NASCAR'S BRIAN FRANCE BETRAYS THE SOUTH
Frank Gillispie
Oct. 2005
Brian France, boss of NASCAR, continues his efforts to turn his back on
the people who drove his organization into a billion dollar business.
He told correspondent Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes, "It’s not a flag that
I look at with anything favorable. That’s for sure," France added that
he cannot tell people what flag to fly but that he does not encourage
the battle flag.
France‘s reason for turning his back on his organization’s Southern
Culture is to promote racing to minorities. "(Reaching out to
minorities) is something I work on every day. I work on it personally…"
he said.
In fact, Confederate emblems are already forbidden from display
anywhere NASCAR has control.
"Any area that NASCAR controls at the racetrack, you will never see the
Confederate flag," said NASCAR diversity director Tish Sheets in a
recent interview. "It is not allowed on race cars, driver uniforms, in
the garage area or on any NASCAR-licensed product."
That was made clear several years ago when the Sons of Confederate
Veterans budgeted funds to sponsor a car. NASCAR refused to allow the
sponsorship even though several teams were struggling to stay in
existence.
Now we in the Southern movement are accustomed to being attacked by
people outside the South. The poor souls have been misled, miseducated
and misdirected into believing that all things Southern are evil. We
are doing everything we can to bring them the truth. But when it is one
of our own who is betraying us, well, that is truly painful. We have a
name for people like that. We call them scalawags.
Brian France is the biggest scalawag of all times. He knows better. But
he is so blinded by greed for money and power, he willingly turns his
back on his own culture in pursuit of ever greater wealth.
His betrayal of the South brings to mind a quote from the Bible: "What
does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul."
NASCAR once stood as a major component of the soul of the south. But no
more.
So what should we do about it? Two strong proposals appear to be
developing in the Southern movement. First is a total boycott of
NASCAR. They are urging Southerners not to spend a dime on any NASCAR
products. That includes tickets, tags, calendars, model cars, clothing
or anything else with a connection to NASCAR, its races, drivers or
sponsors.
The other idea is to start a new racing circuit. It would be called
Dixie Racing League, Southern Racing League or some other appropriate
name. There would be several rules: all races will occur within the
fifteen Southern states. The cars must be true stock cars. Every car
will have to be purchased from a dealer’s showroom then modified as
needed to achieve speed and safety. And finally the Confederate Battle
Flag would be the official emblem for the league. Every car would be
required to carry a battle flag decal in a prominent position.
Either or both of these ideas would have an impact on NASCAR’s future
profitability. Once they understand that losing their base will put
their entire business at risk, they will be forced to reconsider their
anti South stance.
Meanwhile, the South is full of small and medium sized tracks where you
can find people who race for the love of the sport almost any weekend.
We do not need the big money back stabbers to enjoy this most Southern
of all sports. Let NASCAR go wherever they want to go. Just give your
money and support to those local drivers who deserve it.
© 2005 Frank Gillispie
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