Bubba Wallace addresses NASCAR racing amid social unrest over Jacob Blake shooting
.JPG "Bubba Wallace addressed with a series of tweets Thursday NASCAR’s lack of official response to the social unrest in the aftermath of the Jacob Blake shooting.")
NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace addressed Thursday the shooting of Jacob Blake and subsequent postponements of NBA, WNBA, MLB, MLS and NHL games in the wake of player strikes to draw attention to racial injustice in the United States.
Wallace is the only Black driver in the Cup Series and sparked the sport’s ban of the Confederate flag earlier this season.
“Many of you are wondering ‘what will NASCAR do,’ ” Wallace tweeted. “We set the tone for sports coming back during this pandemic. We stood up for change. We stood up for racial justice. We stood up for #GeorgeFloyd We stood up for #AhmaudArbery and #BreonnaTaylor.”
“We will continue to stand for the countless victims of police brutality,” Wallace’s tweet said. “Nothing can justify #JacobBlake being shot 7 times in the back. I proudly support my brothers and sisters from all sports backgrounds and the stance they are taking to fight for equality.”
NASCAR has not offered any statement addressing the shooting of Blake and the collective call by athletes in other professional sports to postpone events as the U.S. grapples with social unrest. NASCAR is scheduled to race this weekend at Daytona International Speedway, and according to Wallace’s tweet, will continue to run events as planned.
“I hope you all understand that by us continuing to race this weekend, DOES NOT mean we are stepping down and turning away from the dark and evil acts that have taken over our nation,” Wallace tweeted. “Absolutely NOT!!!”
“I can assure all of you that myself and many of my competitors are continuing to work hard with @NASCAR to continue the efforts and the fight for racial equality,” Wallace’s tweet said. “Let’s stand or kneel TOGETHER and continue push for what’s right.”
Wallace, the Richard Petty Motorsports driver, became a vocal advocate for Black Lives Matter in the midst of nationwide protests against police brutality following the killing of George Floyd. Wallace ran a self-designed BLM paint scheme with the words “Love. Compassion. Understanding.” on his No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro earlier this season and was part of an FBI investigation into a rope that was tied like a noose and found in his garage stall prior to a race at Talladega Superspeedway in late June. The investigation determined Wallace was not the target of a hate crime and sparked backlash on social media from the president, who criticized Wallace for not apologizing for the incident, although NASCAR leadership repeatedly said Wallace was never at fault.
The message on Twitter on Thursday from the driver closed with the three words that earlier marked his car paint scheme: “Love. Compassion. Understanding.”
