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Someone at the Detroit chapter of the NAACP didn't do their homework if they wanted a nice quiet fund-raiser this spring.
When they decided to honor local rocker Kid Rock (pictured) at the group's annual dinner in May, they forgot that Robert James Ritchie, known to the world as Kid Rock, carries some racial baggage: he likes to wave a big Confederate flag at his concerts.
As an organization, the NAACP believes that the flag is a vestige of Jim Crow racism, and as many times as the flag can be seen in footage of Ku Klux Klan rallies and cross burnings, the NAACP seems to have a good point.
But the larger question for the civil rights group is whether everyone who waves the rebel flag is an enemy of black folks.
I think not.
Rock's affinity for the star and bars is heartfelt. He is a Republican who likes to hunt and fish - not exactly the profile of the average NAACP member.
I understand why some NAACP members would rather pick someone else for the honor. They simply don't like the Confederate flag. Nor do I.
Just yesterday at a local Home Depot store in suburban Washington, D.C., I pulled behind a pickup truck with a huge Confederate flag in its cab. The flag also had a bumper sticker that read, "OBAMA SUCKS."
This was clearly not a guy I would want to share a cup of coffee with.
No doubt, picking Kid Rock for the NAACP honor puts the civil rights group in a tough position with a share of its membership, but it also provides a chance for some blunt talk on race in America: Let the rock star get before his Detroit audience and explain why it's cool to wave the rebel flag at his concerts.
That is a speech I would like to hear.
Comments: (37)
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By: keemulon50 on 3/07/2011 12:53PM
we as black folk always want to be justified by white people. white folk continue to treat us like third world misfits and we look for their approval and justification in all that we do. what a shame. we have lost all of our pride.
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By: vic on 3/08/2011 8:30AM
If we dislike black people we are racist...if they dislike white people it's their 1st amendment rights. Check out the crime reports...& the prisons...tell me what you see?!? Some of my best friends are black...I do not see "color" I see a friend! Please stop bringing up the past! I never owned a slave nor did my parents. If you would stop reliving the past we could move forward. Othwise, things will never be better for anyone. Live & let live!
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By: Tek_Knowledge on 3/08/2011 1:56PM
Vic,
whites still treat us like "third world" misfits. We're always seeking white approval and validation for everything we do, while white people give us permission to work, live, breathe, etc.
"Check out the crime reports...& the prisons...tell me what you see?!? "
LOL, and some of your best friends are black. Someone who obviously thinks black people are criminal savages and that his friends are someone exceptions. With friends like that, who needs enemies??
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By: Rev. Michael A. Stanley on 3/07/2011 1:28PM
First of all, the man "Kid Rock" knows nothing about the NAACP and even if he knows something about the organization now that he was notified, he still know nothing of what is is like to be a black man in America.
Second, What is the NAACP of Detroit thinking? Does this man care anything about the advancement of colored people? What is he being honored for? Could you not have found an African American man, woman, boy or girl to honor for their achievements in the community? Who wrote you all the check and how much was it for?.
Finally, I never thought I would see the day that the one civil rights organization in America that was birthed out of the struggles of African slaves that were shipped to this country, packed in cargo holds like sardines in a can. An organization that birthed leaders of the civil rights movement in individual communities across this country, men and women. Would SELL OUT!
Today is that day I thought I'd never see.
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By: Rosaria on 3/08/2011 6:35PM
First of all, How do you know what Kid Rock knows about the NAACP. Second of all I do believe that Kid Rock does not look at the world as just Black & White the way you do.. Third of all, why don't you look up what Kid Rock has done for Detroit..Black, White, Yellow he does the same for all.. Fourth of all Kid Rock has an interracial son. Fifth of all, all of you people that are knocking someone you know nothing about are the racist in my eyes cause you see the world as black and white and you continue to keep the racial tensions going.. Not someone like Kid Rock..Got it...
