Confederate conundrum: A symbol of NASCAR?

[ladiesbballcoach]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news;_ylt=Atdm.3oLoFN54EFNmYwCA0Y5nYcB?slug=dw-confederateflag100906&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

France long has pointed to attracting new fans as the key to NASCAR's future and has said he personally spends part of each day working on diversity issues. NASCAR has numerous fan, driver and mechanic outreach programs geared toward minorities and is pouring major money into each initiative.

 

But while statistical evidence is not available, few believe the programs have significantly changed the racial makeup of the grandstands on race day. While there is no definitive study showing that NASCAR's image – hurt by the Confederate flag – is keeping would-be fans away, common sense says it can't help.

 

For many minorities, as well as many whites, a sporting event where Confederate flags still flap freely is an unwelcoming and negative place.

 

"For a lot of people it is a very loaded symbol that has a history of enslavement and hostility built up into it," said Marsha Houston, a professor at the University of Alabama who specializes in interracial communications.

 

"African-Americans find it very difficult to separate this history from the symbol itself," said Houston, who is black. "They also see people displaying the symbol as being racist, bigoted and anti-black. As a scholar I understand that symbols have multiple meanings and don't have the same meaning to everyone.

 

"But personally, [if I saw it at a track], I would go home," she said. "I try not to encounter people who display the flag in the back of their truck. My personal feeling is it is an affront to me."

 

 

and on the other side of the issue.....

"It's been used in racist ways, but no symbol has one meaning," said John Coski, author of the book "The Confederate Battle Flag – America's Most Embattled Emblem" and a historian at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va.

 

The essential argument of flag proponents is summed up on popular bumper stickers – "it's heritage, not hatred." Some people see the flag as a way to honor deceased Confederate soldiers or relatives who stood up for a cause they believed was just. Others view the flag as a symbol of regional pride.

 

They point out that the flag was not the official flag of the Confederacy (it was a battle flag) and was never meant to symbolize oppression or racism.

 

"Because the symbol has been used [in] racist, segregationist ways does not mean everyone used it that way," Coski said.

 

That came during the 20th century when the Ku Klux Klan and less violent pro-separation groups used it. But, proponents argue, just because the flag was hijacked doesn't mean the hijackers should be allowed to define it.

 

 

Moreover, while the history is clear, so too, for most, is the present. A symbol does not get to define itself; society's oft-changing reaction to it determines that.

 

The swastika has been used for 3,000 years in cultures as different as China, India, Japan and Europe. Its literal meaning in ancient Sanskrit comes from the words "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and the suffix "ka."

 

But once Adolph Hitler's Nazi political party in Germany seized it as a symbol in the 1920s and went on to wage the Holocaust on Jews, it changed. In no way can anyone argue it still means "to be good." Its original intent no longer matters.

 

The same applies for the Confederate flag.

 

"The people who love the flag have to understand the negative connotation is not made up, they are based on historical uses," Coski said. "Not just by the Klan but ordinary Southerners who used it just as blacks perceive they do. People who love the flag have to be honest about it."

[cshs81]

What it REALLY means is irrelevant to NASCAR and those offended by it. The PERCEPTION is negative. I would not want to be sitting at an event where the flag was flying.

[KY Thorobred]

I proudly have a flag. I believe it has to do with having pride in the region that you live, kinda like a state flag.

[KY Thorobred]

What it REALLY means is irrelevant to NASCAR and those offended by it. The PERCEPTION is negative. I would not want to be sitting at an event where the flag was flying.

 

What does it really mean?

[stinginjacket]

If you dont like it dont come to the track.

[ladiesbballcoach]

If you dont like it dont come to the track.

For a business, that is the EXACT mindset of that scares them and leads them to want to get rid of it. It is running off many, many potential customers who would spend a great deal of money with them.

[MsKitty]

For a business, that is the EXACT mindset of that scares them and leads them to want to get rid of it. It is running off many, many potential customers who would spend a great deal of money with them.

 

I don't see NASCAR hurting for fans or money.

[ladiesbballcoach]

I don't see NASCAR hurting for fans or money.

The article implied that their growth has stopped or slowed and they are looking for new markets to open and new customers to draw. The Confederate flag is one of the things standing in their way of drawing a minorities to their races.

 

And the more minorities that show and support NASCAR, the more funds they get in sponsorship and advertising.

