Ethnicity and Motorsports
So Randy raised the question, why is it that fans of drag racing and NASCAR are predominantly white? I was actually pondering this on the way back from Pomona on Sunday (you tend to think a lot during the four and a half hours alone on highway 5 between L.A. and The Bay). So I think a lot of it has to do with just how you grew up...NASCAR, originated from moonshiners racing on dirtroads in the backwoods of the south; basically friendly little competitions to see who was the fastest in "runnin' shine" from the local constables. Making illegal whiskey back then was (I assume) a predominantly white ambition. And so this carries on, throughout generations...fathers teach their sons about the sport, take 'em to watch races as kids, and they in turn teach their kids about all the nuances with the sport (the art of drafting, car setup, the importance of good pit strategies, etc.)The same goes with drag racing. My feeble brain distinctly remembers reading about the history of drag racing... something about how it basically started in the suburbs of Los Angeles decades ago (way back in the early 50's?), with kids cruising and racing down the streets, hopping up their parent's old cars that were handed down to them. I'm pretty sure that these kind of Saturday night activities were dominated by the white youth of the time, basically outnumbering any ethnic minorities...and then these kids would then grow and teach their kids, with some of them establishing themselves in the sport (when it became officially sanctioned) -- opening up their own shops, getting sponsored, etc.
And you can see the same type of thing happening with drifting and imports -- dominated by Asians...then as they get older, they would get their kids into the sports, and then over time, more and more people of color would become involved. I see it only being a matter of time. But there are definitely a couple of big things against us:
- Sheer numbers. We really are outnumbered when it comes to white vs. non-white. So of course you are naturally going to see more whites involved in any activity than non-whites.
- Culture. Not sure how it is nowadays, but when I was growing up, I knew nearly all Filipino parents would throw a fit if you threw away dreams of being a doctor/engineer/lawyer so that you could spend time building cars and racing. Without parent support (financial and emotional) encouraging you to pursue something wild, it's quite unlikely that you'll be successful at getting into motorsports. I look around at the motorsport events that I've attended (MotoGP, ALMS, SCCA, NHRA, etc), and I don't see 'em... I mainly see white fathers with their kids, teaching them about the fine art of trail braking and protecting the inside line and late apexing.
- Lack of role models. There's a distinct lack of people of color in the upper tiers of racing. I mean it's only recently that women have been making huge strides in breaking into motorsports (and it's so cool seeing that!). Despite all the hurdles against them, I'm glad to see more and more women get involved and set precedents, like Shirley Muldowney, Kathernie Legge, Danica Patrick, & Melanie Troxel (to name a few).
posted by VirtualErn @ 8:54 PM
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6 Comments:
in due time, when you eventually have kids of your own (note: it seems like you'd mostlikely share your enthusiasm and love for this sport with your offspring) you can think of yourself as a contributor to the small percentage of non-white race car fanatics :0)
but, why wait for a familial brood when you can share now by being a mentor or a big brother....simply my 2 cents worth.
btw, great insight.
My dad used to take me to the races at Infineon Raceway, back then it was called Sears Point Raceway. This was in the mid 70s when we'd watch the 911s race the corvettes and 240Zs. I still have pictures somewhere. If you met my family you'd see that all of my uncles and cousins are into cars. Unfortunately, if our Tito Bong made it into racing it woulda been my dad. He's the Tito Bong of the family.
My dad would take me to car shows, but I never really got into racing.
Anonymous, you're right...I wasn't thinking that there are other ways to share my love for cars, food, photography, music & just life in general and hopefully inspire someone. Was already looking into volunteer activities in the community, getting into a mentor/big brother program is a great idea!
Hey John, I don't doubt your family -- Big Sexy tells me that you guys took out a big honkin' Cobra a while back. That's really cool that you were able to see the races way back then...it's so nice to have two famous tracks within a couple hours drive.
nuthin against the whities...just an intersting thought to ponder. but i do have a gripe...its the white corporate america jumping on the import bandwagon and making up shows like "import tuner" or whatever its called...making it seems like they invented the shit. its good exposure for the import culture, but i believe it was the minorities who and some of the whites who pushed the envelope of import racing or car culture into what it is now. they should have been the one hosting the shows. but money plays a big role so i guess that how it goes.
again, nuthin against the white people. just rambling and pondering and hoping that i'm not putting my foot in my mouth :) peace!
That's the problem, though...it's a numbers game. I guarantee that you're going to get a crapload more sponsors (TV ads, etc.) if your hosts are popular famous (white/light skin colored) entertainment folks that appeal to an audience that are primarily white. You're not going to be successful appealing to minorities, because they don't make up enough of a market (yet). So you got to go with what's gonna make money. Hopefully someday in my lifetime things will change such that there is money to be made in projects where Asians are playing roles that have nothing to do with how fast you can break a piece of wood or how many stunts you could do without a stunt double or how many hot dogs you can eat. But until then, I'm gonna do what I can at the grassroots level and see where it goes.
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