Shawn Windsor: The Confederate flag is a middle finger to freedom – Newsbug.info

DETROIT - NASCAR banned the Confederate flag from its races. If you've been looking for signs that our conversation about racism might finally be changing, this is one of them.

Especially when you consider the geography and political leanings of the most ardent part of NASCAR's fan base. The sport's governing body issued the rule knowing it would annoy, alienate and downright anger a portion of its customers.

In a vacuum, that may be bad business. But then the sport's fan base already was dwindling, if you judge declining ratings and shrinking attendance. So, in a sense, you might ask: What did NASCAR have to lose?

More money, for one. Cultural identity, for another, symbolized by the Confederate flag. For while it varies from track to track and region to region, the flag was about as ubiquitous as blown tires and funnel cakes.

No, I think NASCAR listened to its only black driver, Bubba Wallace, who had asked it to ban the flag. It looked around the country the past few weeks and decided ... enough. We've been privately embarrassed by its presence at our races for years. It's time to take a stand.

"The presence of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry," NASCAR said in a statement. "Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special."

Ray Ciccarelli didn't agree. The truck series driver announced he was packing up his Chevrolet Silverado and quitting after the season because of the flag ban.

"I don't believe in kneeling during Anthem nor taken ppl right to fly what ever flag they love," he posted on Facebook. "I could care less about the Confederate Flag, but there are ppl that do and it doesn't make them a racist all you are doing is (expletive) one group to cater to another and i ain't spend the money we are to participate in any political BS!! So everything is for SALE!!"

Ciccarelli won't be the only one who feels this way. Because the Confederate flag was, if you'll excuse the expression, sewn into the fabric of the sport. A rough-edged representation of the American outlaw, living off the grid, barreling down the straightaway at 200 mph, mufflers and ear buds be damned.

It was flown as a middle finger to the establishment, backed by a kind of rebel-yell pride. This is, of course, a narrow and sanitized view of the Confederate flag. But then that's what it takes to look at the flag and feel pride - blinders.

Because history tells us something different. That the Confederate flag represents 13 states that wanted a separate country in order to keep buying and selling human beings.

The flag doesn't represent states' rights - unless it was the right to own slaves. It doesn't represent Zora Neale Hurston or B.B. King or slow-cooked green beans with fatback.

It's not about Alabama football, or sweet tea, or polite chatter in a slow-moving grocery store line.

The South is about all of those things and much, much more. And you know what represents those things? The American flag. That's where we can meet and have a conversation.

Not the Confederate flag. It was created as a symbol for a movement to protect slavery. You might as well fly a KKK hood, though at least no one is trying to whitewash the meaning of that.

Imagine Germans flying the swastika at soccer games and then proudly saying it represents the country's heritage.

The Confederate flag is no different. NASCAR knows that. Has always known that. And while it's late to the conversation, at least it finally jumped in.

As Wallace said: "Bravo. Props to NASCAR and everybody involved. This has been a stressful couple of weeks."

Now, before you use this week's ban to take a broad swipe at the South, don't. Racism infects every corner of this country. That's why the protests fill so many of our streets.

Besides, as a region, I love the South. I've lived a fair part of my life in it. My sons were born in Alabama. Its pace, if not its heat, suits my throttled-back nature. I enjoy eye contact (mostly) and basic human acknowledgement out in public. (No, folks aren't there to get in your way ... what's the big hurry anyway?)

I enjoy NASCAR, too. The speed, the roar, the physics, the visceral thrill of all that power, the pride of American muscle. None of that needs the Confederate flag. Fly the Stars and Stripes instead. And if you want to learn about the symbols of our darkest hour, visit a museum.

That's where the flag belongs.

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Shawn Windsor: The Confederate flag is a middle finger to freedom - Newsbug.info