[revjimk]

Originally Posted by nodoors I try not to respond to these typse of situations, but I feel for some reason compelled to at this time. I dont care who gets pissed off or who agrees with this, so Im just going to say what needs to be said. A little backround first. When I was 6 years old My father got a Contract Job at the NASA BASE on Wallops Island Virginia. He was a machinist and was building Nose Cones for Rockets to test the Aurora Boriallis. It was the coolest thing at that age to see well over 10 rocket launchs. After living there On Chincoteague Island for a few months my dad found out that there was no Little League baseball or Pop Warner Football. He singlehandedly did a fund raiser on the Island for Both Youth sports clubs and Started the Leagues there. Being From New Jersey and being Catholic on a predominately Southern baptist Island wasnt easy but we survived. I witnessed something I thought at the time ws over in the USA. It was in the 70's and "BUSSING LAWS" were passed. They wanted to Bus Black Chidren over the 7 bridge causeway to Chincoteague Island for school from the mainland. Well the Chintiggers (Island People on Chincoteague) were not going to let their God Fearing Southern Baptist white children go to school with Black Children. So the real hard core Islanders actually put Explosives under all 7 bridges connecting the Main Land to the Island. They flat out told Virginia if 1 School bus attempts to cross the Bridges they would blow them up. Its a shame to say this but The busses NEVER CAME. When my father started Little League he made sure EVERY PERSON KNEW THAT THE BEST WOULD MAKE THE TEAM didnt matter if you were Black White purple green boy or girl. The best players will be on the team. Well it worked out that he more or less had an all Black team. There was protests, there was white parents that would sit in the middle of the field so the games could not be played, and death threats on my Parents lives. Needless to say we moved off the Island and to the main land. I could go on and on with what I saw as a very young child, but I thnk you get the picture. I will say this it was a very eye opening experience that even today I am grateful to have lived through. It made me a better person and it is something I am proud to have lived through. I will say this from the little bit I shared on here, it was much worse than what I have said, this is not the place to say it though. What is going on today IMOVHO is nothing. This is NOT RACISM this is just the outcome of a pussified society that has been brain washed by the Liberal Media and the Liberal Govt. What Kyle Larson said was not insulting or racist. He used an expression that I hear everyday at work from my Black Colleagues. The majority of the guys I work with that are Black even said it is not racist in what Kyle Larson Said. In fact the majjority of them said it is embarrasing to them because this how RACISM is loosing the battle. To them it is the serious Racist Infractions that need to be addressed because just saying the N word doesnt make it racist. It is the way it is said and the context that it was used. people need to stop with all the Hes racist ******** because what people call Racism today isnt Racism. It is a way to make someone feel bad or to make someone something they are not. It is litterally making racism a joke in this society, especially if you have lived and saw what REAL RACISM is.

So back in Chincoteague, did all the bigots say they didn't want any "ignorant" people going to school with their kids?

[nodoors]

Originally Posted by revjimk I;m gonna take a wild guess that you watch Fox "news"?????

Actually No I dont you cant trust any NEWS in this country, I go outside the USA for the real News about the USA they have no Agenda

[Ken Bonnema]

Here's Bubba's Response

https://sports.yahoo.com/bubba-walla...211851682.html

[Puppy]

Originally Posted by revjimk I;m gonna take a wild guess that you watch Fox "news"?????

What do you know? A Liberal here on IoW.....

[flagboy55]

So Bubba has a comment. But so did Mr Ribbs, and even the Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame Flagman, Doug Clark and his son also commented that it was a mistake, no intention of racism or malice. But the snowflakes once again melt in this country. I swear no one can take a joke anymore

[jdull99]

IMHO, this story makes you respect Willy, Robin, and Larson; all even more!


https://racer.com/2020/04/16/ribbs-o...how-atonement/

By Robin Miller

Willy T. Ribbs has never met Kyle Larson, but he reached out to the embattled NASCAR driver on Thursday with a phone call and some words of encouragement.

“I just wanted to support him and find out what he’s thinking, and we had a good talk,” said Ribbs on the heels of the racial slur that cost Larson his job in NASCAR with Chip Ganassi Racing. “I know what setbacks are like and they hurt, and I’ve said some things I regret over the years. But I told him he wasn’t O.J. and he didn’t kill anybody – he just hurt some feelings and they can be repaired.

“I told him it wasn’t the end of his career, it just set it back a little bit.”

Three days removed from the firestorm that followed Larson using the N word to a friend during an iRacing event, then being suspended by NASCAR and released by Ganassi, the first black driver in Indianapolis 500 history sounded compassionate.

