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Revision as of 17:37, 18 October 2005 edit83.71.17.145 (talk) →Sport  Revision as of 22:44, 16 December 2008 edit Die4Dixie (talk | contribs)3,574 edits →Other Neo-Confederate criticism: remove Undue weight. a red linked org not a reliable source except their non notable opinion. 
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'''Drifting''' refers to the difference in slip angle between the front and rear tires of a car. When the rear wheels are slipping at a greater angle than the front wheels, the car is drifting, or ]. The rear end of the car appears to chase the front end around a turn, the driver utilizes both front tires and the rear tires to control the actual direction of the car. More throttle induces more rear wheel slip angle and the rear of the car wants to overtake the front. The goal is for the driver to achieve steering lock and use the throttle to fine tune the car's angle and direction.
==Drifting==
Drifting is a driving style distinguished by oversteering into and completely through the corners. Drifting may be done informally for fun, in a formal setting where the goal is a mix of fun and building skills for improved car control, or in competitive motorsports. Competitive drifting is a motorsport rated on style, rather than speed around a track or position in a group of cars. Overall performance is judged by a combination of skills; Cornering angle, line, smoke, and speed.


The term '''Neo-Confederate''' describes a political and/or cultural movement that is characterized by a celebration of the history and ideals of the ]. This includes support for the continued use of the ], respect for Confederate war dead and statues of CSA generals and leaders. Some Neo-Confederates interpret the history of the ] differently from many interpretations of the war. In particular, the role slavery played in the war is debated, and attention is turned towards the motivations and character of ], and the behaviour of ] troops towards Southern soldiers and civilians. Some groups in the movement support full future ] from the ], while others focus on preserving their image of Southern heritage.
===History===
Many attribute the return of drifting as a competitive sport to mountain-road racers of rural ]. Informal challenges on back mountain roads (called Touge) eventually evolved into a heavily funded and advertised competitive events, sanctioned by organizations and held on private tracks. Drifting began in America in 1996 with an Option hosted event held in California, but it did not popularise until around 2002, and has exploded into a massively popular form of motorsport. Japanese drifters are still considered to be at the cutting edge of technique and car development, but their American counterparts are quickly catching up.


==Beliefs of Neo-Confederates==
As rumor has it, Tsuchiya Keiichi was in a car race, and was dead last. He decided to swing the car around the corners, shocking and amazing the crowd. When accessed later for comment, Tsuchiya called it "drifting." While this is not the origin, it is probably where it obtained its name and introduction.
There are several themes which generally unite most Neo-Confederates:
Back in 1977 Keiichi began his racing career driving many different cars in amateur racing series events. Racing these underpowered cars was difficult but again a great learning experience. Later Keiichi was picked up to drive the ADVAN sponsored AE86/1984 Corolla GT-S. During many races on a downhill corner he would drift the car and carry a better corner speed than his competitors. This technique is what made him the Drift King not as most believe that he was first in the drift scene.


*Honor of the ] and its veterans - Much of the Neo-Confederate movement is concerned with giving the proper due honor to the Confederacy itself, to the veterans of the Confederacy and Confederate veterans' cemeteries, to the various flags of the Confederacy, and to cultural Southern identity.
Many of the techniques used today in drifting were developed by rally drivers who often competed on dirt, gravel and snow. Sliding around corners for rally racing was the only way to go.
*Culture - Many Neo-Confederates promote an unabashed ] culture. They support, for example, public displays of ], such as "]" momunents and displays of the Christian cross. Almost all Neo-Confederates strongly support the right to keep and bear arms, present in both the ] and the ]. Generally they oppose unmitigated ] of foreign nationals into Southern states.
*Economics - Neo-Confederates usually advocate a ] economy which engages in significantly less taxation than currently found in the United States, and which does not revolve around ] such as the ].
*History - Many Neo-Confederates are openly critical of the presidency of ] to varied degrees, and of the history of ]. Various authors have written critiques of Lincoln and the Union. ] is not usually defended, but it is usually denied as a primary cause of the ]. Critics often accuse Neo-Confederates of "]" and of acting as "]".
*Secession - Many Neo-Confederates openly advocate the resecession of the Southern states and territories which comprised the old ]. The ], for example, promotes the "independence of the Southern people" from the "American empire". <ref>http://www.dixienet.org/</ref> Most Neo-Confederate groups do not seek violent revolution, but rather an orderly separation, such as was done in the division of Czechoslovakia. Many Neo-Confederate groups have prepared for the possible collapse of the federal United States into its 50 separate states, much like the Soviet Union collapsed, and believe the Confederacy can be resurrected at that time.


