Racing To Equality

Have you ever watched a NASCAR race and realized there was less diversity compared to other sports? Sports play an important role in our society, billions of dollars have been invested in them and they become highly paid careers for individuals with discovered talent. The National Association For Stock Car Racing, (NASCAR) has been one of the top viewed sports for over 50 years. Discovered by Bill France Sr., in 1947 the sport began to receive media coverage in over 100 different countries as well as generating billions of dollars. With this sport being one of the most popular in America, it raises my eyebrow to see the drivers are majority white males.

Being an African American female, I have experienced my share of inequality. Living in a predominantly black area then moving to DeKalb to further my education, became a major culture shock to me. Being out of my comfort zone I realized that I came second to whites, as well as men. Even though inequality has improved tremendously over the years, there are still barriers that prevent minorities to make it to our highest peak. Considering that NASCAR is over 50 years old, with mostly white male racers I view this as an profession that would be a challenging hurtle for me, if I wanted to pursue it. I am aware that laws were enforced, such as Title XI to allow equal opportunities for women and men to participate in sports, regardless of their gender. On the other hand, for me being a Black African American female, I may be subjected to stereotypes and biases from NASCAR fans, since seeing a Black female on the track is extremely rare.

Although NASCAR consists of majority white males, there have been a few African American males that pursued the sport as well. Wendell Scott   being the first to take on the track in 1961 paved the way for Willie T Ribbs and Bill Lester. Even though there were three black male drivers in NASCAR, I could imagine what type of exploitations they were subjected to based on sociologist, Karl Marx theory. I am pretty sure they were faced with many stereotypes and emotional tolls that were masked with a game face for the sport. I applaud Danica Patrick for being the first female to lead lap in Daytona 500. She made history and showed young girls that they can be successful in a sport consisting of mostly males. I am now eager to see the first licensed NASCAR driver Nia Norfleet make history and race towards being the first African American Female in NASCAR.  

Even though inequality is improving in NASCAR I would love to see the sport becoming more diverse. America is the land of freedom and we were taught at a young age to follow our dreams and desires. There are still racial barriers that we need to break in order to be more diverse. We are no longer finished with our race to inequality!

There will be a new look in NASCAR!