America First Legal has requested that the federal government investigate NASCAR to determine whether it is discriminating against White people and men with its “diversity” programs for pit crews and drivers.
In a petition to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), America First Legal demanded an investigation into “illegal discrimination against white, male Americans” in programs aimed at hiring and promoting only minority applicants.
America First Legal senior counsel Nick Barry released a statement about the petition, arguing that the diversity programs violate federal law and “should not be permitted to continue.”
In the statement, Barry declared that NASCAR should only be choosing their drivers based on “their ability to drive,” not their immutable characteristics.
“All racial discrimination is wrong, even if it is the in-vogue ‘social justice’ cause of the day,” he wrote.
America First Legal argues in its petition that NASCAR’s “diversity” programs are in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars employers from discriminating based on race and gender.
The existence of these programs was made public in August, prompting backlash from critics who pointed out that “NASCAR still claims to be an equal opportunity employer.”
David Bernstein, a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law, told The Daily Wire in a statement at the time that the programs were “blatantly illegal.”
“Having a 100% quota for minorities for a position is illegal even under a very generous view of what is allowed,” Bernstein wrote, noting that a potential applicant who was disqualified on the basis of their race would have legal standing to file a lawsuit against NASCAR.
The original requirements for the “diversity” programs state that applicants must “Be a member of one or more of the following races/ethnic minority classifications: Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Latino or Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander,” according to the NASCAR web page.
The list did not include “Caucasian,” “white” or even “European.”
"APPLICANTS MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS" the requirement list reads before stipulating that applicants must not be white men.
But despite their discriminatory diversity programs, NASCAR still claims to be an equal opportunity employer. pic.twitter.com/e54rdYJ5uZ
— Spencer Lindquist 🇺🇸 (@SpencerLndqst) August 28, 2023
The Pit Crew Development Program requirements were even more shocking at the time, as they stated that applicants who identify as “Two or More Races” are eligible only if they “identify with more than one of the above five races.” This meant that a biracial person who “identifies” as one of the approved five races was ineligible if their second race was White.
Following the backlash in August, NASCAR attempted to change the more racist language in the program descriptions — rebranding it as “diverse backgrounds and experiences.” However, the rebranding did not stop America First Legal’s petition.
In their petition to the EEOC, America First Legal noted that NASCAR’s commitment to hiring based on immutable characteristics “has not wavered” — arguing that “the website changes described above seem to have been designed only to conceal their ongoing, deliberate and illegal discrimination against white, male Americans.”
