Bubba Wallace stated on social media Thursday that by NASCAR “continuing to race this weekend DOES NOT mean we are stepping down and turning away from the dark and evil acts that have taken place over our nation.”
The NASCAR Xfinity Series races Friday night at Daytona International Speedway. The Cup Series races Saturday night at Daytona. The Truck Series races Sunday afternoon at Gateway.
Wallace’s tweets came on a night when the NBA, WNBA and NHL did not play and some Major League Baseball games were not held. Instead, athletes across the country protested a police officer shooting Jacob Blake, a Black man in the back seven times. Blake is paralyzed from the waist down, his father said.
Thursday marked the second day NBA and WNBA teams did not play to protest the shooting of Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin attorney general said that Blake was near a knife when the shooting took place but would not say if Blake was carrying the knife when he was shot. The FBI has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting of Blake.
NASCAR has not issued a public comment on the shooting.
Wallace’s comments Thursday are the first from a NASCAR competitor to address the matter.
He issued four tweets Thursday on the issue.
In one of the tweets, he wrote: “We will continue to stand for the countless victims of police brutality. 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.”
His final tweet in the series stated: “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. Let’s stand or kneel TOGETHER and continue to push for what’s right. Love. Compassion. Understanding.”
Many of you are wondering “what will NASCAR do”....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.
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) August 28, 2020
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. Absolutely NOT!!!
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) August 28, 2020
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. Let’s stand or kneel TOGETHER and continue push for what’s right.
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) August 28, 2020
Love. Compassion. Understanding #BW🤘🏾