Though outsiders often see Neo-Confederatism as "rebellion", the Neo-Confederates themselves generally believe that the federal government of the United States has strayed from its original intent, and that the Confederate States of America was both the lawful and logical successor of the original government which formed out of the ].
===Today===
Nowadays, drifting has evolved into a competitive sport where drivers compete in rear-wheel drive cars to keep their cars sideways for as long as possible. At the top levels of competition, especially the Option-run D1 Grand Prix in Japan and the US, drivers are able to keep their cars sliding for extended periods of time, often through several turns. Drifting competitions are judged based not on the time it takes to complete a course, but it is based on line, angle, speed, and show factor. Line involves taking the correct line, which is usually announced by judges. Angle is the angle of a car in a drift, the more the better. Speed is the speed entering a turn, the speed through a turn, and the speed exiting the turn. As usual, faster is better. The show factor is based on multiple things, such as the amount of smoke, how close the car is from the wall, falling aero, etc. It's based on how "cool" everything looks. Final rounds of competition often include tandem drift runs nicknamed "tsuiso" in Japanese, where one car follows another through the course, attempting to keep up with or even pass the car in front. In the tsuiso rounds, it doesn't matter if the racing line is wrong, it matters who can have the most exciting drift. Normally, the leading car usually produces a max-angle, but still close off the inside a little to prevent passing. The chasing car usually drifts with less angle, but very close to the lead car. But, a car does not even have to keep up, and in fact in some cases a car that was left behind on the straight produced a beautiful drift, winning him that round. A spin, understeer, or collision results in a disqualification of the offending party.
Drifting is not the fastest way around a racetrack. Drifting is useful when rallying but when circuit racing it is slower than conventional techniques.


It should be noted that the term "Neo-Confederate" is considered by many people a pejorative ] and its application to specific groups and individuals has caused controversy. Not everyone, however, avoids the term. Al Benson, Jr., head of the former Southern Independence Party declares, "I am part of what ] calls the 'Neo-Confederate Movement'". <ref>http://albensonjr.com</ref>
===Cars===
Any rear-wheel drive car can be drifted, most often with a Limited-Slip Differential, and some all-wheel-drive cars can also drift, often with less angle, but higher speed. Popular competition cars in the US include the ], Nissan Z33 ], ], ],and ]. Recently domestic favorites have also been thrown into the mix, such as the Ford Mustang, Pontiac GTO, and the Dodge Viper. In Japan, the top drift machines are the Nissan S13, S14, S15 Silvia, 180SX, Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno and Corolla Levin, Nissan Skyline (RWD versions, the ER34 4-door sedan and the previous generation of HCR32), ], ], Nissan Z33 ] Nissan Cefiro, Nissan Laurel, ], and the aforementioned vehicles.


==Use of "Neo-Confederate" as political epithet==
There is some debate over whether or not front-wheel-drive (FWD) vehicles can drift. By the technical definition (rear wheels slipping at a greater angle than front wheels), they are indeed able to drift. However, many consider FWD vehicles a poor choice for drifting, as the frequent use of the emergency brake (necessary to drift FWD cars) slows them down and makes them harder to control. Also since they use their front tires for both steering and power, the car loses control after a single slide, while RWD cars can drift through consecutive corners. In this way, the definition of drifting is frequently challenged to say that FWD cars cannot drift, only powerslide. However, some drifters such as Kyle Arai or Haketeyama use EF Civics to drift, and succeed in doing so, sometimes besting out their RWD opponents.
The term "Neo-Confederate" is often employed as a ] description of people who take a sympathetic view of Southern history (particularly in connection with the ] and slavery) and views on the Civil War that are not in line with mainstream historical perspectives. It is also used sometimes to criticize people who echo the ] attacks against ] and the ].


The term Neo-Confederate was used in a scholarly fashion as far back as 1954. In a book review, Leonard Levy, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1968, wrote, "Similar blindness to the moral issue of slavery, plus a resentment against the rise of the Negro and modern industrialism, resulted in the Neo-Confederate interpretation of Phillips, Ramsdell and Owsley."<ref>Levy pg. 524</ref>
4WD vehicles, such as the ], and ] drift at a much different angle and are usually induced by power-over. As the front wheels are also driven on a 4WD vehicle there is a noticeable lack of counter steer.


In 1999, during a radio interview, the Civil War historian ] offended many Southern heritage organizations when he associated the ] with the Neo-Confederate movement and described board members of the ] in ] as "undoubtedly Neo-Confederate." He further said that the UDC and the ] have "]" as their "thinly veiled agendas." The incident outraged members of the UDC and the SCV, who accused McPherson of unfairly attacking them. Some SCV and UDC chapters subsequently urged their members to boycott his books and engaged in letter-writing campaigns.<ref name=autogenerated3></ref> In response to this boycott, McPherson stated that that he did not mean to imply that all SCV or UDC chapters or anyone who belongs to them promote white supremacist agenda. He further stated that some of these people have a hidden agenda.
===Sport===
Many parts are available from aftermarket manufacturers that are specifically designed to modify a car for drifting. Almost all competitors take advantage of these products to enhance the suspension, driveline, chassis, and body of their cars.


==Southern Poverty Law Center's criticism of Neo-Confederatism==
The most important drifting competition in the world is the Autobacs D1 Grand Prix, which originated in the Japan Ebisu South Circuit. Once confined only to Japan, the D1GP now holds one points match and one Japan vs USA exhibition match at ] in California in addition to an exhibition event at ] on October and plans to break into other markets including other parts of Asia. The magazine Option and its video department V-Option decided to create the D1 Grand Prix to catch and expand the drifting craze. Led by the CEO ], they strive for performance. In 2006, the D1 Corporation will bring out a national series in the United Kingdom, with the chance to bring out the top five drivers to compete in either the US or Japan.<P>
The ] (SPLC), a private organization headed by ], reports on the "Neo-Confederate movement", almost always in a critical fashion. A special report by the SPLC's Mark Potok in their magazine, ''Intelligence Report'', critically described a number of groups as "Neo-Confederate" in 2000. "Lincoln Reconstructed," published in 2003 in the ''Intelligence Report'', focuses on the resurgent demonization of ] in the South. The article quotes the chaplain of the SCV as giving an invocation which recalled "the last real Christian civilization on Earth." The article further mentions that the LewRockwell.com website hosts a collection of anti-Lincoln articles, which led ] of the ] to compare the SPLC's tactics to ].<ref></ref>"Whitewashing the Confederacy" was a review that alleged that the movie '']'' presented a false, pro-Confederate view of history.<ref></ref> Myles Kantor of the conservative '']'' described the review as a "web of falsehood."<ref></ref>


The American drivers are usually in a different league, as they cannot follow the D1's predominantly Japanese schedule, the best known is Formula D.


The top drifting drivers include (first name, last name, nickname, Japanese name, team & car):<p>


==Origins and doctrines of "Lost Cause" Civil War history==
<b>D1GP</b><br>
] 植尾勝浩 (Car Boutique Club ERG AE86 ]).
] "NOB - abbreviated No One Better" 谷口信輝 (] Power S15 Hyper ] ] RS2 / HKS Super Oil Genki RP ])<br>
] "Nomuken" 野村謙 (] Works Drift Performance with Uras ER34 ])<br>
] 今村陽一 (] FD3S RX-7)<br>
] 熊久保信重 (Team Orange, ], ], and ] GDB Type-II ]) (Converted to FR drivetrain by ])<br>
] 末永正雄 (] / ] FD3S ])<br>
] "Waku-Waku Kun" 風間靖幸 (] S15 Silvia)<br>
] "Ucchi" 内海彰乃 (C-West ADVAN DRFT FD3S RX-7)<br>
] 上野高広 (Team T&E Vertex JZZ30 ])<br>
] 寺崎源 (] Secondhand Division ])<br>
] 前田謙 (Grenade FD3S RX-7)<br>
] 日比野哲也 (DRoo-p AE86 ])<br>
] (Show-Up! / Riverside RPS13])<br>
] 田中一弘 (Team Orange / M Sports S15 Silvia)<br>
] (Trust Works S15 Silvia) <br>
] "MAX Orido"/"Monkichi" 織戸学 (] ])<br>
] "Doki-Doki Kun" 三木竜二 (] / ] Z33 ])<br> <p>


The ''']''' is the name commonly given to a literary and intellectual movement that sought to reconcile the traditional society of the ] to the defeat of the ] in the ] of 1861&ndash;1865.<ref>Gallagher (2000) p. 1. Gallagher wrote:
<b>Formula D</b><br>
:"The architects of the Lost Cause acted from various motives. They collectively sought to justify their own actions and allow themselves and other former Confederates to find something positive in all-encompassing failure. They also wanted to provide their children and future generations of white Southerners with a 'correct' narrative of the war."</ref> Those who contributed to the movement tended to portray the Confederacy's cause as noble and most of the Confederacy's leaders as exemplars of old-fashioned ], defeated by the ] armies not through superior military skill, but by overwhelming force. They believe the commonly portrayed Civil War history to be a "false history". They also tended to condemn ].
] (RS*R ])<br>
] (RMR ])<br>
] (Falken/Drift Alliance) ])<br>
] (Falken/DA ])<br>
] (Falken/DA ])<br>
] (] FD3S RX-7)<br>
] (Falken ])<br>
] (Pacific Rim ])<br>
] (Nitto Tires ])<br>
] 具志健士郎(] ])<br>
] (Privateer Nissan ])<br>
] (Falken ])<br>
] (Falken ])<br>
] (] Viper)<br>
(Machines, Drivers, and Teams are as of 2005 D1 and Formula D, etc. Schedule.)
<p>


The SCV on its main website, still speaks of “ensuring that a true history of the 1861-1865 period is preserved” and claiming that “he preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South's decision to fight the Second American Revolution.”<ref></ref>
<b>D1GP IRL/UK</b><br>
] T.D.P ])<br>
] )<br>
] (McNamara Motorsport) ])<br>
] (Modified Motors ])<br>
] (Driftworks ])<br>
] (] Nissan 200sx S14a)<br>
] (DRIFTR ])<br>
] (Xtreme Autos ])<br>
] (Street Devils ])<br>
] ])<br>
] (])<br>
(Machines, Drivers, and Teams are as of 2005 D1 and Formula D, D1 GP IRL/UK. Schedule.)
<p>


] has written on the origins of the ] and states that “A principal motive of the UDC’s founding was to counter this ‘false history’ which taught Southern children ‘that their fathers were not only rebels but guilty of almost every crime enumerated in the ].”<ref>McPherson pg. 98</ref> Much of what the UDC termed as “false history” centered on the role of slavery with secession and the war. The chaplain of the ], forerunner of the ], wrote in 1898 that history books as written could lead Southern children to “think that we fought for slavery” and would “fasten upon the South the stigma of slavery and that we fought for it … the Southern soldier will go down in history dishonored.” <ref>McPherson pg. 97</ref> Referring to a 1932 call by the SCV to restore “the purity of our history”, McPherson notes that the “quest for purity remains vital today, as any historian working in the field can testify.” <ref>McPherson pg. 106</ref>
], a legend in the drifting world, is considered the father of drifting. Known popularly as the "Drift King" (Dorikin), he is the official chief judge in the D1 Grand Prix Series. ] "Mana P" (鈴木 学) assists in announcing. Suzuki is well known for working with Option and in car design, even working on the paint scheme and decals for Monkichi's RS-R Supra.<p>


In the 1910s Mildred Rutherford, the historian general of the UDC, spearheaded the attack on schoolbooks that did not present the ] version of history. Rutherford assembled a “massive collection” which included “essay contests on the glory of the Ku Klux Klan and personal tributes to faithful slaves.”<ref>Blight pg 289</ref> Historian David Blight concluded, “All UDC members and leaders were not as virulently racist as Rutherford, but all, in the name of a reconciled nation, participated in an enterprise that deeply influenced the white supremacist vision of Civil war memory.”<ref>Blight pg. 190</ref>
D1 Champions<p>
Inaugural 2001 D1 - Nobuteru Taniguchi w/ HKS Power Nissan S15 Silvia RS1<p>
2002 D1- Katsuhiro Ueo w/ Yuke's & Cusco Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno<p>
2003 D1- Imamura Youichi w/ A'PEXi Mazda FD3S RX-7<p>
2004 D1- Miki Ryuji w/ Top Secret DRIFT Nissan S15 Silvia<p>
2005 D1- ??? (current championship leader - Kazama Yasuyuki w/ Kei Office Nissan S15 Silvia)<p>


Historian Alan Nolan refers to the Lost Cause as “a rationalization, a cover-up”. After describing the devastation that were the consequences of the war for the South, Nolan states:
Formula D Champions <p>
2004 FD - Samuel Hubinette - Mopar Viper Competition Coupe<p>
2005 FD - Rhys Milllen - Rhys Milllen Racing(RMR)/Pontiac GTO<p>


{{cquote|Leaders of such a catastrophe must account for themselves. Justification is necessary. Those who followed their leaders into the catastrophe required similar rationalization. Clement A. Evans, a Georgia veteran who at one time commanded the United Confederate Veterans organization, said this: ‘If we cannot justify the South in the act of Secession, we will go down in History solely as a brave, impulsive but rash people who attempted in an illegal manner to overthrow the Union of our Country.<ref name=autogenerated1>Gallagher and Nolan pg. 13-14</ref>}}
==Drifting techniques==
There are many different ways to drift a car, including: (NOTE: ] (to allow the wheels to lock) and ] (to allow the tires to spin) should be turned off before attempting to drift. These systems are not made to take into account a driver wanting the car to slide.)


Nolan further states the racial basis of Lost Cause mythology:
*'''Braking drift''' - This drift is performed by trail ] into a corner so that the car can "set" or shift weight to cause the rear wheels to lose ], then controlling the drift with proper steering and gas inputs.
{{cquote|The Lost Cause version of the war is a caricature, possible, among other reasons, because of the false treatment of slavery and the black people. This false treatment struck at the core of the truth of the war, unhinging cause and effect, depriving the United States of any high purpose, and removing African Americans from their true role as the issue of the war and participants in the war, and characterizing them as historically irrelevant.<ref name=autogenerated1 />}}


Historian David Goldfield observes:
*'''Power Over Drift''' - This drift performed when entering a corner at full throttle to produce heavy ] through the turn. It is the most typical drifting technique for ] cars_(predominately RWD).
{{cquote|If history has defined the South, it has also trapped white southerners into sometimes defending the indefensible, holding onto views generally discredited in the rest of the civilized world and holding on the fiercer because of that. The extreme sensitivity of some southerners toward criticism of their past (or present) reflects not only their deep attachment to their perception of history but also their misgivings, a feeling that maybe they've fouled up somewhere and maybe the critics have something.<ref>Goldfield pg. 318</ref>}}


When asked about purported "Neo-Confederate ]" and the people behind it, ] professor and Civil War historian Brooks D. Simpson said that:
*'''Inertia (Feint) Drift''' - This is done by rocking the car towards the outside of a turn and then using the ] of the car to swing it back to the desired drifting line. By going away from the corner, and turning back in hard, you are coming from a much sharper angle.
:This is an active attempt to reshape historical memory, an effort by white Southerners to find historical justifications for present-day actions. The neo-Confederate movement's ideologues have grasped that if they control how people remember the past, they'll control how people approach the present and the future. Ultimately, this is a very conscious war for memory and heritage. It's a quest for legitimacy, the eternal quest for justification.<ref></ref>


==Neo-Confederate Organizations==
*'''Handbrake/ebrake Drift''' - This technique is pretty straight forward; pull the ] to induce rear traction loss and balance drift through steering and throttle play. Some people debate the fact that if using the handbrake creates an actual drift, or just a ], but ultimately, using the e-brake is no different than any other technique for starting drifts. This is generally the main technique to perform a controlled drift in a ] vehicle.
The following groups either support Neo-Confederate ideals as defined in this article, or have been accused of being "Neo-Confederate" or "Pro-Confederate" by critical organizations.


