The latest on NBC and NASCAR
Today's installment is here if you're curious. Past Spotter coverage is here and here.
So was NBC at Martinsville? Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.
NBC isn't saying anything other than that they're considering the story. It doesn't mean they're going to air it. And I guarantee that the NBC spokeswoman has no idea whether a Dateline producer was actually at Martinsville on Sunday.
Over at Michelle Malkin's site, an e-mail from someone named "Woody B." says he saw "a Muslim man with two apparent Muslim women roaming the grounds before the race." And Martinsville PR guy Mike Smith told the Roanoke Times: "There were some people that appeared to be Muslims near our main office. Our security was aware of them, and they were monitored the whole time they were there," he said. "That was for their safety and for everyone's safety."
Let's back up a minute.
No one knows whether NBC was at Sunday's race. NBC hasn't said, and no one else seems to know for sure. The presence of any dark-skinned Arab looking people isn't prima facie evidence of anything other than not everyone in the crowd was white.
Whether or not NBC was at Martinsville on Sunday, the response has been exactly what NBC was looking for. "Woody B" is more interested in watching three brown-skinned people than what's going on at the track. And the Martinsville staff was so worried by the presence of "some people that appeared to be Muslims" that it sicced security on them.
"For everyone's safety"? Come on.
Are white folks still that scared of every lighter-than-white-skinned person who walks around in public?
Or are people worried that dark-skinned racing fans are going to get attacked because they're not white?
That's a problem either way. No wonder NBC thinks this might be a good story.
Update, 10:30 a.m.: Here is a story about the Washington Post/ABC poll that got "Dateline" started.
Update, 10:40 a.m.: A blogger who regularly makes fun of Malkin has this to say about the whole episode:
I think that conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats, should welcome the opportunity to prove what tolerant and accepting people we are. That we believe that you shouldn't be judged by the color of your skin or your religion, but instead by whether you think that the late Dale Earnhardt could have kicked Superman's ass.
My money's on Dale Sr. in that fight. I'd call even money if Junior was taking on the Man of Steel.
Comments (6)
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John,
When is the last time you saw a Muslim of any gender at a race in full-out Muslim garb? Like, never? What kind of reaction would you have if you did? You honestly wouldn't file that in the back of your mind?
Of course security would be interested in folks in Muslim garb at a NASCAR race. I wonder when the last time was that any of those security folks ever saw a Muslim in full garb at a NASCAR race was? Isn't it their job to be suspicious of suspicious activities? A Muslim wearing full-out dress at a NASCAR race is definitely suspicious. A Muslim in full garb at the supermarket, not so much.
That said, my entire life, I've never seen a Muslim in full-out dress except on TV. I'd file it in the back of my mind even if I saw them in the grocery store. Not because I'm any sort of racist but because it's nothing I've ever seen before.
I'd never seen a Quaker before until we moved up to Tennessee from Florida. When I did see a group of them, I filed in the back of my mind. After the first time, I didn't think twice about it. I guess I must be racist and prejudiced of Quakers, though, because I noticed it that first time?
Please.
Posted on April 6, 2006 11:52 AM
Looking is one thing, Carrie. Calling security just because someone isn't wearing a Dale Jr. shirt and a pair of Wranglers is another.
Posted on April 6, 2006 12:09 PM
Woody said he happened to notice a group of people that appeared to be of Middle Eastern dissent roaming around. It doesn't necessarily mean he trailed them or had any intention of starting an incident. This is simply a case where Woody hears about what Dateline is planning to do and says 'yeah, I saw some Muslim-looking people at Martinsville last week.' Nothing more.
Forgive him for simply noticing them. Because as Carrie mentioned, the middle-eastern demographic doesn't exactly dominate Nascar's fanbase now, does it?
And considering that, wouldn't it be best for Security to at least monitor them to make sure something doesn't happen?
They're simply exercising the same caution that security in Philadelphia should exercise should they notice somebody with a Terrell Owens Dallas Cowboys jersey at the Linc.
Posted on April 6, 2006 12:13 PM
Why? Would you have rathered they just ignored it? Again, I say, a Muslim in full-garb at a NASCAR race is suspicious. What if they let being PC get in the way of their jobs and something had happened? Security obviously never hassled the Muslims. You said it yourself, looking is one thing. They were just looking. You know, doing their jobs.
Posted on April 6, 2006 12:16 PM
I have to come down on Carrie's side.
Given the last few years and the "normal" demographic at a NASCAR event, they should have been monitored by security. And they were with no apparent incidents by either the "Muslim" or the security force. And I'm guessing it P'O'd the staff at Dateline.
And John one can presume NBC actually were at Martinsville. NASCAR's spokesman said as much in the widely quoted statement.
Posted on April 6, 2006 6:50 PM
Marc: I work in a business where you presume nothing. The original NBC e-mail said nothing about exactly where Dateline had been or was planning to go. Go back and re-read it and look for the word "Martinsville." Ain't there.
In all fairness, everyone who assumed there was a Dateline crew at Martinsville guessed correctly. Scene Daily gets confirmation from NBC here.
For the record - not for the sake of argument because I'm not going to change your mind and vice versa - I don't like the idea that track security should monitor (or tail or follow or whatever word you want to use) nonwhite people at its facilities (or anywhere else for that matter).
I start with the premise that everyone's cool until they demonstrate otherwise. Skin color doesn't automatically put you on my threat list.
Posted on April 6, 2006 7:19 PM