Confederate Flag Flown Ahead of NASCAR All-Star Race in Spite of Ban
A Confederate flag was flown shortly before NASCAR’s All-Star Race on Wednesday in what seems to be an act of defiance against the organization’s prohibition for the emblem.
Shortly before the race got underway at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, a plane flew over the stadium with a banner of the Confederate flag. In addition, the banner included the website address SCV.org, which is run by an organization called the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
The banner flyover follows an incident last month where the Confederate flag was flown above a race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. That banner also bore the message “Defund NASCAR,” and the Sons of Confederate Veterans claimed to have been behind that display as well.
Someone is currently flying around the Bristol Motor Speedway with a Confederate flag banner.
This comes after NASCAR’s decision last month to ban the display of Confederate flags at its events. pic.twitter.com/zjicfr0sWf
— Tim Dodson (@Tim_Dodson) July 15, 2020
“It is the hope of the Sons of Confederate Veterans that NASCAR fans will be allowed the fundamental American right of displaying pride in their family and heritage,” SCV Leader Paul C. Gramling Jr. told the media last month. “We believe NASCAR’s slandering of our Southern heritage only further divides our nation.”
As calls for racial justice swept through America over the last two months, NASCAR announced in June that they would no longer allow Confederate imagery to be displayed at their events. The flag ban was championed by Bubba Wallace, the only African-American full-time Cup Series drive.
Watch above.
