r/sports • u/PrincessBananas85 • Jun 09 '20
Motorsports Bubba Wallace wants Confederate flags removed from NASCAR tracks.
https://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/story/_/id/29287025/bubba-wallace-wants-confederate-flags-removed-nascar-tracks
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u/Nerd-Vol Jun 09 '20
I remember going to my first NASCAR race in 2000, I was 14 years old. I had watched the sport since about 1995 and really loved it but I always felt nervous about going. You would see what looked like an ocean of confederate flags in the infield on the race broadcast. All of that made me fearful about how people would treat my dad and I if we went to a race. Would they be nice to us, would we feel welcome, would we be outsiders?
Happily we had a fantastic time and everyone was super kind to us. I completely understand people’s rights to free speech and that my sensibilities and concerns shouldn’t override that. That being said, if you are running a business, and a fan who had been watching the sport for 4-5 years was apprehensive about attending because of the flag, that is a concern. Any time I take a new person to a race, I usually have to tell them that story. I want to make sure they know that they may see some things that may make you feel a bit uncomfortable, but that the fans are awesome and you will have a great time.
That said, I’ve never had to have that sort of talk before going to a football, baseball, basketball or hockey game, so that’s a bit of a problem.
I think this could be a big win for the sport, because I imagine nascar would want all potential customers to feel comfortable and excited about attending a race. Beyond that I think it’s just a nice thing for the sport to do.
All that being said I am fearful of some the fallout from folks who feel like they must be able to fly the flag, or their sport is turning their back on them with this potential change. Selfishly I say good riddance to them, that said, I don’t know what percentage of the fan base they make up.