"It’s automatic that I have a responsibility" – Bubba Wallace Jr. talks about his social advocacy in new Netflix show

Bubba Wallace Jr. has been quite vocal when speaking up against racism and the social issues that plague the black community. A new Netflix docu-series now aims to take his journey to become a star on the track, and an activist off it, to the everyman.

In 2020, Wallace Jr.’s name popped up in almost every American’s conversation as he took a successful stance against a prevalent symbol of racism in the country — the Confederate flag — and got NASCAR to ban it in its events. The new Netflix show RACE: Bubba Wallace now aims to explore his life and career after that year’s events.

Bubba Wallace Jr. has claimed that his stance goes beyond NASCAR, or sports as a whole. The 28-year-old said he was impacted by the rising instances of injustice against the black community, especially following the death of Ahmaud Arbery. Speaking in the show, he said:

“[I couldn’t] sit silent just because everybody else is sitting silent. It’s automatic that I have a responsibility. That was when I started voicing my opinion about what it’s like to be Black in America.”

The ban on the Confederate flag was just one of his many steps towards voicing his opinion on racism within the sport and outside. In solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement that rocked the US that year, Bubba Wallace Jr. ran a BLM paint scheme on his car. He also took to the tarmac wearing an ‘I can’t breathe’ t-shirt, even though he thought it would cost him his job as a NASCAR driver.

---

Why was Bubba Wallace Jr. the subject of the Netflix documentary?

For fans who have followed NASCAR, and specifically Bubba Wallace Jr.’s career, closely, the docu-series will not be a source for previously unknown details. What the show aims to do, however, is delve into the mindset of a black person in a predominantly white sport, making Wallace Jr. the perfect subject.

The car #23 driver’s rise is depicted in context with that of other black athletes like Muhammad Ali and Colin Kaepernick, who helped bulldoze their way into making sports push back against racism.

Director and executive producer Erik Parker, of L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later fame, said:

“The goal was to kind of capture history in the making at a time when history was being made and show what it took for someone like Bubba to speak out in a sport like NASCAR. We were looking at someone in real time who was changing the trajectory of a sport in America.”

Meanwhile, RACE: Bubba Wallace is all set to air on Netflix on February 22.