NBC: NASCAR fans are bigots

[Hicksey]

Well no shit. They're a bunch of rednecks.

They're not ALL racist bigots, certainly.

Well, there's not as many as thought for sure. In a crowd of 250,000 rednecks they couldn't find even one.

I know why too. Because no matter what people think about race these days they keep it to themselves. Even rednecks are smart enough to know what is and is not appropriate in public. The days of card carrying racists that exposed their beliefs in the public arena are gone. Given that, I still think a lot of progress has been made as far as racism is concerned--even if there is still a ways to go. As much as I'd like to see this problem disappear I am mindful that there are small, vocal contingents on each side that continue to fuel the hate. Until they stop their incessant bickering we won't be able to take the last few steps toward eliminating racism, though the majority of us have set aside our differences.

But the troubling part of this is that this proves liberals in the press are still out there spreading the BS that us conservatives are a bunch of intolerant racist bigots. Its no secret that the general belief is that the average conservative and NASCAR fan aren't too far apart in their politics. I guarantee you here and now if 90% of NASCAR fans were democrats, this wouldn't even have happened.

[Black Dog]

You didn't hear about the test of the Chevrolet pickup they used explosives to blow up the gas tank so they could claim they were unsafe?

Spin it any way you want. Race baiting is repugnant, disgusting and anyone who would dare try it will get no respect from me. In a society trying desperately to rid itself of racism, it certainly does not help any. If people wish to help in the battle against racism, they should promote tolerance instead of going out and trying to incite intolerance.

Here's a bit more on the gas tank ...

I notice you didn't address any of my points. It's not race baiting.

Whoever came up with Dateline idea was probably some New York liberal who had never been to a NASCAR even. NASCAR is clearly a major sport in the U.S. now with more than just *southern hicks* as fans.

It's funny: NASCAR is extremely mainstream: thus, a NASCAR event is a good place to get a sense of middle America. If anything, it's the people who claim that NBC was race-baiting who appear to be operating under the assumption that NASCAR fans are rascist hicks since clearly, the site of some Muslims just walking around is, apparently, too much for them to take.

I'd bet that you're right. The left in the US has been on the attack on traditional values ever since Kerry and his ignorant comment about "NASCAR dads with confederate flags in the back windshield of their trucks" during the election in 2004.

Confederate flags are traditional values? WTF?

Its race-baiting any way you wish to spin it. Promote tolerance if you're worried about racism. Don't go out looking to incite intolerance.

Again: what is so provocative about Muslim people at a NASCAR race?

[Hicksey]

Its race-baiting any way you wish to spin it. Promote tolerance if you're worried about racism. Don't go out looking to incite intolerance.

Again: what is so provocative about Muslim people at a NASCAR race?

You have to look at who's doing it.

If a bunch of 'muslim-looking' (NBC's term not mine) men want to go to NASCAR because there's nothing wrong with that.

My problem is that this is not the case. NBC had a hypothesis and set out to prove it. You wait. I'll be proven right. If they don't get anything on camera again this weekend they'll just sit them down in an interview situation and get them to make accusations. It's the Dateline way. If the newsyou're looking for doesn't exist, invent it.

The source of this is a major source of discontent for me. If a more respectable news organization like either Fox or CNN did this and pledged to research intolerance in general, in both directions, I might not have such a problem. But they just assumed all sports fans were racists. Why not send to into a crowded opera theatre as well? or a movie theatre? or even better send them to both the RNC and the DNC one year and check the reactions?

[Black Dog]

You have to look at who's doing it.

If a bunch of 'muslim-looking' (NBC's term not mine) men want to go to NASCAR because there's nothing wrong with that.

My problem is that this is not the case. NBC had a hypothesis and set out to prove it. You wait. I'll be proven right. If they don't get anything on camera again this weekend they'll just sit them down in an interview situation and get them to make accusations. It's the Dateline way. If the newsyou're looking for doesn't exist, invent it.

The source of this is a major source of discontent for me. If a more respectable news organization like either Fox or CNN did this and pledged to research intolerance in general, in both directions, I might not have such a problem. But they just assumed all sports fans were racists. Why not send to into a crowded opera theatre as well? or a movie theatre? or even better send them to both the RNC and the DNC one year and check the reactions?

Look: this story was prompted by a poll that shows anti-Muslm sentiment is on the rise in America. Thus, it's not a broad look at intolerance or race; Muslims ae the specific group being looked at. As for "starting out with a hypothesis and then setting out to prove it": well, duh. That's how these things work. Like I said before: it's not as if they had their test subjects go out of their way to provoke a reaction, nor was any reaction found. You can draw a variety of conclusions from the results, but to say the experiment itself was overly provocative or "race-baiting" is inaccurate at best.

[Hicksey]

You have to look at who's doing it.

If a bunch of 'muslim-looking' (NBC's term not mine) men want to go to NASCAR because there's nothing wrong with that.

