MURFREESBORO — A
speedy trailblazer who outraced bigots and drove into history is the subject of
the next edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program.
Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Derek Alderman, head of
the Department of Geography at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, will air
from 5:30 to 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 2, and from 8 to 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, on
WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org).
Alderman is an expert in African-Americans’ attempts to
claim their history through cultural geography. He is scheduled to present “The
‘Hard Driving’ of NASCAR’s Wendell Scott: The Politics of African-American
Survivability and Counter-Mobility,” an MTSU Black History Month event, at 3
p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, in Room N116 of MTSU’s Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building.
Scott, who was the first African-American racer in stock car
racing’s top division, will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in
Charlotte, North Carolina, on Jan. 30, nearly 15 years after his death.
While he won only one race, Scott achieved 20 top five
finishes and 147 top 10 finishes in his 13-year career while enduring racist
indignities and attempts on his life and his loved ones’ lives during the Jim
Crow era.
“Wendell Scott actually has an important thing to teach
younger generations, particularly as we recognize that the black experience is
still a matter of survivability,” said Alderman.
“If we look at what’s happened with Michael Brown, with Eric
Garner, in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City, respectively, we see that
Wendell Scott was talking about or, at least, living these issues.”
To listen to previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to
http://www.mtsunews.com/ontherecord/.
For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or
WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.
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