Racing and Racism

M.L. Morgan

Well, race fans, I don’t do politics in my other column. I love racing as much as you do. So I talk about racing. Now I’m going to talk about racism in racing. There’s no place for racism anywhere in society, particularly in Nascar racing.

A recent article published in the Charlotte, (NC) Observer has again fueled the flames that Nascar must be racist. For you fans who didn’t see the article it was printed without the author’s name and that didn’t surprise me a bit. At least the Associated Press admitted they were responsible.

There was a really obnoxious quote from another anonymous source who claimed to be a race fan. I would offer to make reprints of this article available but I refuse to give the imbecile who wrote this article any more publicity.

Racism has pervaded every part of life in America. No doubt it has affected Nascar. But when a non-fan like the moron who wrote this article has free rein to imply not only that Nascar is racist, but all Nascar fans are racists, I say enough is enough.

I’ll give you a quote from this article: “One handicap to attracting black drivers is that drivers are usually born into the sport”. Spare me, please ! If I follow this idiot’s logic I’m supposed to start a campaign to have this cretin neutered so there won’t be another generation of bigots like him to sustain his pathetic crusade. I refuse , but it might not be a bad idea.

I don’t know what it will take to make blacks more prominent in Nascar racing. My personal opinion is it won’t happen until there are a lot more black fans in the stands. The business of Nascar is fueled by money. Nascar is color-blind . Nascar only sees the color green.

The recent publicity-seeking deal by Julius Erving and Joe Washington to start a black-owned Winston Cup team has just made it worse. They made it into a black against white deal. If they wanted to get into Winston Cup racing they probably had the financial resources to buy one of the existing teams . Many of the teams are struggling and certainly wouldn’t complain if a black-owned group came to their rescue. Bobby Allison and Bud Moore come to mind. Both teams were very good but had to quit due to lack of financing.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that consumers of Tide products or Kellogg’s products or Miller products come in all sizes and shapes and colors. The pertinent issue is why aren’t there more black fans of Nascar racing.

Nascar doesn’t turn away fans or competitors on racial grounds. I have a lot of problems with some of Nascar’s policies but I’ll assure you none of Nascar’s policies are racially motivated. I rarely speak well of Nascar but I’ll defend their open-door policy. Everyone has the same chance to compete.

Nascar isn’t the villain. It’s the sponsors. The sponsors rely upon their demographics to allocate their advertising money. Have you ever seen a commercial depicting a black family having a good time at the races? I haven’t either. I’ll be the first to admit there aren’t a lot of black race fans. Maybe because they are not encouraged to attend races by these same sponsors who spend millions to get ‘Bubba’ to go to the track. ‘Bubba’ is going to the track anyway because ‘Bubba’s’ daddy went to the track - not because of some advertising ploy by Budweiser.

I think the Charlotte Observer and its anonymous writer have done a great disservice to the racing community. True race fans care about racing - not race. If some black kid comes along next season and kicks Jeff Gordon’s ass the fans will stand up and shout. The fans might boo and complain that the black kid isn’t supposed to beat Gordon, but that’s just the way the fans treated Gordon when he kicked Earnhardt’s ass. Best I can remember, Jeff Gordon is a white kid.

Have comments or questions? E-mail: M.L. Morgan

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