*]
*'''Dirt Drop Drift''' - This is done by dropping the rear tires off the road into the dirt to maintain or gain drift angle without losing power or speed and to set up for the next turn. Only permissible on roads without barriers and lined with dirt or other materials which to lose traction. This is commonly done in ] rallying.
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*]
*Confederate Society of America
*''The Edgefield Journal''
*Heritage Preservation Association
*]
*]
*]
*]
*FreeSouth
*FreeMississippi


==Known Neo-Confederate authors and political figures==
*'''Clutch Kick''' - This is done by "kicking" the ] (pushing in, then out) to send a shock through the ], upsetting the car's balance. It causes the rear wheels to slip and enables the driver to induce oversteer.


*] - Economist
*'''Choku Dori''' - This is an advanced technique that involves using one of the previous techniques to start the drift, then using the ebrake to extend the drift into a turn.
*] - conservative political commentator
*] - Philosopher
*] - Civil War historian
*] - Journalist of 1920s<ref></ref>
*] - Civil War and southern historian


== Notes ==
*'''Manji Drift''' - This is used while drifting on straightaways. The driver of the car sways the car side to side while the car is in a drift, which looks impressive. It can be initiated through all the above techniques
{{reflist}}


== References ==
==How the car should be set up==
* Blight, David W. ''Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory''. (2001) ISBN 0-674-00332-2
The suspension in a drift car is very tight and unforgiving -- even the chassis is tightened with roll cages and strut braces. Die-hard drifting enthusiasts also alter the suspension geometry to enable the car to slide better. As with everything, modification of the body and suspension components is a trade-off. Hard suspension in the front and a soft suspension in the back is easiest for first timers, but a handicap at higher levels. Most cars use an integrated coilover/shock (McPherson Strut) combination called shakocho. This allows for the height of the car to be adjusted. Better shakocho will be what the Japanese call "full-tap". This means the bottom of the strut is also a coil over, so you can change the height of the car from the bottom, and the height of the spring with the top. Usually a driver wants to have full stroke on his shocks, so he will raise the spring to its heighest point. There is no perfect height setting or spring/shock combo for any car, but there are perfect setups for particular drivers. Many suspension manufacturers, such as Kei Office, APEX'i, Tein, JIC Magic, and HKS, offer suspension tuned specifically for drifting, allowing many people to enter the sport competitively.


* Gallagher, Gary W and Nolan, Alan T. editors. ''The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History''. (2000) ISBN 0-253-33822-0
One common trend that used to be popular in Japan was "Oni-can." In English, it means Demon Camber. It involves setting the suspension with obscene amounts of negative camber. The car will be very easy to slide and lose grip, but stability, grip, and overall ability to control the car will be compromised. As such, this setting is very dangerous, and is not recommended.
*
* Goldfield, David. ''Still Fighting the Civil War: The American South and Southern History''. (2002) ISBN 0-8071-2758-2


* Levy, Leonard W. ''Review of Americans Interpret Their Civil War by Thomas J. Pressly.'' The Western Political Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 3. (Sep., 1954), pp. 523-524
The differentials are limited-slip differentials (LSD), which are divided into clutch-type differentials and viscous Limited-Slip Differentials (VLSD), not the standard open differential. On an open differential, the automatic transfer of power to the spinning wheel causes the car to the inside wheel spinning out of control, and the other spinning at the actual speed of the car. A LSD allows your two wheels connected to the LSD to spin in a certain speed range, to give power to both wheels through a turn, allowing a car in a drift to use both wheels for power in a drift. LSD's are separated in three categories, 1 Way, 1.5 Way, and 2 way. A 1-way LSD means it only locks the differential under acceleration, while a 2-way LSD locks them under acceleration and deceleration. A 1.5 way LSD allows locking under both acceleration and deceleration, but it is weaker than a 2-way under deceleration.


* McPherson, James M. ''This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War''. (2007) ISBN 13:978-0-19-531366-6
The cars quite often have different tires on the front and back, and the owner may have quite a few sets. This is because a single afternoon of drifting can destroy a new set of tires. As a rule, good tires go on the front for good steering. On the back, hard-compound tires are used -- quite often second-hand ones -- as they tend to end up in a cloud of smoke. As a driver gets better, she will most likely want to upgrade the tires used in the rear for a higher grip compound. Although cheap/hard tires are fun purely for their slipperiness and ease of drifting, they quickly become a hindrance for high-speed drifts.

In addition, for the typical "drift car look," the tires are stretched over a wide rim. This is known as a "hipari" tire. For example, 205 50/16 tyres may be fitted to an 8" rim, or 215 45/17 to a 9" rim; this allows for a bigger, wider, "cooler looking" wheel to be used. The driver is essentially still racing on a tire meant for a 7.5" or 8" wheel, but has the "cool wide look." The only real performance benefit of stretching tires on the wheel, is that it lowers the overall height of the sidewall and can add a feeling of firmness to turning and decrease body roll associated to a weak sidewall.

