM and other African-American leaders. No substance, no change. An ideal moment where both blacks and whites are united in outrage, practically wasted.Report
If you believe the problem is a lack of substance from BLM leaders and other civil rights advocates, what you’re actually telling us is that you refuse to listen and become informed.Report
Starting to get that feeling where protesting, rioting, and maybe a burgeoning interest in broader Police Reforms settles for a corporate marketing repositioning event.Report
If that’s the only outcome, it would be disappointing, and arguably even a defeat. But it would still be an improvement–not a complete improvement and not an improvement without some bad effects, but on balance an improvement.Report