mototerry Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Chicago (CNSNews.com) - Jesse Jackson says NASCAR should feature more African-American drivers because "negroes can drive cars fast." Jackson made the remarks on Tuesday, the day of the sports luncheon at the 33rd Annual Rainbow/PUSH Coalition conference in Chicago, while waiting to introduce Sen. John F. Kerry. "One thing I know, negroes can drive cars fast," Jackson said to laughter. "I mean, we go through red lights, even [drive] at night with our lights off. We can drive cars fast," he asserted from the podium. NASCAR's sponsorship of the sports luncheon at this week's conference is contrary to previous reports indicating that NASCAR had ended its financial support of Jackson and his organizations in 2003 because of negative public pressure. By 2003, NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) had reportedly given a total of $250,000 to the Rainbow/PUSH sports division, generating criticism from conservative groups and racing fans, who saw the money as appeasement. But at this week's conference, NASCAR had nothing but positive things to say about Jesse Jackson. George Pyne, NASCAR's vice president of marketing, told the crowd at Tuesday's sports luncheon, "I would like to thank Reverend Jackson and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition for being positive catalysts for change. It is an honor to be here today." Pyne left no doubt that NASCAR was currently supporting Jackson. "To the extent that Rainbow/PUSH is committed to making NASCAR more diverse, we support them," Pyne said in an interview with CNSNews.com following the luncheon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProTree Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 there was a black car owner from austin in the busch series-they just had a big story on him and his partner(a dancer at a couple of austins strip joints) in the austin paper recently-but now he's going to prison cause he worked for wells fargo bank and they didnt like him using their $$$ from the false loans he was making to finance his and hers team-sounds like jesse was saying if you have more nite races and turn out the lites we could race with ya-and can run on the rims-dont need no tires-i've seen that on cops myself-jesse was probably just talking to collect his 250,00 for 2004 from nascar-plus hes got magic johnson working on drivers and such for their diversity program in nascar- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Tommy, You talking about that Angela's Motorsports deal that screwed over Robert Yates, Mike Mclaughlin, Harold Holly, and many other people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhorse Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 it's the same situation as female drivers - there are really good ones out there,but they give the wrong people the right chances...it seems like they think they have a certain quota and time limit they have to meet so they throw the 1st johnny or joanna come lately in a car...then when they suck they're upset because they're not getting the coverage they rightfully do not deserve....i'm sure there are alot of black drivers out there that deserve a shot-but for example bill lester is not one of them...they push that guy through a marketing whirl wind-like they're pimping a 20$ whore on wall street...then ask why the racing community won't accept him,and see through this color barrier??? BECAUSE HE SUCKS!!! not because his black....and stop trying to find excuses...that's like kurt bush saying no one likes him because he's jewish..... just my opinion- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProTree Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 yes-that be the one-she fled the country-jumped the ole bail-they will find her- then she gets to go to the pen-probably longer since she jumped- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProTree Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 also-guess jesse saying the n word cause bill cosby got alot of press from saying it in his lecture a few days ago-all i got to say is GET A JOB JESSE- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt5858 Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Jesse Jackson . All he does is complain. Is he blind. I dont really see very many black racecar drivers. That would be like me going on the news and say, " I want to see more white people in the NAACP Magizine". Jesse Jackson needs to find something better to do instead of worring about stuff like that. I am NOT saying that black people cant drive a racecar, its just there are not very many of them driveing Racecars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Crazyhorse- Yes, NASCAR is pushing Bill Lester. They have to do something, because they are under more and more pressure as the sport gets a higher and higher profile. You and I know there's nothing to keep a black driver from coming out to race, but until they do, and in significant numbers, there will not be enough of them in the pipeline for there to be a lot of good ones. And they will always have the same problem all the other drivers have: money. Bill Lester doesn't suck. He's at least as good as half of the other guys (and gals) out there, but he suffers from one more thing he can't change: his age. I think he's 42 this year. From all reports, he's a good guy and a pretty good driver who doesn't want to be some kind of pioneer, he just wants to drive race cars, and he's been doing it for a long time. Ford is trying to see if Erin Crocker can make it. Christi Passmore is running pretty well in ARCA. There are no doubt some very good female "shoes" out there, but it will take time for them to get to the top, or even to the middle. Meanwhile, our sport is getting hammered for some alleged "bias" because no black drivers or female drivers have gotten to the top. In addition, Sarah Fisher is having trouble getting sponsorship. Why? Who knows? Maybe because no one wants their name on her car if she gets hurt or killed. A larger question is why American corporations won't fund American drivers; male, female, black, white, brown or whatever through their apprenticeship; instead electing to "hire" Europeans or Brazilians who have already had their "training" paid for by European or South American corporations. It's a money game, but the rest of the world thinks anyone can drive a race car (hey, it's not like those guys are athletes!), so the only reason we don't have black and female drivers is we're "keeping them out." But don't knock any driver for using whatever works (short of cheating) to get themselves up the ladder. Mike Waltrip used his personality, not his driving talent, and more power to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTie Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 There are all kinds of stereotypes. I could bring up basketball, football, baseball etc. The white athlete is being replaced by the black athlete. Why? Because of skill and ability. That is what needs to happen in racing as well. Skill and ability not the cavern of a mouth of the reverend(of what?) Jesssssssee Jackson. That guy hurts the black cause more than he helps. Why the black community doesn't do something about him is a mystery, kind of like why does Ted Kennedy keep getting re-elected? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhorse Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 tq- where did bill lester come from??? scaa ,trans ams or some where...steve kinser is god in a srint car,but when he came to nascar he sucked...so he went back to the outlaws...bill lester was good at what he did...but the fact is he's never going to make it here...they wanted a black man in a truck-so they pushed lester as far as they could...does anyone know how many top 5's he's gotten this season or even last season...nope you know he's the black guy in the 22 toyota that's either crashed out by mid race, or atleast 5 laps down....hell jesse wants some black drivers,with a little practice he could probably fill the seat better himself than(oh yes i'm gonna say it)their hand picked token,that needs be send on his way before he completely ruins any chances for better black drivers in the future.... and age is not an isssue- dale earnhardt,harry gant,rusty wallace,etc.etc. age is another one of those excuses i was talking about.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Sorry, 'horse, but age IS an issue. Young guys get the breaks because everyone wants a Jeff Gordon clone. Guys who made it in the past can't get a break now. I talked to one team owner about a really good driver, and the first question was, "how old is he?" Over 30? That was the end of the conversation. Things have changed. Age is a HUGE issue in stock cars, and it always was in places like F1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Yes, Bill Lester came out of the SCCA and road racing. In 2002, he got the chance to try truck racing in NASCAR. Driving on tracks he's never seen, in a truck he'd never driven, on oval tracks for the first time, he was runnerup as Raybestos Rookie of the Year and was 17th in points. In 2003 he posted a top-ten finish at Kansas Speedway and took the pole at Lowe's. At the end of the season he was 14th in points. Not great, but not too shabby, either. Better than a lot of guys and gals, and pretty good for a guy who was 40 before he made it to the, well, not big time, but maybe "medium-size" time. At least, they have a better reason for putting him in a truck than the fact that his daddy might own half of Kentucky or some such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt15 Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 17th and 14th might sound not to shabby but if you notice the year he finished 17th he was one of 18 drivers to compete in every race that season. And the year he finished 14th there was only 12 drivers that competed in every race and he was one of them. 56 races in the truck series and one top-10. And he still gets rides???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Colt- Better him than Buckshot Jones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt15 Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 are you sure??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Buckshot is way better. Better him than Kerry Earnhardt. There thats a little better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supertx Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 crazyhorse A little insight on the Kinser deal in NASCAR it was at the end of the Kenny Bernstines team the equipment was just being used up and no R&D was being done at all ,also alot of the team had already left for greener pastures,If you look at IROC I believe that KINSER won one of those races and had a pretty good showing in the rest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jkelly57 Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 Short & sweet ANYONE who makes it to NASCAR's upper divisions should earn the ride. I'm not saying Bill Lester didn't, but Reeeeverend Jaaaaackson needs an education in the sport. To give a driver a ride in the "big time" based on race........well, that's pretty racist, wouldn't you say? Reeeeverend Jaaaaackson should preach to people about helping themselves get better, to work harder, not to expect handouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhorse Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 i can't believe this everybody always has to rag on buckshot-one of these days ya'll will all be saying "i've always been a buckshot fan,just knew it was a matter of time before he got the right equipment behind him...."you're all a bunch a train jumping fools (junior fans come out of the closet,and step away from the 12 piece family bucket) BUCKSHOT IS THE MAN!!!! BUCKSHOT FOR PRESIDENT!!!!! this has got to be just to get me worked up??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyRodriguez Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 Whatever happened to Willy T. Ribbs ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artsfan Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 i say it now i am a tony raines fan,he just needs a hendricks ride (i had to say it now before he gets big) jesse james needs to stay out of everything and nascar needs to quit giving him money and spend it on a red flag to throw with 2-5 laps to go and a causion this is jesse at 190 mph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REBELRACER Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 [Edited out by Nick Holt, 7/6/05] WHERE IN THE NASCAR RULES OR REGISTRATION DOES IT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT HAVING TO BE ONLY WHITE TO RACE, OR ONLY MEN CAN RACE NASCAR...............MAYBE THEY DONT HAVE AN INTEREST IN RACING NASCAR...........[Edited out by Nick Holt, 7/3/04] THERE IS NO REASON TO HIRE SOMEONE TO DRIVE JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE BLACK, OR WHITE OR CHINESE OR WHATEVER.......JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazmachine69 Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 It doesnt matter what your race/ethnicity is. We were all created equal in God's eyes! All should be given the chance if ya earned it. I dont have sponsors lined up at my doorstep just because I am a female. Dang the bad luck! But I wouldnt turn them down either if it was just because they were looking for a female driver. You have to take what opportunities come your way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
direct-flo Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Jesse Jackson is a shakedown artist,......and NASCAR fell for the strong arm tactic.. you should have to earn your ride, whatever skin color, race, whatever. TomH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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