I won’t support NASCAR’s stance on protests

My goodbye letter to NASCAR

Dear NASCAR,

I have been a loyal fan of your organization for about 17 years. I cannot continue my love for the sport any longer. I am a person who understands that all people are different in their own way. But we are all humans and deserve the same civil liberties.

A member of your community, Richard Petty, would fire anemployeewho used their freedom of expression to protest during the anthem. Another, Richard Childress, saidhe would get you a ride on a Greyhound bus.

I find this to be 100 percent un-American. This country was built on people who stood up and expressed themselves on things that are just not right.

I love watching racing, but if an organization is going to act like they are back in the 1800s, then I will choose not to support them, which is my right.

Find a better forum for protests

Unfortunately, Drew Brees was spot-on in taking our Panthers apart Sunday with precision and accuracy. And he was spot-on during his press conference regarding the NFL protests. As he stated, he did not agree with Trump’s remarks that were “unbecoming” of the office of the presidency. And he was sympathetic for the inequities dealt to both race and gender. But like me, he stated he will always stand up for the national anthem and our flag and all they represent.

I certainly agree with the right to peaceful protests, but the problem is this is not the appropriate forum. Protesters say this is not a protest against the flag and national anthem. But the fact is – regardless of their intentions – when they do not stand up for the national anthem, it is disrespect.

Let’s all work together to improve race relations and equal pay for women in the work force, but let’s find the proper forum.

Puckett needs a 1st Amendment lesson

Commissioner Puckett:

First, speak for yourself. Many, many taxpayers are not offended by players’ protests. If you were to say something that offends taxpayers, should you be prohibited from saying it in a taxpayer-funded venue, such as the city-county building?

Second, if you are proposing that a municipality prohibit protests on its property then you’re clearly advocating a violation of freedom of speech.

Don’t tell people how to protest

I am astonished by the many folks who have written letters telling other people how and when they should protest. Or deciding, like the president, which protest efforts are acceptable and which are not, and deciding who gets to protest and who doesn’t. This is what’s really going on in my opinion – privileged white men once again deciding what’s constitutional, appropriate, and acceptable for anyone who doesn’t look, think, or vote like them. And ignorant, arrogant white people who think non-white athletes should be so grateful for their success that they should not speak out on racial issues of injustice that concern them.

As a white, privileged, formally educated woman, I applaud any non-violent protest that allows others to have a voice.

Just don’t play the anthem

I have a simple solution to the continuing and growing issue of players protesting when the national anthem is played before each game. Don’t play it! Play another, less controversial song or nothing at all. That change should, but won’t, satisfy everyone.

Regarding the brouhaha over the Hyatt Place hotel; I have lived in Davidson for nearly 32 years. I returned after my tenure at the college because I loved my time here and to this day have a deep seated emotional attachment.

Admittedly, I preferred the Davidson of 15 to 20 years ago – little to no traffic and those faces you didn’t know well at least you recognized.

The suggestion that a Hyatt flagged hotel would bring drugs and human trafficking is so spurious as to be laughable were not some people attempting to lend the merest modicum of credibility to these claims.

Come on, folks ... get a grip.

This story was originally published September 27, 2017 at 4:52 PM with the headline "I won’t support NASCAR’s stance on protests."