The clutches on these cars tend to be very tough ceramic brass button or multiple-plate varieties. This is because a lot of drifters use the clutch to commence the wheel spins (and hence the drift) by popping the clutch at high engine RPMs. At the D1 level, most of the drifters who do not drive lightweight Hachi Rokus do not use "Clutch Kick" to initiate a drift. Most of the higher powered/better sponsored cars use the E-brake to initiate the drift. Some cars, like the HKS S15, only need to utilize their suspension geometry to start a drift.

Engine power does not need to be high, and in fact if you have too much power e.g. more than 500 hp (400 kW), the car can be very hard to handle/drift. Some drivers have 600 hp (450 kW) cars, and esentially perform long burnouts. Don't be fooled, drifting still retains the elements of speed and angle. Intercooler efficiency is reduced because of the angle of the car which reduces the air that passes through them. Rear spoilers usually only serve cosmetic purpose, since drifting cars won't need the downforce with the speed they use.

==List of drifting championships all over the world==

Includes the year inauguration and country of origin

D1 Grand Prix - 2000 - Japan<br>
Formula D - 2004 - United States<br>
Drift Australia<br>
Eurodrift Series - UK & Europe<br>
D1 National Series Great Britain - 2006 <br>
D1 IRL - Eire<br>
D1NZ - 2004 - New Zealand

==Fun facts==
*For Japanese drivers to reach D1, they must first pass through Option's feeder, "Ikaten." This is where amateurs prove themselves to be part of D1. If they qualify, they receive a "D1 license," which enables them to enter the Qualifying rounds. Countries outside of Japan have the luxury of only going through a small "Driver's Search" to get a D1 license.

*Kumakubo owns Ebisu circuit, which is why D1 originated from there, and is also why Kuma is so good at tsuiso rounds.

*You may have noticed on Kumakubo's hood, the words "Big X." Big X is a outdoor show that combines drifting tricks, motocross, and other extreme sports featuring the experts from each field.

*Big X's drifting squad is called Drift Xtreme, which the top drivers of D1 are invited to join once they are well known. You can see the Drift Xtreme decal on the featured D1 driver's cars. These include, but are not limited to: Nobushige Kumakubo, Nomura Ken, Kazama Yasuyuki, Miki Ryuji, Kazuhiro Tanaka, and Yuki "DIRT" Izumida.

*Taniguchi Nobuteru has gone through four cars with HKS for D1, the RS1 Hyper Silvia S15 (Crashed by Keiichi Tsuchiya), and two RS2 Hyper Silvia S15s (One from HKS Japan, and the other from HKS Europe), and finally the Genki RP Altezza, which was designed with no experimental/prototype HKS parts, for the purpose that a private drifter could copy the car.

*Nomura Ken of Blitz is the most popular drifter, known for his imitation of a monkey, as the pioneer of the smoke technique, he drifts with the most smoke. He is the president of his own tuner company, Uras, and has appeared for a TV commercial for ] tires in Japan.

*Many of the D1 Drivers are large celebrities in Japan and in the US, and also usuallly have grip careers in the Super GT or Super Taikyu races. Manabu Orido and Nobuteru Taniguchi are examples, and Keiichi Tsuchiya serves as a Super GT team manager.

*For the Super GT, Manubu Orido drives the GT500 class Advan Eclipse Supra. Nobuteru Taniguchi drives the GT300 class WEDSSPORT Celica. Both are on the same team in the Super Taikyu and drive a Porsche GT3. Keiichi Tsuchiya used to drive the Arta NSX for the GT500 class, but now manages the Super Autobacs Garaiya in GT300.

*Masao Suenaga, the RE Amemiya driver, was personally chosen by Isami Amemiya to drive the sky blue FD. He was personally taught by Kumakubo, as well as his brother, Naoto Suenaga, who also has a D1 license.

*Many people ask why the designs/vinyls are reversed on one side of the car. This has nothing to do with ease of manufacture or rules, it is merely a stylistic choice.

*Some mountain passes, like Mt. Haruna (Mt. Akina), have added large speed bumps to the road. These "drift bumps" are placed to prevent racing on the mountains. They are usually placed at the entrance and exit of corners, like the five sequential hairpins on Haruna. As of late, many precautions have been taken, such as the drift bumps, to deter street racing. This includes extending the guardrails to prevent the infamous jumps on Irohazaka Pass.

==See also==
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==External links== ==External links==
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* (group which maintains that the Confederate States still exists as an occupied nation)
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The term Neo-Confederate describes a political and/or cultural movement that is characterized by a celebration of the history and ideals of the Confederate States of America. This includes support for the continued use of the Confederate flag, respect for Confederate war dead and statues of CSA generals and leaders. Some Neo-Confederates interpret the history of the American Civil War differently from many interpretations of the war. In particular, the role slavery played in the war is debated, and attention is turned towards the motivations and character of Abraham Lincoln, and the behaviour of Union Army troops towards Southern soldiers and civilians. Some groups in the movement support full future secession from the United States, while others focus on preserving their image of Southern heritage.

