Nascar's Race Problem
portfolio.com
portfolio.com
1. Kudos to the article for calling black people black, and not african americans: (http://davidadewumi.com/2008/01/27/just-call-me-black/)
2. How many black tech startups (or even Y C applications) have been around in the past decade or so?
I'd wager not many, and if/when there are, not much press coverage.
Two key comments to draw out of this article:
. Bringing up a young driver "is so expensive, no matter what your background," Gibbs says. "The diversity side just takes time. You've got to find some young guys and train them."
1. Sports with high barriers to entry (just like entrepreneurship) are by default going to draw smaller minority crowds-- if you can play basketball, football, or baseball for almost free, why do a high-end sport like tennis, NASCAR, hockey or lacrosse?
He's not racing as a "black driver." What drew him to the sport--the speed, his competitive nature--is what keeps him there...If Davis happens to become a black role model, so be it. "But I never really thought about the racial things," he says. "I race because I love it."
2. It's not about race -- the more we see it as a racial thing, whether it be politics or sports "the first black head coach to win a superbowl," the bigger the problem it is.
Looks like this guy could be Nascars Lewis Hamilton and not because of colour but because he has talent. good luck to him.
Whenever people ask me whether racism still really exists in America, I pretty much point them at NASCAR. Maybe point out that in hockey players are lauded for fighting if the first point doesn't hit home.
Sucks that it takes hitting people's pocketbooks to get them to notice that "hey, maybe we should let some black people drive cars..."