NASCAR CEO no fan of Confederate flag

[quaoar]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9614381/

France wants sport to appeal more to minorities, women

NEW YORK - NASCAR CEO Brian France doesn’t like fans flying Confederate flags at races as he tries to make auto racing more appealing to minorities and women.

“It’s not a flag that I look at with anything favorable. That’s for sure,” he said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” to be aired Sunday. “I can’t tell people what flag to fly. I can tell you the flag we get behind: It’s the American flag.”

France is trying to broaden auto racing’s appeal with minorities in places like Los Angeles, where France moved the important Labor Day NASCAR event last year, and New York, soon to have a track.

[Charlie Brown]

1. But NASCAR racing is the Confederacy's National Sport n/t

[DaveColorado]

2. The rebel flag is an anti-American symbol

[Treclo]

3. So I'm no NASCAR fan,

and I'm sure France is just doing what is good for business in the long run, but how great that he is speaking up about this. He will also probably get backlash from some of his core market, so this is really something to be commended.

[quaoar]

4. yes, it is

He's going to take a lot of shit for saying that.

But NASCAR really has been doing a lot to appeal to African-Americans to grow their fan base. They even have a diversity project with Magic Johnson in charge of it.

BTW, welcome to DU

[thebigidea]

5. we can only hope he brings some of the skills that made him such a ...

... first-rate talk show host.

[rppper]

18. brian france is more serious about it than bill france was....

nascar and isc are very much good ol' boy networks...racially and gender wise.....truth be known, none of frances children wanted to run NASCAR.....mike helton basically made all of the decisions. bill france has been to sick or injured to run the company.

quaoar is right, he will take some flack for saying that...i cant count the number of confed flags i see each year in the infield(i live about 1/2 mile from daytona intl. speedway) or count the number of ugly looks i get when i take my girlfriend to the races...and to be fair, they did start discouraging this a few years ago, but it was about 20 years to late.

brian france saying this is good, but even as the ceo, he is not the most recognized nascar name...that honor belongs to the drivers and crews...they are the ones that really need to spread the message. it'll have 10 times the effect.

[newyawker99]

13. Hi Treclo!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[newyawker99]

29. delete

[Stones]

17. Let the Rebel Flag Fly-Nobody Cares!!!!

I'm not from the South...but that's the stupidest thing I've heard..The Rebel Flag only means one thing to the people who fly it, there proud to be from the South... Basically what your saying is, if you don't fly an American Flag your anti-American. I fly a Pirate flag on my boat...Is that Anti-american....I've got plenty of black friends, and as a matter of fact, one them wears a Rebel Flag bandanna under his football helmet when he is playing. My minoritie friends don't care or even notice stuff like the Rebel Flag.

[northzax]

20. then those people are idiots

sorry. symbols have power, and if you fly a confederate flag, without understanding that it represents, in varying degrees, treason, violence and racism, to a reasonable, impartial observer then you don't know enough about it to be proud of it.

[kostya]

21. BS. Try flying a Nazi swastika and see if that symbol doesn't count.

A confederate flag is the equivalent for many black people.

[Stones]

19. DISCUSS A REAL SUBJECT!!!!

you are correct--let them have it, people get so upset over a flag...its amazing...there's people dying of hunger in America and people are more worried about a cloth flag.....it shows you how shallow people are...espicaaly the ones against petty stuff like this...

[northzax]

23. I don't think anyone, least of all Bill France

is saying that people shouldn't have the right to have or show a flag, simply the realisation that people might not feel comfortable around that symbol, and therefore would avoid patronizing an establishment that had them everywhere.

gee, why might a black person feel uncomfortable, in the south, with fifty thousand drunk white people waving hate symbols?

[LostinVA]

25. Gosh, I know

Or why some one Jewish wouldn't want to go to a sporting event where the players wear swatikas... no difference, folks!

[newyawker99]

30. Hi Stones!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[fujiyama]

6. I'm sure true freepers already hate him

After all his last name is France.

[awoke_in_2003]

7. Yeah, the nerve...

he should change his name to Brian Freedom.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

8. Or Lance Uppercut.

Sorry, Simpsons reference. :)

[vonslagle]

9. Boy Howdy!

[90-percent]

10. however

Professional drag racing has women and minorities all over the place. There's three hispanic brothers out there driving fuel funny cars and women in Top Fuel, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Bike.

Shirley Muldowney was a three time Top Fuel World Champion in the late 70's and early 80's.

I'm just sayin'.............

-85%

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

11. We might also add...

That there are also plenty of African Americans involved in the sport. One great example is Antron Brown, in Pro Stock Bike.

NHRA has been very proactive about minority involvement in their sport. Asian Americans figure prominently in their Import Drag Racing series. Several prominent car owners and drivers there are Asian American.

[Tesla]

12. I went to Bristol in August

Stayed in the "Red Barn Trailer Park".