“I felt for the kid because you could tell it wasn’t said with malice, and I don’t believe he’s a racist or I wouldn’t have called him,” said Ribbs. “I told him nobody in racing understands the N word more than I do, and I think it was the first time he’s laughed in three days. But there’s the GA version and there’s the deal-breaker version, and it was obvious which version this was.

“I get that the millennials use it a lot nowadays as a term of endearment and it’s slang, but Kyle knows he shouldn’t have said it and I doubt if he ever does again.”

Ribbs was asked if he gave Larson any advice?

“I just told him to keep being a good father and husband, and people will forgive you,” he replied. “Kids make mistakes, and all you can do is show atonement. Yes this is serious, but it’s not the end of the world. I don’t think he needs to go out into the Afro-American communities or go speak to groups, and I told him he was welcome to hang out with me some night and we’ll drive around in my truck and discuss cultures. Right now he just needs to take NASCAR’s diversity program.”

On which he got a head start Wednesday night.

“Kyle said his parents rented ‘Uppity’ and told him to sit down and don’t move,” said Ribbs, speaking of the well-received documentary on Netflix about his racing career, “I told him that was a good start.”

[Will Shunk]

What is truly the end goal for Kyle, NASCAR, Ganassi, Chevrolet, McDonald's, Credit One, etc? Kyle Larson is wrong to use this slur and he knows he is wrong. (IMO, so is everyone else that uses that slur.) Fixing Kyle Larson's insensitivity is simply a very small part of this larger divide. Corporate partners washing their sponsorship hands of Kyle Larson will initially get them off the hook of a very insensitive moment; pretending they are all about equality. BUT NASCAR, Ganassi, Chevrolet, McDonald's, Credit One, etc. are running from a corporate responsibility that will do very little to improve race relations. Be part of something bigger than your corporate self.

If the goal is to REALLY impact and improve race relations in the US, why not use this bi racial racing driver as a national campaign opportunity to confront all racism, racial comments and their divisive impact upon our country and its citizens. NASCAR, Chevrolet, McDonalds, Credit One could retain and require suspended NASCAR driver Kyle Larson to be a national spokesperson for a coordinated media campaign to attack and eradicate racial speech. This could be a very productive use of his national profile and bi racial status rather than dumping, running, and sweeping under the rug the elephant in the room. THAT would be sensitivity training all of us could use and an effective meaningful suspension/diversity training NASCAR, Chevrolet, McDonald's, Credit One have a great opportunity to provide!

[IndySprintCar]

Originally Posted by Will Shunk What is truly the end goal for Kyle, NASCAR, Ganassi, Chevrolet, McDonald's, Credit One, etc?

Good post. The answer is simple. The end goal for those companies will always be to make profit. If a percentage of those company's customers are ethnic, having a spokesperson throw out an inflammatory slur runs completely counter to that goal...and you can't have that.

I guarantee you when the marketing heads of those corporations met to discuss how to deal with this, "second chances" and "political correctness" were never discussed. What was discussed was what to do about a spokesperson that just alienated customers with money to spend. That is the sole topic of that discussion.

You make it about ********, political correctness, etc...and you'll be wrong.

Kyle, like all of us, is completely free to drop N-bombs whenever and wherever he wants. The first amendment guarantees that. But, if you're gonna make millions fronting for a company with black customers, don't be shocked when you say something that pisses those customers off and the company fires you over it.

If you don't like that reality, go race something at your local track out of your own pocket and you can run your mouth however you want.

If you want to make $10,000,000 per year and have big time corporate sponsors, know the rules of the game you signed up for...and don't act shocked when a driver loses his ride for breaking one of them.

[Sprintcarfanatic]

Ole Rev musta doubled up on his brownies. LMAO

[revjimk]

Originally Posted by IndySprintCar Good post. The answer is simple. The end goal for those companies will always be to make profit. If a percentage of those company's customers are ethnic, having a spokesperson throw out an inflammatory slur runs completely counter to that goal...and you can't have that. I guarantee you when the marketing heads of those corporations met to discuss how to deal with this, "second chances" and "political correctness" were never discussed. What was discussed was what to do about a spokesperson that just alienated customers with money to spend. That is the sole topic of that discussion. You make it about ********, political correctness, etc...and you'll be wrong. Kyle, like all of us, is completely free to drop N-bombs whenever and wherever he wants. The first amendment guarantees that. But, if you're gonna make millions fronting for a company with black customers, don't be shocked when you say something that pisses those customers off and the company fires you over it. If you don't like that reality, go race something at your local track out of your own pocket and you can run your mouth however you want. If you want to make $10,000,000 per year and have big time corporate sponsors, know the rules of the game you signed up for...and don't act shocked when a driver loses his ride for breaking one of them.

Exactly!