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Title: Kid Rock’s use of Confederate flag sparks NAACP boycott
Source:
Detroit News
URL Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_local ... rate-flag-sparks-naacp-boycott
Published: Mar 6, 2011
Author: Mark Hicks
Post Date: 2011-03-06 17:19:25 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 1525
Comments: 3
Some NAACP supporters plan to boycott the Detroit arm's annual fundraiser over an honor for Kid Rock they say doesn't mesh with the civil rights group's goals. The rocker is set to receive the Detroit branch's Great Expectations Award at the annual dinner, which typically attracts about 10,000 people, on May 1 at Cobo Center. But Adolph Mongo, a longtime political consultant and head of Detroiters for Progress, said he and others will sit out over Kid Rock's use of the controversial Confederate flag during performances. "It's a slap in the face for anyone who fought for civil rights in this country," Mongo said Thursday. "It's a symbol of hatred and bigotry." NAACP officials defended the honor. "Kid Rock ... has consistently lifted up the Great Expectations of many persons … concerning the future of the city," Donnell R. White, interim executive director of the Detroit Branch NAACP, said in a statement. Kid Rock and his representatives couldn't be reached. But in a 2008 interview with the Guardian in Britain, he said the flag to him represents southern rock 'n' roll.
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#1. To: A K A Stone (#0)
Bus driver suspended over flag flap A Medford man refuses to remove a Confederate flag from his truck By Jeff Barnard GRANTS PASS — Ken Webber wears his redneck heart out in the open, for all to see. On his right arm a red, white and blue tattoo depicts his skin ripped open to reveal a U.S. flag and the words “100 percent American.” On his left, the tears reveal a Confederate flag and the words “Pure Redneck.” So when Webber was told to surrender the Confederate flag that flies from the CB antenna on his pickup truck — or be suspended from his job driving a school bus in Talent — the choice was easy. Webber chose his flag. “My flag will fly,” he said Thursday. “No one here is gonna tell me what I can and can’t believe in.” Webber, 28, of Medford drives the kindergarten bus for Talent Elementary School. He has been driving for First Student Inc., which contracts buses for the Phoenix-Talent School District, for the past four years. He also attends community college and is married with four young children. Webber got the Confederate battle flag, emblazoned with the word Redneck, as a birthday present in 2009 from his dad, and has been flying it ever since. But last month, school Superintendent Ben Bergreen saw it on Webber’s truck parked at the school bus yard in Talent and told Webber’s supervisor the flag had to go, or Webber had to go. The school district owns the bus yard and leases it to First Student. “The fact is, our district is about 37 percent minority students,” Bergreen said. “It’s fairly common knowledge that the Confederate battle flag is perceived by folks as a racist or negative symbol. The Southern Poverty Law Center said more than 500 extremist groups use it as one of their symbols. “We have a policy,” he added. “It’s about displaying symbols on school property that were racist, or had a potential to be seen as racist might be a better way to say that.” First Student spokeswoman Bonnie Bastian confirmed Webber had been suspended, but said she could not discuss details. Webber said he could park the truck off school property, but he would have to walk a mile to his job. He said he is suspended without pay pending an investigation, and he expects to have to sell off some belongings to pay the rent. “I believe in God and know he’ll get us through this,” he said. Webber has not hired a lawyer but is considering taking his stand to court. Courts have upheld the right of schools to limit display of the Confederate flag on their property. Last November, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the right of a Tennessee school district to suspend a student for wearing a T-shirt and belt buckle bearing the image of the Confederate battle flag. Born in Riverside, Calif., Webber said his family moved around the country as his father was transferred from Air Force base to Air Force base, until they settled in Southern Oregon when he was 11. Webber said flying the flag had nothing to do with racism, extremist groups or politics. “When you’ve got the word ‘redneck’ going straight across (the flag), it takes away that whole thing,” he said. “It’s just about standing up for what you believe in. This is one thing I’m doing. It ain’t coming down.”
I like Kid Rock. He rocks.
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."-- Charles Duell, Commissioner of US Patent Office, 1899
#2. To: A K A Stone (#0)
#3. To: Ferret Mike (#2)
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