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Noose Found in Garage of Nascar's Only Black Driver
FBI Investigates After Noose Found in Garage of Bubba Wallace, Nascar's Only Black Driver
Driver has campaigned to ban Confederate flag at events
Alabama governor condemns ‘mark this leaves on our state’
Interview: Bubba Wallace on Nascar and the Confederate flag
The Guardian UK, 23 JUN 2020
The FBI has launched an investigation after a noose was found in the team garage of Bubba Wallace, Nascar’s only black full-time driver.
The noose was discovered at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway as Nascar prepared for a race, which was subsequently delayed by bad weather, on Sunday.
“Regardless of whether federal charges can be brought, this type of action has no place in our society,” Jay Town, the US attorney for Alabama’s southern district, said on Monday. He added that his office, along with the FBI and the justice department’s civil rights division, were involved in the investigation.
'We're fighting for change': Bubba Wallace on Nascar >The Confederate flag
Wallace recently led a successful campaign to ban the Confederate flag, a symbol that for many is associated with slavery, from Nascar events. He also outfitted his car with the logo of Black Lives Matter at a race earlier this month. In a statement on Twitter, Wallace called Sunday’s incident a “despicable act of racism and hatred” that showed the fight against prejudice in the United States still has far to go.
“As my mother told me today, ‘They are just trying to scare you,’” the 26-year-old wrote. “This will not break me, I will not give in nor will I back down. I will continue to proudly stand for what I believe in.”
Wallace is from Alabama, and the state’s Republican governor, Kay Ivey, issued a statement of support for the driver on Monday.
“Racism and threats of this nature will not be condoned nor tolerated, and I commit to assisting in any way possible to ensure that the person responsible for this is caught and punished,” read the statement.
“While the important conversation of racial reconciliation is ongoing all over our country, it is clear there is much work to do. Bubba Wallace is one of us; he is a native of Mobile and on behalf of all Alabamians, I apologize to Bubba Wallace as well as to his family and friends for the hurt this has caused and regret the mark this leaves on our state.”
Nascar said it was “angry and outraged” and “will do everything we can to identify the person(s) responsible and eliminate them from the sport.”
At the start of Monday’s rescheduled race, Wallace’s fellow drivers pushed his car to the front of the grid. Wallace then climbed out of his car and was in tears.
Nascar, founded in the South more than 70 years ago, has tried to distance itself from the Confederate flag for years at the risk of alienating a core group of its fan base. It went ahead with the ban as the nation grapples with social unrest following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
However, Sunday’s incident shows that a strain of racism still runs through some of its fanbase. Disgruntled fans with Confederate flags drove past the main entrance to Talladega Superspeedway prior to Sunday’s race, while a plane flew above the track pulling a banner of the flag that read “Defund NASCAR.” One fan in the stands on Monday said of the noose: “I thought it was funny myself.”
Sunday’s race was the first Nascar event to allow fans since the series returned from a hiatus caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. ESPN reported on Monday that fans did not have access to Wallace’s team garage but team members, Nascar officials and security and cleaning staff did.
Nascar has not said whether cameras in the garage area captured anything that can be used in the investigation.
MORE;
Nascar Bans Confederate Flag From All Tracks Due To Associations With Slavery
Interview: Bubba Wallace on Nascar and the Confederate flag
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