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Title: Racism, Sexism and Speed: Can NASCAR Be Saved From Itself?
Source:
AlterNet
URL Source: http://www.alternet.org/reproductiv ... 0d31db32eb8d26b9b8429ff9b16c77
Published: Jul 12, 2008
Author: Dave Zirin, The Nation
Post Date: 2008-07-17 14:36:41 by X-15
Keywords: None
Views: 653
Comments: 7
For the last decade, NASCAR has tried to shed its legacy as a sport indelibly linked to the confederate flag NASCAR execs' preoccupation with having their cake and eating it too has long been a recipe for disaster. Now there is an ingredient that could ruin their entire corporate feast: Mauricia Grant. In 2005, Grant became the first black, female inspection official in the sport's history. Two years later she was fired. Now Grant has filed a $225 million harassment lawsuit against NASCAR alleging "racial and sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination." "I loved it. It was a great, exciting, adrenaline-filled job where I worked with fast cars and the best drivers in the world," Grant told The Associated Press. "But there was an ongoing daily pattern [of harassment]. It was the nature of the people I worked with, the people who ran it, it trickled down from the top." The lawsuit details twenty-three specific incidents of sexual harassment and thirty-four specific incidents of alleged racial and gender discrimination over a two-year span. It is a fairly mindnumbing recitation of similar stories that go well beyond anyone's notion of political correctness. Grant has accused two NASCAR officials, Tim Knox and Bud Moore, of exposing themselves to her as well. They are now on "indefinite administrative paid leave" although NASCAR suspiciously says it has nothing to do with the lawsuit. Grant claims she was called "Nappy Headed Mo" and "Queen Sheba." She had a coworker who liked to talk casually about the Ku Klux Klan. Another white official named, oddly enough, David Duke, sent her a text message that read, "I love all Yall mofos i am that niggaHAHAHAHollaPIMPALICIOUS." So far, NASCAR's response to Grant's allegations has been to go into attack mode. Chairman Brian France said, "The disappointing thing is she makes a lot of claims, none of them reported, The fact that it went on as she stated, for many months, but never bothered to tell anyone at management what was going on--which is what our policy says--is very disappointing." Grant claims she did tell others but that she was told to let it go because her tormenters were "former military guys" with a rough sense of humor. Mike Wilford, who is named in the suit and has since left NASCAR, told The Associated Press that Grant was in on the offensive "jokes" the whole time. "Graphic and lewd jokes? She participated in them. She laughed, she would never say it was inappropriate," Wilford claims. "She asked to be called the only two names she was ever called. She called herself Mo Money all the time." Needless to say, this scandal could destroy NASCAR, or at the very least, put it in permanent marketing purgatory. Ironically the person perhaps best-equipped to save NASCAR from itself is Mauricia Grant. Grant has said, "We have to work together to change the racist culture. Anyone that has an interest in motorsports, they should be allowed to work in that environment without having to deal with racism or sexism." Grant's love of motorsports is so intense, so pure, that she can separate the beauty of the sport from the ugly underbelly desperately clinging to its wheels. Perhaps she could even inspire NASCAR fans to get up and demonstrate(?????)--whether it be at Daytona or Talladega--to show that intolerance and gender inequality are not the cornerstones of the sport they love.
. Motorsports execs understand that if their sport is ever to go global, burning rubber can't be associated with burning crosses. However, despite NASCAR's efforts to improve their image, it's still a sport where racism thrives below the surface and sexism in the form of bikini-clad NASCAR eye candy is proudly paraded around the speedway, as much a part of the scenery as the stars and bars. NASCAR is in danger of being marginalized by this contradiction. They're attempting to reach an international audience while displaying the worst kind of backward provincialism.
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#1. To: X-15 (#0)
If true, NASCAR deserves what it gets.
#4. To: Tauzero (#1)
NASCAR has shed itself of many old time fans. The constant upward spiral of ticket prices has finally chased me from attending anymore races. I have attended over 50 cup races and as many Busch races over the last 12 years and have divorced myself from NASCAR. My last race was March 16, 2008 at Bristol Tenneesee. I always took at least $500 to each race weekend and generally came home with an empty wallet. I probably spent in excess of $8,500 just for tickets. Lodging and food and gasoline probably brought my race expenditures in the neighborhood of $25,000. When NASCAR decided to hold races in mexico and other places around the globe, they slapped many of us in the face. Then there is the constant hyping of certain drivers, constant cramming them down our throats. Drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and a few others. Unless I'm wrong, there are 43 drivers that start a race. As the race progresses one would get the impression that there are only 5 or 6 that can win, will win, or who get the majority of camera time. All the other drivers , their fans and their sponsors are getting slighted. Now only the top 12 drivers can win the championship do to the asnine formula the Frances put into play. The last ten races will decide which one of the top 12 drivers becomes the champ. After 26 races the rest of the field might aS well stay home. The guy in 13 place gets one million dollars and even if he won the last 10 races he cannot be champ. Forty three drivers race for the championship for 26 races and the favorite sons like the jeff Gordon's and Dale Earnhart's have a 36 race schedule to win the championship. Total Bs. I have no doubt that this law suit against NASCAR is warranted. It has become nothing more than another money grabbing greedy event that is shortchanging many of their fans and apparently some of their staff. Five years since I've attended a professional sporting event like football, baseball, or hockey at the major league level. I'll be damned if I'm gonna spend my hard earned cash to watch these over paid steroid using freaks. The owners are just as bad or worse. The dollar comes first and the sports and the fans come later if at all. Hope they all collapse just like our economy. Maybe that would stop their greed.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestFor the last decade, NASCAR has tried to shed its legacy as a sport indelibly linked to the confederate flag
Replies to Comment # 1. For the last decade, NASCAR has tried to shed its legacy as a sport indelibly linked to the confederate flag If true, NASCAR deserves what it gets.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 1.