What a party, what a consumption of money and GAS!

I didn't say waste, just consumption.


The Confederate flag will never leave NASCAR.

It is ingrained in the whole culture.

(We had a Earnhart Sr. flag)

Don't get me wrong, it was a blast!

Something to do at least once.

But that is apart of the history of that sport.

They need to talk more about the Blacks who ran liquor and races back in those same days that NASCAR was born.

But this may make 75% of the campground I was in, UPSET!

[DS1]

14. Hey Brian France - STOP SOUTH BASHING IT'S ABOUT SOUTHERN PRIDE

/typical bullshit redneck fuckhead argument

[Stones]

15. Racing is a Southern Sport

If minorities out there would show up at a race, you would find out that those flying the Confederate flag have nothing against anyone. Note to you guys and Brian France. NASCAR is a southern sport period. If you like NASCAR in other parts of the country, people laugh at you. Trust me, I'm from Chicago and I took a lot of heat for liking NASCAR. Basically people thought I was a loser. And another note to France...Minorties don't like NASCAR for the most part. Blacks think its stupid, which they may be right, and women, for the most part think it the dumbest thing ever. Travel to the South, which I do on occasion, and it the topic in every bar. Let them have the sport and fly the Rebel Flag..Nobody cares..because the people it would offend don't watch the sport anyway...Football, Basketball and Baseball are all-american sports. Racing is not mainstream and never will be..........

[northzax]

16. racing is the number two sport in the country

there are several traditional races in the north (Watkins Glen, etc) it is very popular in the upper midwest (been to the Milwaukee Mile?) NASCAR's problem is that every white male who's going to like NASCAR already does. the expansion is into minority communities. and yes, it will lose some tradition and some colorby doing so, all sports do when they go national.

[K-W]

22. Nascar obviously doesnt agree with you.

If minorities out there would show up at a race, you would find out that those flying the Confederate flag have nothing against anyone.

I dont think anyone is speculating on whether or not the fans have anything against anyone.

Note to you guys and Brian France. NASCAR is a southern sport period.

NASCAR itself is not just a southern sport and obviously doesnt want to be considered as just a southern sport, so I'm not sure where you came up with this.

If you like NASCAR in other parts of the country, people laugh at you.

You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. There are Nascar fans all over the country.

Trust me, I'm from Chicago and I took a lot of heat for liking NASCAR.

So because Nascar isn't popular in Chicago, you can conclude that it is only popular in the south? Now Chicago represents the entire western and northern sectors of our country?

And another note to France...Minorties don't like NASCAR for the most part.

No shit. That is why he wants to increase the minority fan base.

Travel to the South, which I do on occasion, and it the topic in every bar.

There are bars full of Nascar fans all over the country.

Let them have the sport

It isn't thier sport.

and fly the Rebel Flag..Nobody cares..because the people it would offend don't watch the sport anyway...

Actually people do care. And contrary to what you have been claiming, Nascar is a nationl sport that reaches audiences throughout the country and has fans all over the place. Those people who are offended might be potential Nascar fans.

Football, Basketball and Baseball are all-american sports. Racing is not mainstream and never will be..........

Actually it has always been mainstream, and has had a surge in popularity all over the country in recent years.

[Tomee450]

24. You are quite wrong.

A lot of people care. They hate the Confederate flag and don't want it flown anywhere. It should be in a museum. The confederacy was formed to preserve slavery. No flag which honors the Confederacy should be flown. Why honor something that was established so that men women and children could continue to be bought and sold, continue to be enslaved.

[LostinVA]

27. He si wrong one many counts

1.) My relatives live in NJ, and NASCAR is HUGE there.
2.) I've been to alot of bars in NC and VA, and have went whole evenings without anyone mentioning NASCAR. And these weren't those high-falutin' sissy bars, either.
3.) People who wave the Battle Flag are either insensitive to how many people -- black AND white -- feel about that flag, or they are just racist jerks. That flag is a symbol of hate. Heritage? I s that what you just said? Well, the swastika flag is also a symbol of some other people's heritage......

Play somewhere else. I think you may have taken a wrong turn somewhere...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

26. Eugggggggh. (nt)

[wellstone_democrat]

28. sells out in New Hampshire all the time

big old track in the town I lived in for a number of years.

"those flying the Confederate flag have nothing against anyone." Really? you couldn't prove that in MY part of Texas. Rebel Flag? Yeah, whatever but to some of us the "Confederate Battle Flag" (which is what it actually is) means armed insurrection against the United States. You know: treason.

but...thanks for playing!

[Ellen Forradalom]

31. New Hampshire is

the South of New England.

If it sells out in the South, and it sells out in New Hampshire, it's definitely Southern.

[wellstone_democrat]

32. "west Virginia with snow"

that's the local joke anyhow