A couple of weeks ago, NASCAR took a major step in the fight against racism in America. The sport’s only African-American driver, Bubba Wallace, urged them to drop the Confederate flag. When he spoke to CNN, he said, “No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. It starts with confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them.”

Suffice to say, NASCAR acted immediately, especially in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Floyd’s passing was the catalyst for the racism issue to crop up much more prominently. Many were aware of it, after the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. However, Floyd’s death became the tipping point of the matter.

What is NASCAR doing now in its fight against racism?

According to  NASCAR journalist Adam Stern, the sport is aiming to eliminate almost all traces of the confederate flag. In other words, even clothes based around the flag will be banned from NASCAR venues. To achieve this, there will be plenty of security sweeps with a chance of intervention if discovered.

Veteran driver Brendan Gaughan said, “NASCAR five years ago made a deal where they tried to get rid of it without overstepping too many bounds. But now the world has changed where you can kind of step over those bounds and make change and they made a very positive one. It will work out great for our sport, as a whole. I think we’ll gain a lot of new fans and a lot of new people will be paying attention, and that’s great for all of us.”

Now, this new ruling faces the acid test in Alabama, which has normally viewed the flag as a staple at its races. However, Bubba Wallace has a different view. He said, “To you, it might seem like heritage, but others see hate. We need to come together and meet in the middle and say, ‘You know what, if this bothers you, I don’t mind taking it down.’”