Protesters say track unsafe for minorities
By DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer
A group that claims NASCAR tracks are unsafe environments for minority and female fans is planning its first protest at Saturday's UAW-GM 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
National Association of Minority Race Fans spokesman Rusty Thomas said Tuesday the group hopes to have up to 100 picketers at Saturday night's Nextel Cup race.
"We will have a strong presence in Charlotte," said Shawn Griffith, a filmmaker working on a documentary that he says shows racism among stock car racing fans. Griffith and NAMRF director Jirard Brown appeared at an Oct. 3 news conference at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway after the group canceled its initial a protest there, saying the safety of its protestors could not be assured.
Such concerns won't stop the protest here, Thomas said.
"NAMRF has come to the realization that we cannot be totally safe and protected at any NASCAR race," he said. "Despite that, we think it's worth the risk to get our message out."
Lowe's Motor Speedway president H.A. (Humpy) Wheeler said Concord police have designated a site near the track on Speedway Boulevard for the group.
"Everybody has a right to speak their piece and we respect that," Wheeler said. "But we are expecting a crowd of 150,000 people. They've been given a site that the Concord Police Department has picked out. If they want to use that, it's fine with us."
Thomas, however, said the group wants to picket at Morehead Road and U.S. 29, near gates where race ticket-holders will enter the track.
Ramsey Poston, director of corporate communications for NASCAR, said Tuesday that based on NAMRF officials' actions, the sanctioning body is "not inclined to have any further discussions with them."
"They have refused to state their specific claims," Poston said. "They would not meet with us, they've used aliases and they've operated in the dark. It's shameful they would attempt to exploit the issue of race for profit."
Griffith, who is white, said he is interested in building interest for his documentary, for which he has been collecting footage for three years. But Brown, who said he became concerned about minority fans' safety at NASCAR events based on his own and others' experiences, said he has no monetary motives in forming NAMRF.
"The Confederate flag is everywhere," he said. "NASCAR officials say they discourage flags on track property, but it's everywhere."
Brown said he believes NASCAR should begin a flag trade-in program, where any fan could trade in a Confederate flag and receive a flag representing his favorite race driver's team in return.
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