Hold your fire, flag wavers.
NASCAR is just taking care of business. Let’s face it, alienating the majority of American consumers is no way to make money. The fact it’s also the right thing to do is beside today’s point.
Not surprising, a lot of people aren’t seeing it that way. To them, banning General Lee is just another case of NASCAR spitting on its heritage.
General Lee, you may recall, was probably the finest actor on the '80s TV show The Dukes of Hazzard. Pro golfer Bubba Watson bought the 1969 Dodge Charger for $110,000.
He was supposed to drive it on the parade lap before the Subway Fresh Fit 500. The problem is that General Lee has a big rebel flag painted on its roof.
“The image of the Confederate flag is not something that should play an official role in our sport as we continue to reach out to new fans and make NASCAR more inclusive,” spokesman David Higdon said.
To which the flag-wavers say, well, they can barely talk at the moment.
“It makes me want to vomit.”
So read one of the many Internet comments. Based on my unscientific survey they are running about 102.7 percent against the decision. More samples:
“This isn’t America. It’s Communist Russia.”
“Just one more example of NASCAR abandoning its traditional fans. Bill France Sr. is rolling over in his grave.”
A former U.S. congressman has even weighed in.
“It is a disgraceful and gratuitous insult to a lot of very decent people. It is prejudicial toward those good-hearted folks, who, like Uncle Jesse Duke, are in fact, ‘never meaning’ no harm.’ ”
So said former Georgia representative Ben Jones. He’s better known as ace mechanic “Cooter” Davenport on The Dukes of Hazzard, so he’s not exactly emotionally detached.
When it comes to the rebel flag, few people are. We’re not going to settle the Heritage-vs.-Hate debate here, though feel free to bombard us with your views on what a great guy Robert E. Lee was.
Heck, you don’t have to convince me. I graduated from Robert E. Lee High. My great-great-grandfather fought for the South. I honor his courage and know the Civil War was more complex than anti-flag groups care to ponder.
But the bottom line is that battle is over. Just ask Johnny Rebel at Ole Miss or anyone who has visited the South Carolina State House.
Waving the flag doesn’t stamp you a racist, but it has become a symbol of intolerance and slavery to millions of people.
Why insult them?
That’s NASCAR’s calculation, and Big Bill France was nothing if not a good calculator. He took a ragtag bunch of moonshiners and started a multibillion dollar enterprise.
Now his grandson, Brian, is running the business. Business hasn’t kept booming the past few years, which critics say proves NASCAR’s attempts at “inclusiveness” have backfired.
I think it’s more because of the economy, boring races and a business hitting its growth ceiling. Despite all that, International Speedway Corp.
profits were up 4.5 percent last year. And 71 percent of that stock is owned by Big Bill’s heirs.
I doubt profits would have improved if NASCAR went back to the good ol' boy days. If you want a good chuckle, check out this video of the 1968 Southern 500.
You have to admire how an obviously spent Cale Yarbrough found the strength to carry the rebel flag on his victory lap.
And how some flunkie held it as a backdrop as Yarbrough and Miss Southern 500 sat on the roof posing for pictures.
That didn’t bother too many people back then. Neither did all-white college football teams.
But imagine a Southern 500 replay at the upcoming Daytona 500.
Talk about marketing suicide. The CEOs of every NASCAR sponsor would storm France’s skybox and throw him off the roof.
But wait, you say. General Lee was just a mechanical character on a goofy TV show.
“Obviously, I don’t stand for the Confederate flag,” Watson said. “The Confederate flag was not used (in the show) for what people see it as today.”
He’s right, but a whole lot of people would not get the distinction. Uncle Duke and Cooter should accept that this ain’t 1968 anymore.
NASCAR values your business. But if it has to choose between you and appealing to the anti-flag demographic, visit Big Bill France’s grave.
That noise is not a rebel rolling over.
It’s the sound of a businessman nodding his head in approval.
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