Nascar driver Bubba Wallace has called for Confederate flags to be banned from racetracks, and revealed a car with a Black Lives Matter paint scheme.
Mr Wallace, who is the first full-time African American Nascar driver, said that he was not offended by the flag, until he educated himself on its meaning.
The 26-year-old said that nobody should feel uncomfortable at a race, and added that banning the flag would make the experience better for a lot of people.
“What I’m chasing is chequered flags, and that was kind of my narrative,” he told CNN on Monday. “But diving more into it and educating myself, people feel uncomfortable with that, people talk about that — that’s the first thing they bring up.”
He added: “My next step would be to get rid of all Confederate flags. No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a Nascar race. So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them.”
There has been a renewed discussion about Confederate symbols in the last couple of weeks, after monuments to Confederate officials, which were erected following the Confederacy’s defeat, were graffitied by demonstrators with the words “Black Lives Matter” following the death of George Floyd.
On Monday, the US army announced it is now “open” to the idea of renaming its bases that are named after Confederate leaders, and, last week, the US Marine Corps officially ordered the removal of flags from its bases.
Mr Floyd died after being detained by Derek Chauvin, who at the time was a Minneapolis police officer, but has since been fired and charged with second degree murder and manslaughter.
Protests have taken place in every state in the US, in opposition to police brutality against African Americans, following the death of Mr Floyd, who repeatedly told Mr Chauvin that he couldn’t breathe.
The Nascar driver has been vocal in his support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and Mr Wallace showed his solidarity with protesters, when he wore a T-shirt with the words “I can’t breathe, Black Lives Matter” printed on it, before an event last week.
Richard Petty Motorsports, who Mr Wallace represents, also announced on Tuesday that he will race a car with a Black Lives Matter paint scheme during a race at the Martinsville Speedway in Virginia on Wednesday.
“I think by running this branding on our car, putting the hashtag out there, bringing more awareness to it, it lines up with the videos that we had put out as Nascar,” Mr Wallace said in a video that accompanied the announcement.
“Listening and learning. Educating ourselves. So people will look up what this hashtag means. And hopefully get a better understanding.”
