Dale Earnhardt Once Cut The Confederate Flag Out Of A Bumper Sticker On His Truck Because He Didn’t Want To Make His Housekeeper Uncomfortable

He may have been “The Intimidator” both on and off the track, but underneath that rough exterior Dale Earnhardt had a heart for others.

The recent Earnhardt documentary on Prime Video gave us a much deeper look at the NASCAR legend, including not only his rise to becoming one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time, but also his at-times complicated relationships with his children Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Kerry Earnhardt.

It’s pretty clear that his children struggled at times with having to grow up in the shadow of their father, who expected greatness from his children and at times seemed to have a hard time showing them how much he really loved them.

But one story that wasn’t in the documentary really shows how much Dale Earnhardt cared for others.

During an episode of her Fast Lane Family podcast, Kelley Earnhardt recalled a story that she thought would “show a lot about her dad’s heart.”

The episode was from back in 2015, ironically just a couple of months before the shooting at an African American church in South Carolina that left nine dead and ignited a national debate about the place of the Confederate flag in our society. But Kelley Earnhardt recalled a story about Dale making his views on the Confederate flag known long beforehand:

“On my dad’s truck, he had this sticker with a rebel flag that said ‘American by birth, Southern by the grace of God’ or something like that, had a rebel flag on it. At the time, had a lot of different nannies that took care of us, and some housekeepers. And we had this housekeeper named Ann, and she was the most awesome lady. She was an African-American lady. And she asked my stepmother, I think, about my dad’s rebel flag on the back of his truck.

And so the next thing we know my dad’s out there with a knife and a razor blade, and he’s cutting the rebel flag out of the sticker, and left the ‘American by birth…’. He didn’t want to offend anybody or make anybody mad in that manner. It was so sweet. It was a little kind-hearted thing. She just thought that was the best. She’s like, ‘That’s just so awesome that you would do that.’…

He had a good heart, a big heart.”

Later in 2015, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would also throw his voice behind a push from NASCAR to ask fans not to display the Confederate flag at races:

“I’ve made my comments about the Confederate flag several times, and I stand behind NASCAR’s stance to remove it. I think if it’s offensive to an entire race, it really does nothing for anybody to be there flying. It belongs in the history books, that’s about it.’’

And in 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd riots and the national debate around the flag, NASCAR made the decision to ultimately ban it from events altogether. It was a decision that Junior praised on his own podcast:

“I’m glad that NASCAR has stepped up and spoke…

It’s on us and it’s on everybody to try to help that environment and that culture shift to become more comfortable and a place where everybody wants to come see a race.”

Sounds like his dad would have agreed with him.The post Dale Earnhardt Once Cut The Confederate Flag Out Of A Bumper Sticker On His Truck Because He Didn’t Want To Make His Housekeeper Uncomfortable first appeared on Whiskey Riff.