moldyoldy wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=68&v=CCgMunrEDZI
I will have to listen to it on the laptop. My darned sound is so poor on this thing.
Tom Petty asked his fans to stop wearing Confederate flag memorabilia to his shows
Tom Petty is speaking out on the Confederate flag debate. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said had this to say about his use of the Confederate flag on his Southern Accents album and tour in the mid-1980s:
I used it onstage during that song, and I regretted it pretty quickly. When we toured two years later, I noticed people in the audience wearing Confederate flag bandanas and things like that. One night, someone threw one onstage. I stopped everything and gave a speech about it. I said, "Look, this was to illustrate a character. This is not who we are. Having gone through this, I would prefer it if no one would ever bring a Confederate flag to our shows again because this isn't who we are."
It got a mixed reaction. There were some boos and some cheers. But honestly, it's a little amazing to me because I never saw one again after that speech in that one town. Fortunately, that went away, but it left me feeling stupid. That's the word I can use. I felt stupid. If I had just been a little more observant about things going on around me, it wouldn't have happened. We did do a live record [Pack Up The Plantation: Live!] and there was a picture inside of us playing in front of one. I went back and had it removed from the record. It took a little time to get done, but it did get done. I still feel bad about it. I've just always regretted it. I would never do anything to hurt someone.
On heritage and history:
That Southern pride gets transferred from generation to generation. I'm sure that a lot of people that applaud it don't mean it in a racial way. But again, I have to give them, as I do myself, a "stupid" mark. If you think a bit longer, there's bad connotations to this. They might have it at the football game or whatever, but they also have it at Klan rallies. If that's part of it in any way, it doesn't belong, in any way, representing the United States of America.
Tip of the top hat to you, Tom Petty.
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