Bubba Wallace said he hopes that NASCAR will “get rid of all confederate flags” at any races in the future following the death of George Floyd.
“My next step would be to get rid of all Confederate flags,” the 26-year-old black race car driver told CNN during an interview with Don Lemon. The comments were noted by Yahoo.com in a piece published Tuesday. (RELATED: President Trump To Attend Season-Opening Daytona 500)
Darrell Wallace Jr., the first black driver in 50 years to win one of NASCAR’s top 3 national touring series, called on NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag from races. “Get them out of here,” he said. “They have no place for them.” https://t.co/0fGOt36ffK
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 9, 2020
“There should be no individual that is uncomfortable showing up to our events to have a good time with their family that feels some type of way about something they have seen, an object they have seen flying,” he added. (RELATED: ‘A Man Of The People’: NASCAR Drivers Praise Trump After Daytona Appearance)
Wallace continued, while noting how “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.”
We will listen and learn!#BlackLivesMattters pic.twitter.com/AYoYdY8IlX
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) June 7, 2020
At one point, he acknowledged in the past he has only been focused on the racing and explained why he plans to “encourage” NASCAR to have conversations about the flags.
“Diving more into it and educating myself, people feel uncomfortable with that,” Bubba shared of the flags. “People talk about that, that’s the first thing they bring up. So there are going to be a lot of angry people that carry those flags proudly, but it’s time for change. We have to change that, and I encourage NASCAR to have those conversations.”
It all comes after the driver wore a black T-shirt during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor Quicktrip 500 that read,”Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe” following Floyd’s death, the man who died while in custody of a Minneapolis police officer.