The leader of the Sons of Confederate Veterans needs to reread the Bill of Rights.
The group claims responsibility for hiring a plane to fly a Confederate flag and a banner reading “Defund NASCAR” over Talladega on Sunday. It was the first race at the Alabama track since NASCAR banned fans from displaying the Confederate flag on tracks.
NASCAR is a private company. She has the absolute right to ban certain items from her runways. Yet Paul Gramling tried to tell the Columbia Daily Herald that NASCAR was violating fans’ First Amendment rights by banning the flag.
Who’s to tell Gramling that the First Amendment doesn’t apply to bans on private businesses? From the Daily Herald:
“NASCAR’s ban on the display of the Confederate battle flag by its fans is nothing less than trampling on Southerners’ First Amendment right to free expression,” said Sons of Confederate Veterans Commander-in-Chief , Paul C. Gramling Jr.. “This anti-American act will not go unchallenged. (Sunday) Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Air Force displayed their disapproval of NASCAR’s trampling on southerners’ First Amendment rights. During and before the start of the NASCAR race in Talladega, Alabama, our plane displayed a banner announcing a desire to “fund NASCAR.”
“The Sons of Confederate Veterans hope that NASCAR fans are granted the fundamental American right to display pride in their family and heritage. The Sons of Confederate Veterans are proud of the diversity of the Confederate Army and our modern Southland. We believe that NASCAR’s slander of our Southern heritage only further divides our nation. The Sons of Confederate Veterans will continue to defend not only our right but the right of all Americans to celebrate their heritage. We are confident that NASCAR will do the same.
There is something hilariously bizarre about the leader of a group honoring the legacy of those who fought against the United States declaring that something clearly permitted by law and the U.S. Constitution is “anti -American”. Even Columbia, Tennessee Mayor Chaz Molder was careful to point out that NASCAR was not violating the group’s constitutional rights and that the group “does not represent Columbia.” Period.”
It’s also unclear exactly how NASCAR could be “defunded.” Since it’s, you know, a private company and not a public entity. The only way NASCAR could be defunded could happen if its television contracts were canceled by Fox and NBC and sponsors began to pull out of the series. It’s not going to happen. Hell, NASCAR wouldn’t have taken the necessary steps to ban the Confederate flag if it didn’t think the move would be a net positive in attracting new viewers and corporate sponsors.
The group has already tried to sponsor a NASCAR car, but NASCAR said no. NASCAR has not allowed the use of the Confederate flag for official purposes for decades and this month’s ban comes five years after the sanctioning body simply asked fans not to display the flag on the circuits. The demand came after a white supremacist killed nine parishioners at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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