This week news broke that what looked like a noose was hung in the garage of black NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace. The FBI did an investigation and determined that although some deemed the rope a garage pull it was actually indeed a noose, but their investigation revealed that the noose was hung there as far back as 2019. As a result, charges will not be brought and the case is officially closed.
Wallace was recently assigned the Talladega garage stall No. 4 in Alabama a few days ago. As the only black NASCAR driver, Wallace did not discover the noose. Contrary to misleading reports, Wallace received the news of the noose hanging in his garage from Nascar president Steve Phelps.
Phelps has pledged to ensure the person that hung the noose will be banned for life from the driving sport.
“They will be banned from this sport for life,” Phelps said during a conference call. “There is no room for this at all and we won’t tolerate it. They won’t be here. I don’t care who they are, they will not be here.”
The recent nationwide uproar about racial and systemic injustices have caused many organizations to rethink everything from their policies to top-level representation.
NASCAR responded to the protests demanding change by banning all confederate flags from its events. In an act of rebellion, a flying plane tugging a confederate flag with a “Defund NASCAR” message flew over the Talladega Superspeedway shortly after the announcement. The suggestion set a precedent for how pretentiously racist some people in the area and who participate in NASCAR culture could be. It definitely sparked concerns and questions.
Why was the rope hung at Wallace’s garage never reported before his move there? Is that type of rope a normality in the NASCAR environment? Why was Wallace used as a spokesperson for the incident before an investigation was completed? Why, instead, didn’t the leaders of NASCAR jump ahead of the story and take on the backlash as the frontline spokespeople for this incident?
While people are calling the noose a garage pull, it begs the question of why people are still saying this when it has been confirmed that the rope was a noose from NASCAR, Wallace, the FBI and several outspoken activists? Is it going to make a human being melt to admit that racism and the cultural and systemic infrastructures built on it still exist and have an impact?
Lastly, some independent investigation forums are saying that most garages at NASCAR tie their garage ropes like a noose and it has never been a problem. For one, these websites admit, it’s a noose. Two, could it be possible that the nooses were tied by someone who is indeed racist, is that not a possibility?
Just a few questions to ask.
Check out Wallace response to the investigation below:
