NASCAR bans Confederate flag at events, race tracks
NASCAR will no longer allow the Confederate battle flag to fly at its events and race tracks following nationwide protests against racial inequality in the wake of George Floydās death, the company said Wednesday.
The decision came after Bubba Watson, the NASCAR Cup Series' only black driver, and others called on the stock car circuit to ban the flag. The sight of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events was a divisive topic among fans in recent years, with critics arguing it is a symbol of slavery and racial oppression.
āThe 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,ā NASCAR said in a statement. āBringing 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.ā
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NASCAR President Steve Phelps pledged last Sunday that the stock car circuit would take steps to combat racial injustice. Wallace was set to run his No. 43 car with a āBlack Lives Matterā paint scheme at a race Wednesday night at Martinsville Speedway.
The premier stock car circuit has considered banning the flag in the past. Former chairman Brian France sought to ban the symbol in 2015, only to reverse course after pushback from fans.
What's "NASCAR?" The only sport I bother with any more is college football, and that is rapidly joining the politicized, theater like nonsense to which I have relegated the other cultural slopbucket items. I had rather watch a local little league baseball game. Less scripted, and definitely more conducive to the virtues of team effort, hard work, how to handle crushing disappointments, and sportsmanship.
I am just telling you. When you WALK AWAY from the poison, rather than stay and complain about it, you feel liberated in a way I simply cannot express.
I find it interesting that society thinks you are crazy. YEARS ago, when I threw out my TV, a really hip trendy guy asked me what I watched. I said I didn't have a TV. He was SHOCKED and said "man, what do you DO with your time?" I sort of stuttered and mumbled something about reading, I think. Today, I would say "I HAVE A LIFE THAT I ACTUALLY LIVE, RATHER THAN WATCHING SOMETHING FAKE THAT IS MADE UP."..... but I didn't want to return hostility with hostility, so I just kind of slunk off. Literally every thing in our society is caked with death and oozes death.
NASCAR is just one more example of a sport that was grand in its day, which has become slick, corporatized, propaganda laden and boring, full of vapid celebrities who repeat the same boring crap and have fortune 500 companies pouring their money in.
Talladega (less than 50 miles from where I grew up) used to be a cool, interesting, place for really wild outdoor parties, while watching interesting figures race interesting cars. I loved the place. I have no interest at all in it now. Spic and span, barbie doll drivers, full of money and scripted responses, idiot reporters (with scorn for the event they cover, mostly)......
I just let them drink poison if they want, and if I watch racing, I try to find a local dirt track (though admittedly that has been a while, too).