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 “Defund NASCAR” banner over Talladega on Sunday. It was the first Alabama track race since NASCAR banned fans from flying the Confederate flag on track properties.
NASCAR is a private company. You have the absolute right to ban certain items on your tracks. However, Paul Gramling tried to tell the Columbia Daily Herald that NASCAR was infringing on the rights of First Amendment fans by banning the flag.
Who wants to tell Gramling that the First Amendment does not apply to private company bans? From the Daily Herald:
“The ban on NASCAR’s display of the Confederate battle flag by fans is nothing short of trampling on the First Amendment right of free expression of the Southerners,” said the Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Paul C. Gramling Jr. “This anti-American act will not go unanswered. [On Sunday], members of the Confederate Air Force of Sons of Confederate Veterans disapproved of NASCAR’s trampling on Southerners’ First Amendment Rights. During and before the start of the NASCAR race in Talladega, Alabama, our aircraft was flying a banner announcing a campaign to “shell out NASCAR.”
“It is the hope of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans that NASCAR fans are allowed the fundamental American right to show pride in their family and heritage. The Sons of Confederate Veterans pride themselves on the diversity of the Confederate military and our modern Southland. We believe that NASCAR slander of our southern heritage only further divides our nation. The Sons of Confederate Veterans will continue to defend not only our right but also the Right of all Americans to celebrate their heritage. We are confident that NASCAR will do the same. ”
There is something oddly strange about the leader of a group that honors the heritage of those who fought against the United States by saying that something clearly permitted by law and the Constitution of the United States is “anti-American.”
It is also unclear how, exactly, NASCAR could be “funded.” Since it is, you know, a private company and not a public entity. The only way the NASCAR payout could happen is if Fox and NBC canceled their television deals, and the sponsors started pulling out of the series. That’s not going to happen. Hell, NASCAR would not have taken steps to ban the Confederate flag if it did not believe the move would be a net positive result to attract new viewers and corporate sponsors.
The group has tried to sponsor a NASCAR car in the past, but NASCAR said no. NASCAR has not allowed the Confederate flag to be used in official capacities for decades, and this month’s ban comes five years after the sanctioning agency simply asked fans not to fly the flag on the tracks. That request came after a white supremacist killed nine parishioners at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina.
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Nick Bromberg He is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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