Beliefs of Neo-Confederates

There are several themes which generally unite most Neo-Confederates:

  • Honor of the Confederacy and its veterans - Much of the Neo-Confederate movement is concerned with giving the proper due honor to the Confederacy itself, to the veterans of the Confederacy and Confederate veterans' cemeteries, to the various flags of the Confederacy, and to cultural Southern identity.
  • Culture - Many Neo-Confederates promote an unabashed Christian culture. They support, for example, public displays of Christianity, such as "Ten Commandments" momunents and displays of the Christian cross. Almost all Neo-Confederates strongly support the right to keep and bear arms, present in both the United States Constitution and the Confederate Constitution. Generally they oppose unmitigated illegal immigration of foreign nationals into Southern states.
  • Economics - Neo-Confederates usually advocate a free market economy which engages in significantly less taxation than currently found in the United States, and which does not revolve around fiat currencies such as the United States Dollar.
  • History - Many Neo-Confederates are openly critical of the presidency of Abraham Lincoln to varied degrees, and of the history of Reconstruction. Various authors have written critiques of Lincoln and the Union. Slavery is not usually defended, but it is usually denied as a primary cause of the Civil War. Critics often accuse Neo-Confederates of "revisionism" and of acting as "apologists".
  • Secession - Many Neo-Confederates openly advocate the resecession of the Southern states and territories which comprised the old Confederate States of America. The League of the South, for example, promotes the "independence of the Southern people" from the "American empire". Most Neo-Confederate groups do not seek violent revolution, but rather an orderly separation, such as was done in the division of Czechoslovakia. Many Neo-Confederate groups have prepared for the possible collapse of the federal United States into its 50 separate states, much like the Soviet Union collapsed, and believe the Confederacy can be resurrected at that time.

Though outsiders often see Neo-Confederatism as "rebellion", the Neo-Confederates themselves generally believe that the federal government of the United States has strayed from its original intent, and that the Confederate States of America was both the lawful and logical successor of the original government which formed out of the American Revolution.

It should be noted that the term "Neo-Confederate" is considered by many people a pejorative political epithet and its application to specific groups and individuals has caused controversy. Not everyone, however, avoids the term. Al Benson, Jr., head of the former Southern Independence Party declares, "I am part of what Morris Dees calls the 'Neo-Confederate Movement'".

Use of "Neo-Confederate" as political epithet

The term "Neo-Confederate" is often employed as a pejorative description of people who take a sympathetic view of Southern history (particularly in connection with the American Civil War and slavery) and views on the Civil War that are not in line with mainstream historical perspectives. It is also used sometimes to criticize people who echo the Copperhead attacks against Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation.

The term Neo-Confederate was used in a scholarly fashion as far back as 1954. In a book review, Leonard Levy, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1968, wrote, "Similar blindness to the moral issue of slavery, plus a resentment against the rise of the Negro and modern industrialism, resulted in the Neo-Confederate interpretation of Phillips, Ramsdell and Owsley."

In 1999, during a radio interview, the Civil War historian James M. McPherson offended many Southern heritage organizations when he associated the United Daughters of the Confederacy with the Neo-Confederate movement and described board members of the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia as "undoubtedly Neo-Confederate." He further said that the UDC and the The Sons of Confederate Veterans have "white supremacy" as their "thinly veiled agendas." The incident outraged members of the UDC and the SCV, who accused McPherson of unfairly attacking them. Some SCV and UDC chapters subsequently urged their members to boycott his books and engaged in letter-writing campaigns. In response to this boycott, McPherson stated that that he did not mean to imply that all SCV or UDC chapters or anyone who belongs to them promote white supremacist agenda. He further stated that some of these people have a hidden agenda.

Southern Poverty Law Center's criticism of Neo-Confederatism

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a private organization headed by Morris Dees, reports on the "Neo-Confederate movement", almost always in a critical fashion. A special report by the SPLC's Mark Potok in their magazine, Intelligence Report, critically described a number of groups as "Neo-Confederate" in 2000. "Lincoln Reconstructed," published in 2003 in the Intelligence Report, focuses on the resurgent demonization of Abraham Lincoln in the South. The article quotes the chaplain of the SCV as giving an invocation which recalled "the last real Christian civilization on Earth." The article further mentions that the LewRockwell.com website hosts a collection of anti-Lincoln articles, which led Marcus Epstein of the Ludwig von Mises Institute to compare the SPLC's tactics to McCarthyism."Whitewashing the Confederacy" was a review that alleged that the movie Gods and Generals presented a false, pro-Confederate view of history. Myles Kantor of the conservative FrontPage Magazine described the review as a "web of falsehood."


Origins and doctrines of "Lost Cause" Civil War history

The Lost Cause is the name commonly given to a literary and intellectual movement that sought to reconcile the traditional society of the Southern United States to the defeat of the Confederate States of America in the Civil War of 1861–1865. Those who contributed to the movement tended to portray the Confederacy's cause as noble and most of the Confederacy's leaders as exemplars of old-fashioned chivalry, defeated by the Union armies not through superior military skill, but by overwhelming force. They believe the commonly portrayed Civil War history to be a "false history". They also tended to condemn Reconstruction.

