If you’ve been to a NASCAR race in the Deep South before (or, hell, Pocono Raceway), you know that Confederate flags are a dime-a-dozen despite the flag’s history as a symbol of hate. But NASCAR itself isn’t a fan, with chairman Brian France telling the AP last week that he finds it an offensive symbol and wants it removed from the NASCAR experience:
“We want to go as far as we can to eliminate the presence of that flag,” France told The Associated Press on Saturday. “I personally find it an offensive symbol, so there is no daylight how we feel about it, and our sensitivity to others who feel the same way.
“Obviously, we have our roots in the South, there are events in the South, it’s part of our history like it is for the country. But it needs to be just that, part of our history. It isn’t part of our future.
“We want everybody in this country to be a NASCAR fan, and you can’t do that by being insensitive in any one area.”
This weekend, starting at Daytona, NASCAR is taking steps to eliminate the flag. They have a pretty cool idea in place, too: Trade your confederate flag in for a U.S. flag showing off your Fourth of July Patriotism.
#NASCAR will give American flag to anyone who trades in a Confederate flag at Daytona this Independence Day weekend. pic.twitter.com/xq404DJvZ5
— Coy Wire (@CoyWire) July 1, 2015
“”
Hell yeah, American ingenuity. That’s what the REAL America is all about, dammit.
[H/T: SB Nation]