Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/06/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Great stuff, worthy of a book. This one is a fantastic 3shot: http://gallery.leica-users.org/ Eastside/1Poindexter2Bowles Thanks for showing, Philippe Op 22-jun-06, om 22:50 heeft John Mason het volgende geschreven: > Nice photos, Arche. You and I and our cameras have > been spending time in similar places. > >> Interestingly, to me anyway, there is a much >> higher proportion of black participation in drag >> racing, by far, than any of the other motor sports >> I've witnessed. > > That's absolutely correct. Drag racing is far more > ethnically and racially integrated--at every level, > from grassroots bracket racing to the top NHRA > professional ranks--than any other motor sports in the > US or Europe. (Drag racing, coincidentally or not, is > racially integrated some parts of South Africa.) The > mix will vary with the region of the country. Around > here, it's blacks and whites. In the west, there will > be lots of Latinos as well. > > God willing, by the end of the summer, I'll have > finished shooting and interviewing for a book that > will, among other things, try to explain why this is > so. > > It's not simply that the crowds are integrated: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/Eastside/FansLean01 > > Or that black men like Kenny M. and David W. have been > drag racing since they were in their teens. That is, > they were racing white guys and each other at the > track, before Jim Crow was dead and buried: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/Eastside/WinstonAndMoore > > Or that you can find three or four generations of > black racers in the same family. John B., pictured > here, has long been one of the best drivers and > mechanics in Virginia; his daughter and grandson, also > pictured, race junior dragsters: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/Eastside/1Poindexter2Bowles > > Genuine interracial friendships form at the track and > often extend beyond it, as well. The man in the golf > cart is Al Gore, who is more responsible than anyone > else for bringing organized drag racing to the east > coast; the other men are two of the Steppe brothers, > some of whom have been racing on Al's tracks for > decades: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/Eastside/AlGoreAndSteppes > > One of the perplexing facts about drag racing is that > the demographics, as far as white racers and fans are > concerned, is pretty much the same as for Nascar, > which has been (and still too often is) a hostile > environment for blacks: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/Eastside/WhiteTrashTShirt > > At the drag strip, self-proclaimed (an admittedly > semi-ironic proclamation) rednecks have black buddies: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/Eastside/RedneckTShirt > > Drag racing is also much more open to women drivers > than any other motor sport, again, at all levels, > grassroots to pro. It wasn't easy for the first women > racers, but they've been racing the guys since the > late '40s: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/Eastside/GirlDriversMaverick > > Bunny Burkett was one of the pioneers and is still > active in alcohol funny cars: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/Eastside/BunnyBurkett01 > http://gallery.leica-users.org/Eastside/BunnyFliesTheFlag > > The gals keep beating the guys, too: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/Eastside/MalloysTrophyDay > > IIIf, M2, Nikon F100. CV and Nikon glass. Superia > and T400CN. > > --John > > J Mason > Charlottesville, Virginia > > DEMOCRACY OF SPEED, a Photo Documentary Project: > http://www.people.virginia.edu/~ds8s/john-m/john-m.html > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >