NASCAR PUSHes Back
Mr. Jackson's relationship with Nascar took off in 1999, when he told Nascar brass that its sport is too white. "The fact of the matter is there is frustration because of exclusion," he said. "We must now turn that pain to power. We were qualified to play baseball before 1947. We are qualified to race cars now." He promised to improve the sport's complexion, and in appreciation Nascar began a fund transfer to Rainbow/Push "nonprofits" to the reported tune of $250,000.
Not surprisingly, the Nascar faithful began wondering why any of their ticket money should find its way into Mr. Jackson's saddle bags. After all, Rainbow/Push board member Bill Shack had called auto racing "the last bastion of white supremacy" in professional sports, while Rainbow sports director Charles Farrell said Nascar could be considered "a good ole' boy's Southern cracker sport." (For Northerners it is worth noting that "cracker" is a foul word in Nascar country and not lightly dismissed.)
Nor were the "cracker" rank and file silent. "Imagine if the Sons of the Confederacy described the NBA as a punk-a** colored man's sport," Nascar fan and online commentator Grandstand Bob wrote. "It's roughly the equivalent of \[Charles\] Farrell's comments. Neither statement is fair, and both deserve equal disdain, but don't look for apologies from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition."
In Nascar-friendly Nashville, Tenn., fans threw a collective rod. "We're all wondering what would happen if David Duke tried to extort money from the NBA and NFL because of the relatively low level of white participation," says local radio talk-show host Phil Valentine, who recalled an earlier interview with Mr. Jackson. "I told him that the appearance of graffiti is an early sign of neighborhood decay. Jesse responded by saying that graffiti is the 'hieroglyphics of poverty.' For him, everything is about oppression."
Mike Helton, the president of Nascar, tried to convince fans that they had it all wrong. "NASCAR does not endorse political views," he said in a statement posted at nascar.com. "NASCAR endorses DIVERSITY." Despite his heroic prose, USA Today and the Associated Press would soon report that the relationship with Mr. Jackson was on the skids.
That news was greeted most enthusiastically by Mr. Jackson's detractors in the black community. "It's about time somebody told Jesse Jackson to get lost," says Mychal Massie, a member of the African American Leadership Network's Project 21 and a columnist for WorldNetDaily.com. "Someone finally threw the fox out of the henhouse. And while I champion and applaud their decision, I decry their ever forming an association with Jackson. Why would anyone form an association with a poisonous snake? A rattlesnake may not bite you right away; doesn't mean it's not a rattlesnake. Jesse Jackson is a poisonous snake."
NFL legend Reggie White, who is working with former Washington Redskins coach and Nascar racer Joe Gibbs to increase African-American interest, was only slightly more charitable. "It's really disappointing to me that Jesse and his organization would take a quarter of a million dollars from Nascar and not do anything with it to try to get black drivers into the sport."
Did somebody say extortion?
Many of Mr. Jackson's critics believe that this was simply his latest grope at corporate gold, a practice documented by Mr. Timmerman in "Shakedown." To take one gruesome example from the book: In 1981, Mr. Jackson struck up a "covenant" with Coca-Cola in which the company not only agreed to change overseas policies but, more to the point, provided profitable distributorships to black businessmen--including Mr. Jackson's half-brother, Noah Robinson, later convicted of racketeering, drug trafficking and murder-by-hire.
Nascar, in the meantime, is working hard to increase minority presence. An ESPN poll found that black spectator-participation rose 17.8% between 1995 and 2001. Officials also note that they have nothing to do with fielding race teams. That's up to sponsors, who must ante up as much as $15 million a year to run a car in the elite Winston Cup division. While Mr. Jackson takes credit for getting a black driver into a 2001 race and putting together an African-American motorcycle-racing team, Project 21 put out a press release firmly disputing the claim.
"If Jesse Jackson really cares about the black community," concludes Mr. Massie, "he should be concentrating on Chicago, where 99% of the crime in Districts 7 and 11 is black-on-black. But until more people start saying 'no' to this type of extortion, it's going to continue. And if he's going after organizations simply because they appeal largely to whites, you have to wonder what's next. The Grand Old Opry?"
