Early Wednesday evening (Feb. 27) NASCAR announced an
indefinite suspension for Nationwide Series regular Jeremy Clements for violating
the sport’s Code of Conduct for actions detrimental to stock car racing. Soon
after it came to light that Clements was suspended for using a racial slur.
On Thursday (Feb. 28), Clements confirmed the racial slur in
an interview with ESPN.com’s Marty Smith, but claimed that he didn’t mean any
offense by the term. The slur came in a conversation at Daytona International
Speedway prior to the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, Feb. 23 with an
unnamed reporter for MTV and a female NASCAR employee. It’s unknown whether the
reporter or NASCAR employee notified NASCAR of the incident.
In the ESPN.com interview, Clements said: “When you say
racial remark, it wasn't used to describe anybody or anything. So that's all
I'm going to say to that. And it really wasn't. I was describing racing, and
the word I used was incorrect and I shouldn't have said it. It shouldn't be
used at all.”
Here’s the thing … I actually believe Clements when he says
the term wasn’t meant to be offensive, but he’s obviously too ignorant to
realize that a racial slur in any context is almost certainly going to be
offensive. One major problem with this story is that nobody knows what exactly
was said. Clements isn’t saying, NASCAR isn’t saying and the reporter thus far
hasn’t come forward and said. I have a pretty good feeling that I know what the
term was, especially given the context of Clements’ statement to ESPN. Since he
was referring to racing and not an individual I’m willing to bet that the term
used was “n*****rigged.” Again, that’s just my observation and estimation, not
in any way a fact.
No matter what racial slur Clements in fact used or what
context it was in the suspension from NASCAR is warranted and needed. NASCAR
drivers can’t go around using offensive and racist terms no matter what the
intent behind them is. In fact, given the already stereotypical and oftentimes
negative (some deserved, much of it undeserved) reputation and image that
NASCAR has a driver using racial slurs is the worst possible thing NASCAR could
face. I’m 100 percent serious when I say that a driver using racist language is
more detrimental to NASCAR than multiple car parts flying into the stands and
injuring numerous spectators, like we saw last Saturday at the end of the
Nationwide Series race at Daytona.
NASCAR has come a long way in terms of diversity through its
Drive for Diversity program which has seen female drivers like Danica Patrick
and Johanna Long competing in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series
respectively, Kyle Larson of Japanese-American descent competing full time this
season in the Nationwide Series and Darrell Wallace Jr., who this season
becomes just the fourth African-American driver to compete full time in a
NASCAR series as he races in the Camping World Truck Series.
However, in the minds of many all of these positive steps
the sport is making can be undone by drivers using racially insensitive
language like Clements did, again no matter the context intended. Another thing
that can help to set the sport back many years is the way many fans have come
to Clements’ defense claiming that he shouldn’t have been suspended for his
ignorant slip of the tongue. These fans and their passionate defense of
Clements’ racial slur do a lot of damage to NASCAR and the stereotype that
ignorant rednecks are all that follow the sport. The stereotype is drastically
untrue, but if you go to Twitter right now and type the name Jeremy Clements
into the search bar you might not think so.
It’s unfortunate that a NASCAR driver had enough ignorance
to use a racially offensive term, even when offense wasn’t intended, but it’s
absolutely disgusting to see the support given to him by fans, who claim that
NASCAR should have let the slur go unpunished.
A NASCAR driver using racial slurs is a black eye for
NASCAR, but letting it go unpunished could’ve been the knockout punch.