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By: kid rock sista on 3/08/2011 11:21AM
why do we look at color as a issue really? we are all gods children...red..white..black..blue it doesnt matter..and he has done so much for the city of detroit...people need to see him for who he is...as a person..not a confederate flag he hangs on stage when he does his concert...its not hate its heritage...im sure he dont own any slaves..nor did his parents...so why are people still living in the past...because thats all they have to go on...
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By: Marty on 3/09/2011 3:49PM
Why does everything have to come down to a "race" thing...those that this is their first thought are IMO bitter..self centered people...IMO you are being "racist" against whites. By saying that the NAACP should have found a person of color is racist!!! Racist are not all white..The man is trying to and has done good..apparently many people seen that fact and want to compliment him. He does not have to do anything for anyone...he volunteers! And the flag thing ...if you were not at the concerts you would not have seen it. No one forced you to go..if you don't like what you saw there..stay home!!!! And do you not think it is time to move on from the whole slavery thing...I do not know one slave!!! Slavery has ended...please let it stay that way!!!!!
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By: Becky on 3/11/2011 10:37AM
Before you accuse me- without knowing me- as you did with Kid Rock, I AM NOT RACIST. I would like to know, however, when we will stop pitying blacks for their color of skin. Blacks were sold as slaves BY OTHER BLACKS. I'm quite sure you were not a slave, and I'm even more sure that no one in my family -EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE ALL WHITE (Yea, I said the word "white")- has ever owned a slave. Yet you will call people like me racist because you don't get the special treatment that you think you deserve. You should probably read up on how the blacks were treated by the SOUTH, in contrast with how they were MISTREATED by the NORTH. People namely the NAACP need to stop handicapping blacks, and let them stand up and be their own person, instead of a victim in a story that they were not even alive for. There are many blacks who are tired of the NAACP honoring those who viciously attack people of other races, simply because they hold a grudge about something they only read about in a book somewhere. Get a real job building something, or inventing things, or helping wounded vets (did I mention there's a lot of black servicemembers also who think your mentality is redundant and hurtful and that it's also racist?) You, as a Reverend, should know that God created us all equal, only with a different skin tone. No one is any less of a person than the guy next to him. I hope I could help you understand how many people feel. It's all about helping each other and living for God. You holding a crutch when you can walk perfectly only hurts you Sir.
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By: Becky on 3/11/2011 11:13AM
You also questioned why the NAACP is honoring Kid Rock. Well, I'm sure there was a legitimate reason, and that they didn't think about getting your approval before doing so.
Just to let you know, the north didn't want slavery because they didn't want to feed or house their slaves. That is part of why the rebel flag is so popular. The SOUTH took care of their slaves, as if they were part of their family. It's a shame that so many people have learned such toxic information as Southerners being racist and the rebel flag being a sign of racism, and it gets spread like fire. It's sad that people think that the Democrats are the political party that benefits blacks. Republicans want blacks to get out there and work because it will give them a sense of pride that the Democratic party does not want them to have. Democrats want to oppress blacks and keep them on wlfare because they don't want blacks to become educated and help to direct this country. Oh, here's another history lesson you can research. The democratic and republicans gradually switched ideologies in the late 1800s-early 1900s. So what happened when Lincoln freed the slaves, it was actually the idealogy of the current democatic party. Lincoln didn't want to technically free the slaves. This is from a letter he wrote to Horace Greeley: "'my paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery, If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.'" (http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/owens/04/guelzo.html) How's that for your current democratic party? and those who wanted to keep slavery were not all the crazy KKK psychotic types who killed blacks just for breathing. Like I said before, they were family to them. Well taken care of, and many of them had to be forced to leave their white families because they loved them a family also. I bet you didn't learn that in school did you? But it's the truth, and it should be taught to young people to make them strong in themelves and not dependent on anyone ele.
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By: cheryl on 3/07/2011 5:23PM
If you know Kid Rock he is not racist, I do not like the fact he waves the flag at his concerts though I have never seen it, I think we should call him on it! How do we know he is a republican Cause he hunts and he likes fishing really? Ice cube discovered Kid Rock and he has a Bi-racial child that he raises himself, I just think they are honoring all the things he does for the city of Detroit!
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