A Confederate flag was spotted over a NASCAR Cup Series race in Bristol, Tennessee, on Wednesday.
The flag, which was flown by an airplane, is the second time a Confederate flag has been seen at a NASCAR event since the organization banned the display of the flag, citing racial insensitivity.
The flag that flew over Bristol included a URL from the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the same group that claimed responsibility for flying a Confederate flag and banner saying “Defund NASCAR” at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama last month.
“We believe NASCAR’s slandering of our Southern heritage only further divides our nation,” Paul Gramling Jr. told the Columbia Daily Herald. “The Sons of Confederate Veterans will continue to defend not only our right but the right of all Americans to celebrate their heritage. We trust NASCAR will do the same.”
The Sons of Confederate Veterans is a nonprofit charity organization of male descendants of Confederate veterans that operates out of Tennessee.
NASCAR banned the display of the Confederate flag at races amid a national reckoning related to racial injustice that was sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
The push to get rid of the flag was backed by NASCAR’s only black driver, Bubba Wallace, who’s team later found a noose in his garage. The FBI and the Justice Department conducted an investigation and later determined Wallace was not the target of a hate crime.
The move to ban the flag was met with a mixed reaction, prompting praise from some and dismay from others. The ban prompted one driver, Ray Ciccarelli, to quit, claiming it infringed on personal freedoms.