 

Please understand that it is not about what the NASCAR fans want but what that business can do to make money.

[MsKitty]

Being someone who frequents NASCAR events, it's a bit frustrating that such a large group of people are characterized based on the actions of a few. Although I understand that it's part of our society, it seems that type of prejudice is similar to that which the Confederate flag nay-sayers would speak out against. Honestly, I don't see that the Confederate flag is as prodominent at NASCAR events as some might think. Plus, in the 8-9 years that I've been a fan of the sport, I've seen the number of minorities at races slowly increasing.

 

Perhaps the lack of minorities in the stands is more due to the lack of minorities on the track. This can be seen in other sports as well, such as hockey and golf. Baseball is even moving toward that trend.

 

Although I understand NASCAR's attempt to increase diversity in the sport, I don't think they should be so quick to alienate those who have supported them for so long.

[ladiesbballcoach]

Being someone who frequents NASCAR events, it's a bit frustrating that such a large group of people are characterized based on the actions of a few. Although I understand that it's part of our society, it seems that type of prejudice is similar to that which the Confederate flag nay-sayers would speak out against. Honestly, I don't see that the Confederate flag is as prodominent at NASCAR events as some might think. Plus, in the 8-9 years that I've been a fan of the sport, I've seen the number of minorities at races slowly increasing.

 

Perhaps the lack of minorities in the stands is more due to the lack of minorities on the track. This can be seen in other sports as well, such as hockey and golf. Baseball is even moving toward that trend.

 

Although I understand NASCAR's attempt to increase diversity in the sport, I don't think they should be so quick to alienate those who have supported them for so long.

And I think that is the balancing act that the article is implying. How to not alienate but also be able to open doors to others and increase their $$$$. Hard balancing act for them.

[gotnogame]

The bottom line is everybody is offended by something. Let's say that the Confederate flag is banned at every track. Then there will be another group that is offended by something else. NASCAR is always going to be associated with the south, might as well embrace it or they will start to lose the fans that built the sport.

[ladiesbballcoach]

The bottom line is everybody is offended by something. Let's say that the Confederate flag is banned at every track. Then there will be another group that is offended by something else. NASCAR is always going to be associated with the south, might as well embrace it or they will start to lose the fans that built the sport.

I wonder if major league baseball had that same outlook before Jackie Robinson or any of the Domincan players or any of the Asian players? Sure seems like baseball got better when these players and the fans from those countries and nationalities began to buy MLB products and got into the game.

[gotnogame]

I wonder if major league baseball had that same outlook before Jackie Robinson or any of the Domincan players or any of the Asian players? Sure seems like baseball got better when these players and the fans from those countries and nationalities began to buy MLB products and got into the game.

The reason baseball changed its ways was for quality of the players that they were excluding. The baseball owners realized that they were not offering their fans the best ball players; they were offering them the best white ball players. NASCAR has had minorities involved in the sport for many years. They have had Asians, South Americans, Europeans and African American compete at the Cup level.

[ladiesbballcoach]

The reason baseball changed its ways was for quality of the players that they were excluding. The baseball owners realized that they were not offering their fans the best ball players; they were offering them the best white ball players. NASCAR has had minorities involved in the sport for many years. They have had Asians, South Americans, Europeans and African American compete at the Cup level.

I understand that but do believe that there were those who thought the inclusion of those players at the "expense" of the white players/fans who had got the game to the point it was, was a mistake by MLB.

 

To me, that is similar to your statement about not wanting to do something that might turn away their fans from the South.

 

And let's not be too naive. Yes, there may have been great civil rights issues about the players being included BUT I bet $$$ and wins which leads to $$$$ was leading the charge.

[mountainmojo68]

This is what the France family fails to see or understand. The fanbase that has flocked to this sport over the last decade didnt come to it in spite of it being a "Southern Sport" but BECAUSE it was, that was part of the appeal. If NASCARs popularity has indeed peeked doesnt anyone think that its NASCARs willingness to forsake its traditional fanbase to get the "Jet-Set" crowd is to blame. I guess its just easier to blame the boys in the infield because of a flag they have hanging over theyre RV. Its still makes me laugh that for all of NASCARs PR work to try to "Northernize" the sport, its constantly panned by the media as a southern redneck sport. The reason they do that is:Because it is and theres nothing wrong with that.