My problem is that this is not the case. NBC had a hypothesis and set out to prove it. You wait. I'll be proven right. If they don't get anything on camera again this weekend they'll just sit them down in an interview situation and get them to make accusations. It's the Dateline way. If the newsyou're looking for doesn't exist, invent it.

The source of this is a major source of discontent for me. If a more respectable news organization like either Fox or CNN did this and pledged to research intolerance in general, in both directions, I might not have such a problem. But they just assumed all sports fans were racists. Why not send to into a crowded opera theatre as well? or a movie theatre? or even better send them to both the RNC and the DNC one year and check the reactions?

Look: this story was prompted by a poll that shows anti-Muslm sentiment is on the rise in America. Thus, it's not a broad look at intolerance or race; Muslims ae the specific group being looked at. As for "starting out with a hypothesis and then setting out to prove it": well, duh. That's how these things work. Like I said before: it's not as if they had their test subjects go out of their way to provoke a reaction, nor was any reaction found. You can draw a variety of conclusions from the results, but to say the experiment itself was overly provocative or "race-baiting" is inaccurate at best.

When I say "set out to prove it" I mean that they'll find a way to get the result they want. Besides, even the people they're targetting are smart enough to know that any intolerance they have toward anyone is no longer tolerated in public so they'll keep it to themselves. The days of Bob and Joe Redneck driving around in their pickup trucks expelling racial slurs every other word are over.

I am a NASCAR fan and if I saw them I'd walk up, shake their hands and look for the NBC idiot and slap him.

[Black Dog]

When I say "set out to prove it" I mean that they'll find a way to get the result they want. Besides, even the people they're targetting are smart enough to know that any intolerance they have toward anyone is no longer tolerated in public so they'll keep it to themselves. The days of Bob and Joe Redneck driving around in their pickup trucks expelling racial slurs every other word are over.

I don't care if they do fudge it so as to prove their hypothesis. I simply find many of the objections to the experiment to be weak and contradictary.

[Hicksey]

When I say "set out to prove it" I mean that they'll find a way to get the result they want. Besides, even the people they're targetting are smart enough to know that any intolerance they have toward anyone is no longer tolerated in public so they'll keep it to themselves. The days of Bob and Joe Redneck driving around in their pickup trucks expelling racial slurs every other word are over.

I don't care if they do fudge it so as to prove their hypothesis. I simply find many of the objections to the experiment to be weak and contradictary.

That's your opinion. I have mine.

I think that first line of your response is telling as to why you're taking the position you have.

[Liam]

Looks like the Nascar fans didn't take the bait, good for them.

http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/opinion/04...line/index.html

NASCAR's governing body called a network television news magazine "outrageous" on Wednesday, saying it tried to provoke anti-Muslim reactions from spectators at last week's race for a story about growing U.S. sentiment against Islam.

If you look close enough, this is not a news report, it is an opinion piece and, as such, does not need to be accurate.

One quote from Nascar's communications group sounds solid, but pick it apart and you can see it's meaningless: <<Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's managing director of corporate communications, said Wednesday that no instances of unrest were reported. "No one bothered them," Poston said.>> How would Poston know that no one bothered them? Did he follow them around? Did he eavesdrop on every whisper, did he hear every comment made in the crowd of thousands and thousands of race fans? NBC isn't going to let the Muslim men report incidents of verbal abuse to Nascar security -- why leak the content of your expose?

I'm not saying Nascar fans are racists or bigots, and I'm not saying that these Muslim men experienced anything negative, but I'm just pointing out that you cannot rely on the word of a paid Nascar spokesman writing an opinion piece and think that it's accurate news reporting.

[Hicksey]

Looks like the Nascar fans didn't take the bait, good for them.

http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/opinion/04...line/index.html

NASCAR's governing body called a network television news magazine "outrageous" on Wednesday, saying it tried to provoke anti-Muslim reactions from spectators at last week's race for a story about growing U.S. sentiment against Islam.

If you look close enough, this is not a news report, it is an opinion piece and, as such, does not need to be accurate.

One quote from Nascar's communications group sounds solid, but pick it apart and you can see it's meaningless: <<Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's managing director of corporate communications, said Wednesday that no instances of unrest were reported. "No one bothered them," Poston said.>> How would Poston know that no one bothered them? Did he follow them around? Did he eavesdrop on every whisper, did he hear every comment made in the crowd of thousands and thousands of race fans? NBC isn't going to let the Muslim men report incidents of verbal abuse to Nascar security -- why leak the content of your expose?

I'm not saying Nascar fans are racists or bigots, and I'm not saying that these Muslim men experienced anything negative, but I'm just pointing out that you cannot rely on the word of a paid Nascar spokesman writing an opinion piece and think that it's accurate news reporting.

Well, given NBC's record its hard to believe them either.

So who do we ask?