Can NASCAR ever cross over to black audiences?
OPINION - NASCAR has an image problem, real or perceived, that is unwelcoming to an entire race that it must ultimately overcome if it is to diversify....
I never thought that I might find myself agreeing with the anti-diversity crowd.
You know them. They hate diversity — despite the fact that many of their ancestors insisted on robbing Africa of its human resources to build up the American south. Mention the word diversity to them and they jump to their bully pulpit to proclaim diversity is not required — or that America is not a better place when its greatest universities and board rooms are representative of the changing face of America.
This is what came to my mind when I heard that BET — typically the leading purveyor of African-American gutter culture — was airing a reality show, Changing Lanes, about NASCAR’s search for the first great minority or female driver.
It’s a noble effort, actually, albeit a great waste of time and money.
I imagine that it might be fun to get into a car juiced up the way these screaming monsters are and tooling around an oval track at an insane rate of speed. That’s got to be exhilarating.
But how does this change the culture and the history of the sport, the true road blocks standing in the way of diversifying the sport?
Surely you can package it in a nice little mindless reality show. Garbage like Jersey Shore and Basketball Wives have scored huge ratings and financial success. But these are shows that aren’t trying to portray themselves as anything other than what they are — mindless rubbish.
NASCAR, on the other hand, has an image problem, real or perceived, that is unwelcoming to an entire race that it must ultimately overcome if it is to diversify. But one television show is not going to do much, if anything, to revamp that landscape.
When I think of NASCAR — and maybe this an archaic view — I see images of the stars and bars flying in the stands and atop RVs in the parking lots at southern venues. To this day, I don’t view the rebel flag of the Confederacy with fear and loathing. However, its presence anywhere makes the simple statement to African-Americans that your kind isn’t welcome.
Fine with me. Keep NASCAR.
This isn’t like golf, where Lee Elder and Tiger Woods have pushed back years of discrimination to the point that droves of minorities take the pastoral courses of this nation to play and tune in to watch the sport.
Who wouldn’t want to spend a relaxing day under the sun at Augusta National, site of the Masters? The fact that this beautiful course didn’t allow its first black member until 1990 barely registers with people anymore.
But what is the allure of NASCAR? Burning rubber? The smell of cheap domestic beer? The horrible, grating sound of Southern rock and roll (think Lynyrd Skynyrd) blaring in the background?
When I think of this crowd, I don’t feel invited. Although I’m open to attempts at being swayed, I think this group disproportionately represents the uninformed percentage of Americans that can’t or won’t accept that Barack Obama, whose mother was white, is neither racist nor Muslim.
Honestly, NASCAR shouldn’t be asked to become something that it doesn’t want to be. There is no clamoring for it anywhere. When the people who drive the sport think that they can increase their revenues they will turn to recruiting the black dollar in earnest.
Don’t expect that to happen, in earnest, anytime soon.
WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘CHANGING LANES’ HERE:
[youtubevid http://youtube.com/watch?v=kVRht26vZVQ?fs=1&hl=en_US]
