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Richard Bowdry (born April 25, 1947) is one of South Florida’s first African-American stock car drivers from the 1970s and 1980s and at the time was "probably one of only four or five blacks in the country to race stock cars regularly". While “people of color have been making considerable contributions to the sport of auto racing as far back as the early 1900s” the sport still suffers from several economic and psychological barriers to integration In an attempt to address this diversity issues, NASCAR initiated a program in 2004 called Drive for Diversity in order to attract minority fans, drivers and crew members to the sport. To date, the program’s success has been minimal, at best Nevertheless, pioneers such as Richard Bowdry, along with his mentors and comrades, have greatly helped to lead the way to diversity in a sport traditionally defined by a “certain culture: white Southerners”〔 In fact, Bowdry, despite all odds, was able to successfully break through these barriers and in so doing, he has inspired many with his commitment and passion and paved the way for a new generation of race car drivers. ==Early life== Bowdry was born in La Grange, Illinois, and is a graduate of the University of Michigan. He holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. While at the University of Michigan, Bowdry was known as a progressive leader in recruitment of minorities to the university's engineering department and served as the MEPO director from 1972-1974. In addition, he has worked on projects at NASA and has led an accomplished career at IBM as a computer programmer for over 40 years. While always a fan of stock car racing, Bowdry’s career started as a drag racer in Detroit, Michigan and quickly transitioned into the world of boat racing. Though he had never stepped one foot in a boat before and didn't even know how to swim, he became one of the first African-Americans to race with the World Outboard Racing Association (WORA) in Ann Arbor, MI. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Richard Bowdry」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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