Mr. Jackson's relationship with Nascar took off in 1999, when he told Nascar brass that its sport is too white. "The fact of the matter is there is frustration because of exclusion," he said. "We must now turn that pain to power. We were qualified to play baseball before 1947. We are qualified to race cars now." He promised to improve the sport's complexion, and in appreciation Nascar began a fund transfer to Rainbow/Push "nonprofits" to the reported tune of $250,000.
Not surprisingly, the Nascar faithful began wondering why any of their ticket money should find its way into Mr. Jackson's saddle bags. After all, Rainbow/Push board member Bill Shack had called auto racing "the last bastion of white supremacy" in professional sports, while Rainbow sports director Charles Farrell said Nascar could be considered "a good ole' boy's Southern cracker sport." (For Northerners it is worth noting that "cracker" is a foul word in Nascar country and not lightly dismissed.)
Nor were the "cracker" rank and file silent. "Imagine if the Sons of the Confederacy described the NBA as a punk-a** colored man's sport," Nascar fan and online commentator Grandstand Bob wrote. "It's roughly the equivalent of \[Charles\] Farrell's comments. Neither statement is fair, and both deserve equal disdain, but don't look for apologies from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition."
In Nascar-friendly Nashville, Tenn., fans threw a collective rod. "We're all wondering what would happen if David Duke tried to extort money from the NBA and NFL because of the relatively low level of white participation," says local radio talk-show host Phil Valentine, who recalled an earlier interview with Mr. Jackson. "I told him that the appearance of graffiti is an early sign of neighborhood decay. Jesse responded by saying that graffiti is the 'hieroglyphics of poverty.' For him, everything is about oppression."
Mike Helton, the president of Nascar, tried to convince fans that they had it all wrong. "NASCAR does not endorse political views," he said in a statement posted at nascar.com. "NASCAR endorses DIVERSITY." Despite his heroic prose, USA Today and the Associated Press would soon report that the relationship with Mr. Jackson was on the skids.
That news was greeted most enthusiastically by Mr. Jackson's detractors in the black community. "It's about time somebody told Jesse Jackson to get lost," says Mychal Massie, a member of the African American Leadership Network's Project 21 and a columnist for WorldNetDaily.com. "Someone finally threw the fox out of the henhouse. And while I champion and applaud their decision, I decry their ever forming an association with Jackson. Why would anyone form an association with a poisonous snake? A rattlesnake may not bite you right away; doesn't mean it's not a rattlesnake. Jesse Jackson is a poisonous snake."
NFL legend Reggie White, who is working with former Washington Redskins coach and Nascar racer Joe Gibbs to increase African-American interest, was only slightly more charitable. "It's really disappointing to me that Jesse and his organization would take a quarter of a million dollars from Nascar and not do anything with it to try to get black drivers into the sport."
Did somebody say extortion?
Many of Mr. Jackson's critics believe that this was simply his latest grope at corporate gold, a practice documented by Mr. Timmerman in "Shakedown." To take one gruesome example from the book: In 1981, Mr. Jackson struck up a "covenant" with Coca-Cola in which the company not only agreed to change overseas policies but, more to the point, provided profitable distributorships to black businessmen--including Mr. Jackson's half-brother, Noah Robinson, later convicted of racketeering, drug trafficking and murder-by-hire.
Nascar, in the meantime, is working hard to increase minority presence. An ESPN poll found that black spectator-participation rose 17.8% between 1995 and 2001. Officials also note that they have nothing to do with fielding race teams. That's up to sponsors, who must ante up as much as $15 million a year to run a car in the elite Winston Cup division. While Mr. Jackson takes credit for getting a black driver into a 2001 race and putting together an African-American motorcycle-racing team, Project 21 put out a press release firmly disputing the claim.
"If Jesse Jackson really cares about the black community," concludes Mr. Massie, "he should be concentrating on Chicago, where 99% of the crime in Districts 7 and 11 is black-on-black. But until more people start saying 'no' to this type of extortion, it's going to continue. And if he's going after organizations simply because they appeal largely to whites, you have to wonder what's next. The Grand Old Opry?"