The SCV on its main website, still speaks of “ensuring that a true history of the 1861-1865 period is preserved” and claiming that “he preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South's decision to fight the Second American Revolution.”

James M. McPherson has written on the origins of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and states that “A principal motive of the UDC’s founding was to counter this ‘false history’ which taught Southern children ‘that their fathers were not only rebels but guilty of almost every crime enumerated in the Decalogue.” Much of what the UDC termed as “false history” centered on the role of slavery with secession and the war. The chaplain of the United Confederate Veterans, forerunner of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, wrote in 1898 that history books as written could lead Southern children to “think that we fought for slavery” and would “fasten upon the South the stigma of slavery and that we fought for it … the Southern soldier will go down in history dishonored.” Referring to a 1932 call by the SCV to restore “the purity of our history”, McPherson notes that the “quest for purity remains vital today, as any historian working in the field can testify.”

In the 1910s Mildred Rutherford, the historian general of the UDC, spearheaded the attack on schoolbooks that did not present the Lost Cause version of history. Rutherford assembled a “massive collection” which included “essay contests on the glory of the Ku Klux Klan and personal tributes to faithful slaves.” Historian David Blight concluded, “All UDC members and leaders were not as virulently racist as Rutherford, but all, in the name of a reconciled nation, participated in an enterprise that deeply influenced the white supremacist vision of Civil war memory.”

Historian Alan Nolan refers to the Lost Cause as “a rationalization, a cover-up”. After describing the devastation that were the consequences of the war for the South, Nolan states:

Leaders of such a catastrophe must account for themselves. Justification is necessary. Those who followed their leaders into the catastrophe required similar rationalization. Clement A. Evans, a Georgia veteran who at one time commanded the United Confederate Veterans organization, said this: ‘If we cannot justify the South in the act of Secession, we will go down in History solely as a brave, impulsive but rash people who attempted in an illegal manner to overthrow the Union of our Country.

Nolan further states the racial basis of Lost Cause mythology:

The Lost Cause version of the war is a caricature, possible, among other reasons, because of the false treatment of slavery and the black people. This false treatment struck at the core of the truth of the war, unhinging cause and effect, depriving the United States of any high purpose, and removing African Americans from their true role as the issue of the war and participants in the war, and characterizing them as historically irrelevant.

Historian David Goldfield observes:

If history has defined the South, it has also trapped white southerners into sometimes defending the indefensible, holding onto views generally discredited in the rest of the civilized world and holding on the fiercer because of that. The extreme sensitivity of some southerners toward criticism of their past (or present) reflects not only their deep attachment to their perception of history but also their misgivings, a feeling that maybe they've fouled up somewhere and maybe the critics have something.

When asked about purported "Neo-Confederate revisionism" and the people behind it, Arizona State University professor and Civil War historian Brooks D. Simpson said that:

This is an active attempt to reshape historical memory, an effort by white Southerners to find historical justifications for present-day actions. The neo-Confederate movement's ideologues have grasped that if they control how people remember the past, they'll control how people approach the present and the future. Ultimately, this is a very conscious war for memory and heritage. It's a quest for legitimacy, the eternal quest for justification.

Neo-Confederate Organizations

The following groups either support Neo-Confederate ideals as defined in this article, or have been accused of being "Neo-Confederate" or "Pro-Confederate" by critical organizations.

Known Neo-Confederate authors and political figures

Notes

  1. http://www.dixienet.org/
  2. http://albensonjr.com
  3. Levy pg. 524
  4. Princeton Educator Maligns UDC
  5. LewRockwell.com Blog: Southern Poverty Law Center Attacks Lewrockwell.com
  6. SPLCenter.org: Whitewashing the Confederacy
  7. FrontPage Magazine
  8. Gallagher (2000) p. 1. Gallagher wrote:
    "The architects of the Lost Cause acted from various motives. They collectively sought to justify their own actions and allow themselves and other former Confederates to find something positive in all-encompassing failure. They also wanted to provide their children and future generations of white Southerners with a 'correct' narrative of the war."
  9. Sons of Confederate Veterans
  10. McPherson pg. 98
  11. McPherson pg. 97
  12. McPherson pg. 106
  13. Blight pg 289
  14. Blight pg. 190
  15. ^ Gallagher and Nolan pg. 13-14
  16. Goldfield pg. 318
  17. SPLCenter.org: White Lies
  18. H.L. Mencken, Neo-Confederate by Gail Jarvis

References

  • Blight, David W. Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory. (2001) ISBN 0-674-00332-2
  • Gallagher, Gary W and Nolan, Alan T. editors. The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History. (2000) ISBN 0-253-33822-0
  • Goldfield, David. Still Fighting the Civil War: The American South and Southern History. (2002) ISBN 0-8071-2758-2
  • Levy, Leonard W. Review of Americans Interpret Their Civil War by Thomas J. Pressly. The Western Political Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 3. (Sep., 1954), pp. 523-524
  • McPherson, James M. This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War. (2007) ISBN 13:978-0-19-531366-6

External links

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