NASCAR Driver Bubba Wallace led the charge to ban Confederate flags at future events.
With the backing of drivers like Bubba Wallace, and in the face of a nationwide shift on racial disparity, NASCAR late Wednesday announced it will ban the flying of Confederate flags at its races.
The move is one of many steps being announced across the country in response to nationwide protests initially triggered by the death of George Floyd, the latest in a line of blacks killed by police.
“The presence of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry,” NASCAR said in a statement posted to its website just hours before the start of an evening race in Martinsville, Virginia.
(Auto industry leaders speak out on Black Lives Matter, U.S. unrest.)
“Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special,” the statement added.
This is a scene that won’t be seen at NASCAR events going forward.
As a sport that had its roots in the South – many of its earliest competitors learning how to drive fast as moonshiners hoping to avoid the “revenuers,” NASCAR has long been a place where classic Southern traditions and symbols have held strong. But there has been growing opposition during the last decade as criticism has grown for a variety of symbols seen to represent slavery and Jim Crow laws, such as statues devoted to Confederate figures.
While the Stars-and-Bars, more formally known as the Confederate Battle Flag, has disappeared from vehicles entered in NASCAR series, it was a common sight at tracks, flown or worn by many fans.
The protests sweeping the country in response to the brutal killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police has triggered a wave of introspection across America. A number of corporations have announced plans to address systemic racial issues, and so have sports teams and leagues. Earlier this week, the NFL reversed its long-standing opposition to players who “take the knee” during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner.
(Volkswagen pulls ad, apologizes over cries of racism.)
NASCAR, it seems, couldn’t escape the shift in the national mood, especially when it received criticism from within. The most direct came from Bubba Wallace who became the series’ first full-time African-American driver since 1971.
“Get them out of here,” Wallace said this week. “No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. It starts with Confederate flags.”
For his own part, Wallace told CNN earlier this week that he personally wasn’t “bothered” by the sight of a Confederate flag. But I don’t speak for everybody else.”
He also acknowledged that the move announced by NASCAR on Wednesday is likely to mean “There’s going to be a lot of angry people that carry those flags proudly. But it’s time for a change.”
NASCAR, which dates back to 1948, has long been considered the most popular automotive race series in the U.S. and runs three individual programs: the Cup, the Xfinity and the truck series.
(50th anniversary of union leader Walter Reuther’s death highlights a different time in America.)
In recent days, both U.S. Marines and the U.S. Navy have banned servicemen from displaying or even having Confederate flags in all public spaces and work areas
NASCAR (and F1) is dead anyway, this will only speed up the formality. The re-inCARnation will be more like the the 1/4 mile circuit using real cars.
You start off with a bunch of guys having fun, then comes the greed aspect with corporate sponsors and soon it’s killed by political correctness (fuel economy requirements in F1!!!) and everyone wonders, “What happened?”
Jack, I would be horrified to see a Nazi emblem at an event. I am not sure why it is seen as “political correctness” to want the Confederate Battle Flag removed considering what it was originally used for and the fact that a large portion of the American population see it as a symbol of oppression.
Paul E.
We used to be admired for allowing free speech and be mortified that a Russian or Chinese radical could be arrested for going against the party line. Now it seems everyone is offended by something, so we can’t say anything. You don’t have to like what I say and I don’t have to like what you say, but we are each allowed to ignore the other. What ever happened to sticks and stones …………..?
About 20 years ago a (West) German engineer told me what he envied in America was free speech (I guess I didn’t understand speech was controlled/limited in West Germany). I’d like to hear his opinion now.
Free speech should not be confused with reprehensible speech or speech that promotes hate and repression. You can, if you choose, walk into a public place shouting “Sieg…” or “Screw all (racial ephitets)… or even “fire” in a crowded theater. Free speech does not mean speech has no consequences. Free speech does not mean that it is acceptable to promote bigotry, violence or the like whenever and wherever without facing consequences. And free speech, as defined by the Constitution specifically addresses the issue of government regulation of “speech,” which includes written and broadcast, as well as spoken.
I like to think of what is appropriate by taking things out of one’s comfort zone. What if those carrying Confederate Battle Flags into a raceway were instead to be carrying swastikas? Would you really be fine with seeing those flapping in the breeze or emblazoned on bumper stickers, a car or two and on clothing at a big race? Let’s replace the swastikas with nooses, or how about burning crosses? How does that play out? And, yes, to millions of Americans the Confederate flag has been used to symbolize their repression. If you can tell me you’d be fine seeing swastikas, please say so. I have a feeling not.
BTW, I have talked with friends in Germany…I have a number of them that span the political spectrum…and for those that have any concept about the Confederate flag there is universal confusion about why we would allow that to fly anywhere. Considering far more Americans were killed by Confederate forces than by the Nazis in WW2 (again, Americans killed), they universally think it is bizarre to allow that flag to fly. Recall they have banned all displays of Nazis emblems.
Sorry, the “political correctness” argument falls apart when you go from discussing unpleasant topics to using emblems that have an unquestioned history of being used to inspire hate or to actively encourage repression.
Paul E.