Dustin Skinner had a startlingly violent reaction to the noose found in Bubba Wallace’s garage.
It’s already been a strange week, as NASCAR might suddenly be at the forefront of the push for racial solidarity in sports. After a noose was discovered over the weekend in the garage of Bubba Wallace, the only African-American driver in the top-tier NASCAR Cup Series, the organization and its racing teams came together in a spirited show of support on Monday at the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Unfortunately, not everyone in the broader racing community is down with the program, including one Dustin Skinner.
Dustin, the 35-year-old son of former NASCAR driver Mike Skinner, tossed up a disgustingly racist and violent Facebook comment in reaction to the noose story, expressing disappointment that Bubba Wallace wasn’t lynched.
Ex-NASCAR driver Mike Skinner’s son went on a racist rant about Bubba Wallace
“[H]e has single handedly destroyed what I grew up watching and cared about for 30 years now,” Skinner wrote.
Folks, it’s hard to know where to begin with this.
At a time in which the nation is reckoning with a racist legacy that continues to bear its head today, NASCAR began to respond in kind by banning the Confederate battle flag at its official events. Only then did the nooses start to appear. Think about that for a moment.
Mike Skinner, who produced 39 top-10 finishes over 22 years in the NASCAR Cup Series, did not stay silent after his son’s post blew up.
Call me crazy, but I’d say what we’re dealing with here amounts to more than simply “views” that are “not the same.” After what was surely a some stern contemplation, Mike added a follow-up tweet Monday night:
Well, I suppose that’s a start.
As an organization, NASCAR is not responsible for the racist views of one of its former driver’s sons. Sadly, it’s not hard to fathom that Dustin Skinner’s sneeringly violent outlook on matters of race isn’t as rare as we’d like it to be.