NASCAR Removes Racial Requirement From ‘Diversity Internship’ Posting After Backlash and Claims of Racism

NASCAR’s Diversity Internship Program no longer lists specific races/ethnicities as a requirement for the program on its webpage, after recent criticism and claims of illegality were made online.

The internship program is a paid internship that involves attending a race, visiting the sport’s Hall of Fame, and meeting with racing teams and industry executives.

NASCAR had required applicants to be “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.”

That requirement was removed, however; a screenshot of the previous version of the page with the above stipulation still exists on the Daily Wire’s website.

David Bernstein, a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law, told the Daily Wire in late August 2023 that NASCAR’s program is “blatantly illegal” and that it seemed to “violate Title VII and the 1866 Civil Rights Act.”

“Having a 100% quota for minorities for a position is illegal even under a very generous view of what is allowed,” Bernstein added.

Despite the removal of the race-based requirement for their internship program, the racing company has a plethora of identity-focused programs that list similar qualifications.

{snip}