The Rotorua Stockcar Club is facing increasing pressure to drop the Confederate Flag as its club symbol after an on-line petition calling for its ban has gathered more than 1000 signatures.
Rotorua Stockcar club advertisement (2018) Photo: Facebook/Rotorua Stockcar club
Ben Aulakh started the petition a few weeks ago and told First Up that his attempts to engage with the club in a discussion over the flag had been met with hostility.
"They accused me of bullying tactics, of trying to destroy the club, of trying to finish off twenty years of hard work and of trying to besmirch their good name when actually I've been quite clear right from the start that all I wanted to do is have a constructive dialogue with them about the issues that are at play here," said Aulakh.
Photo: Ben Aulakh supplied
"There are obviously some really significant long standing issues around the use of the confederate flag which hopefully, given all the discussion that's going on, there can be no doubt as to what a symbol of oppression it is."
Last month auto racing organisation NASCAR announced it was banning the display of the confederate flag from all its events and properties. About a week later the Mississippi state legislature passed a bill to remove the Confederate emblem from its flag in a historic referendum.
Aulakh said he hoped that the recent events and dialogue sparked by the Black Lives Matters protest worldwide would open up an opportunity for dialogue with the Stockcar club around its use of the confederate flag.
Aulakh said so far the club's secretary had indicated the club and its members would not engage in discussions around the flag's issues.
The Rotorua Stockcar club declined to comment to First Up but in a Facebook post it said a decision on its use of the flag would be made democratically by its members at its Annual General Meeting on the 26th of July.
"Because of all the discussion that there is about it in the world at the moment, even if you weren't aware before a few weeks ago - you surely can't be in any doubt now about the serious issues there are around this flag," said Aulakh.
"My hope is with Nascar deciding to get rid of the confederate flag and with the Mississippi state legislature deciding that they're getting rid of their flag because it contains a confederate flag, that hopefully enough members of the club are aware of the issues and when it comes to their AGM on the 26th of July, they do the right thing."
