Bubba Wallace On What it Means to Be Authentic, Talks Confederate Flag at SXSW

Ever since Bubba Wallace supported the Black Lives Matter movement in June 2020 wearing an “I Can’t Breath” t-shirt, the race-car driver has become the face of NASCAR’s social justice advocacy journey. As the only Black driver in NASCAR’s top racing series, Wallace has used his platform to make a difference in the predominately white sport. He successfully called on NASCAR to ban the display of the Confederate flag at races, for instance, and he’s part of the organization’s recent diversity council. Because of this, his personal brand is seeing major gains, from garnering a new fandom to landing endorsements and a Netflix doc to boot, however, this wasn’t something Wallace planned. During a panel discussion at SXSW on Monday in Austin, Texas, Wallace was asked how the conversation happened with NASCAR when it came to his support for BLM. “It didn’t,” he said. “I just went and did it. That was the risk.” While in the long-term, Wallace’s decision to speak out against the racial injustices in America paid off, there were initial blow-backs, including hatred and outright racism from people on social media. He said when the decision to ban the Confederate flag went into place, some fans said they would never watch

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