50 Years Forward: Birmingham Dumps Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Alabama

It’s official.

The Birmingham City Council, which leapt at the opportunity to support the scam that was Vulcan Bike Week, won’t be supporting the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, an IndyCar racing event which brings tens of thousands of tourists to Birmingham every year and which has an estimated $80 million dollar impact on the Birmingham Metro Area:

“The Honda-Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will not get financial support from the city of Birmingham.

On Tuesday, Mayor William Bell withdrew a request for $300,000 to host and promote the race at the Barber Motorsports Park.

Last week, the council deadlocked on a vote over that request. Councilman Steven Hoyt questioned why a city with a black majority should continue to give money to support the Barber Motorsport track, saying decisions at Barber were not made by anyone who “looked like him.”

Mayor Bell’s office did not comment on the withdrawal.”

What’s the problem?

In a city which has been explicitly run for the enrichment and empowerment of black people since 1979, there weren’t enough people at Barber Motorsports “who look like” Councilman Steven Hoyt. The whiteness of IndyCar racing proved to be an insurmountable obstacle to a long term contract that would keep the event in Birmingham.

Note: Along with a policy that awards contracts to “disadvantaged business enterprises” to install signs that kill people at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, this a classic example of why Birmingham is The Tragic City, not because it lacks a city-county consolidated government like Nashville.
WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

About Hunter Wallace 12380 Articles
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Occidental Dissent

10 Comments

  1. If Birmingham had a city-county consolidated government, then it would have a white majority population and a white majority city council, and those whites would now be gearing up for the Birmingham Indy 2013 instead of lamenting its loss, presuming the race won’t go on without the $300,000 from city council.

    There’s a price to be paid for letting blacks dominate Alabama’s most important city, and losing the Indy race is a small part of that price. More importantly, the black-ruled (read: misruled) central city will continue to drag down the overall economy of the entire metro area.

    The whites of metro Birmingham would be better off moving to the economically more dynamic metro areas of Nashville, Jacksonville or Louisville, where blacks will never be allowed to dominate their all-important central cities. Or they could consolidate Birmingham with Jefferson County, thereby overthrowing black rule and re-establishing white control.

    Or they could do nothing, and let the Detroitification of Birmingham continue apace, eventually dragging the entire metro area down with it. Those are your 3 options, Birminghammers: flight, fight or blight. Choose wisely.

  2. In the 1970s, Birmingham had a majority DWL/negro city government under David Vann, and it was that government which surrendered power to Richard Arrington, Jr. and the black political machine.

    As I pointed out in the latest thread at Al.com, Birmingham and the White suburbs already share a consolidated government, Jefferson County, which filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history, and which is so popular that its residents are fleeing to Shelby County.

  3. All that economic impact lost because a black with power didn’t perceive a benefit for his own.

    HW,

    I like this line of inquiry a lot, analyzing the dynamics at the local level. Lots of interesting insights.

  4. What a D.A. I truly think that anybody who is attending the race should cancel all of their reservations in the city of Birmingham. There are plenty of places to stay in St. Clair County, Shelby County, Hoover and beyond who would greatly appreciate the influx of $$$. Guess what? Decisions made at Barber aren’t made by anybody who looks like me either!..If the City of Birmingham wants to withdraw their support..fine…for reasons that their money would be spent better elsewhere…but for the reason Mr. Hoyt gave?…really? this is 2013…I’m so glad that Mr. Hoyt felt that Birmingham needed another black eye…HE is one of the problems that Alabama will never full be a State that is without racism. This ball goes 2 ways, and Mr. Hoyt just made that point internationally. THANKS Mr. Hoyt! I’m glad I do not reside in the city of Birmingham!.

  5. Guess I can’t edit but I meant to say because of a few people including Mr. Hoyt, Alabama will never fully be a State that is without racism.. Especially when you have counselmen made of his fabric. The good people of Birmingham elected him, hopefully they will not vote him in again. He is a cancer that is stuck in the past. The City of Birmingham is trying very hard to erase the past. I see it in schools, shopping centers and everyday life. It’s a really good thing that our children are walking hand in hand…black, white, hispanic, asian. Hopefully the good people of Birmingham will see that he is not good for public relations next vote. Evidenlty he doesn’t know how much money the races bring into the city of Birmingham. Bless His Heart!

  6. In that Al.com article you linked to, Maury Shevin writes:

    So, here’s to asking that we reinvigorate metropolitan planning using a clean slate. Let’s identify all of the areas where regional cooperation might make sense—policing, firefighting, emergency rescue services, water & sewer services, streets & sanitation, traffic, job recruiting, arts & entertainment, the airport, museums—and pick the easiest. Stay away from the hard topics for a while—as did Louisville. Let’s see if we can come to a consensus on what areas of cooperation are achievable. Then, let’s go do it. Let’s cooperate. Let’s achieve success, because nothing begets success, like success.

    So while Shevin and Sher (co-religionists, perhaps?) both clearly want city-county consolidation, they are too timid to come right out and demand it. Instead they propose to consolidate everything but the municipal government, probably because they foresee major political opposition to it.

    It seems to me that these DWLs would be a lot more forceful in their tone if they thought the main opposition to consolidated government came from the white suburbs. Which makes me think the real opposition is from Birmingham’s black political machine. Otherwise they wouldn’t bother tip-toeing around the issue. Like typical liberals, they’re deathly afraid of challenging black political power head on.

  7. Better yet, White groups should hold press conferences when Black leaders or elected officials make comments like that, and make a show of abandoning those cities.  They can cite flash mobs and other criminality as a reason to stay away, so their patrons are safe.

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