Bernie O'Hara sent a message to Akio Toyoda that said:
Mr. Akio Toyoda, I've written to you in the past about an issue I had with one of your Toyotas. In a very fast and kind way you took care of the problem when the dealers turn their backs on me.
Today, I come to you to ask if you are sure you still want to be a part of NASCAR? Seems NASCAR has disrespected the very people who made them who they are today. I will no longer watch a NASCAR race. Kindest Regards, Bernie O'Hara
NASCARâs roots started in the South with some drivers hauling Moonshine and racing their Moonshine cars. In the deep South tradition many NASCAR tracks not only allowed the display of the Confederate flag they embraced it. Thatâs the girl NASCAR invited to itâs dance. Now with NASCAR loss of ticket sales and sponsor money they wish to divorce the girl who put NASCAR on the map.
Comes now NASCAR says the Confederate flag is irrelevant and has banned it. Oh really. Then why did you embrace it for many, many years? Is it the same reason you embraced the fan base who brings and flies the Confederate flag? The very people who put NASCAR on the map? The very people who spends millions of dollars on the sponsors products? The very people who buys a ticket to pay the drivers and keep the track open? Yes, it was greed for thy self. And itâs this same greed thatâs your motive to ban the flag now. Money comes before all things.
A little history lesson to NASCAR and the folks who may have fallen asleep in your History class, if you took History at all. Read this real slow. The North won the Civil War and Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. At that moment the Confederate flag became null and void OR irrelevant. People who study laws need to explain that to people as many must have missed it.
Two reasons the Confederate flag is relevant at all today. 1. People born in the South likes the flag and have a First Amendment right to display it. 2. People, like NASCAR and others, uses and abuses the Confederate Flag for their on greed, agenda, or narrative. NASCAR used the Confederate flag and the fans who fly it to make money.
Now NASCAR is once again using the Confederate Flag to try and stay relevant.
Odds are NASCAR has done more damage to the reputation of Southern people than any other entity for embracing the Confederate Flag.
A little history lesson to NASCAR and the folks who may have fallen asleep in your History class, if you took History at all. Read this real slow. The North won the Civil War and Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. At that moment the Confederate flag became null and void OR irrelevant. People who study laws need to explain that to people as many must have missed it.
Is NASCAR infringing on peopleâs rights? To my knowledge, there is no law saying you canât wear a Confederate flag. I donât believe fans sign a waiver when they purchase a ticket telling them what to wear. And displaying that flag should be part of a personâs 1st Amendment right surrounding freedom of speech, just like kneeling for the national anthem is at NFL games.
