New York ¨C Bubba Wallace, one of NASCAR¡¯s most successful African-American drivers, has condemned Kyle Larson for using a racial slur during an esports event, saying his fellow American needs to get such words ¡°out of his vocabulary.¡±
Larson was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR and dropped by sponsors after he used the racial slur during a livestreamed broadcast of an iRacing esports event on Sunday.
¡°There is a part of my background and culture that feels attacked and hurt, and the other part feels confused and angry,¡± Wallace, who placed second at the Daytona 500 in 2018, wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
¡°Let¡¯s start off with the word,¡± Wallace said referring to the term used by Larson.
¡°It¡¯s NOT just a word. There is a ton of negative meaning behind the word. Doesn¡¯t matter if a person uses it in an offensive way or not. The word brings many terrible memories for people and families and brings them back to a time that WE as a community and human race have tried our hardest to get away from.¡±
Earlier this week Larson said there was ¡°no excuse¡± for his actions in a video posted on Twitter.
Larson also contacted Wallace to apologize.
¡°What Larson said was wrong, whether in private or public. There is no grey area,¡± said Wallace.
¡°I told him it was too easy for him to use the word and that he has to do better and get it out of his vocabulary.
¡°There is no place for that word in this world.¡±
Larson¡¯s use of the slur sparked outcry across social media but Wallace said he was ¡°not mad at him¡°.
¡°I believe that he, along with most people deserve second chances,¡± added Wallace.
¡°I am more than willing to work with him to address diversity and inclusion in our sport.¡±
Wallace was confident Larson and NASCAR would learn from this episode.
¡°NASCAR has been, and will be way better than how we¡¯ve been represented in the last couple of weeks,¡± said the 26-year-old.
¡°As the person that arguably has the biggest voice on this topic in our sport, it¡¯s tough for me to speak to because I didn¡¯t imagine us being here.
¡°Can we all do a better job with inclusion? Absolutely, it¡¯s a worldwide problem, not just in our sport. We as humans can always do better.¡±
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