NASCAR To Ban Confederate Flags At Races After Bubba Wallace Publicly Called For Their Removal

pic.twitter.com/gJkIfVf3Ba

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 10, 2020

In a week where drivers put together an impassioned video against racism and NASCAR’s lone Black driver Bubba Wallace called out the display of Confederate flags at events, the league took immediate action, banning the display of Confederate flags. It may seem like a simplistic gesture to many of us, particularly from Northern parts of the country, but many Southern racing fans have continued to bring Confederate flags despite previous half-hearted efforts by NASCAR to weed them out:

At some tracks they don't allow any flags to fly in the infield during a race so fans/TV cameras have unobstructed views. NASCAR has done flag exchange programs and asked people not to fly them. But it has never done an outright ban. No details yet on how it will enforce. https://t.co/M50DrQNOjW

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 10, 2020

With the current social climate and NASCAR notching sky high ratings as one of few sports back after COVID (and a race tonight, the Blue-Emu 500), it makes sense that they’d finally go to the most extreme lengths to ensure change.

Some NASCAR fans replied with the whining you’d expect:

https://twitter.com/LjsGoat/status/1270822569625747460

https://twitter.com/1Slow5Ohh/status/1270822932844085249

https://twitter.com/realDP713/status/1270820472612163591

But hey, NASCAR is trying to be inclusive now. So, as many people have pointed out also on Twitter, there’s another flag that fans of the Confederacy can still see at NASCAR races if they really need their fix of being on the wrong side of history: