Tag: racism

DEC 3, 2013 - USA Today has an article out today about how the French government has charged Bob Dylan with the crime of "incitement to hatred" because Bob somewhat "compared Croatians to Nazis", and lumped them all together with the evil of the Confederacy slavery, KKK and the Nazis in a 2012 Rolling Stone interview. This is what Bob said, you be the judge:

"Blacks know that some whites didn't want to give up slavery -- that if they had their way, they would still be under the yoke, and they can't pretend they don't know that. If you got a slave master or Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that. That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood." 

A Croatian group in France caught wind of the it eventually and filed a complaint against Dylan in French court. Bridgette Bardot has also faced many charges of "inciting hatred" in France for speaking her mind, and even though half my ancestry comes from France, I feel this goes too far and infringes on free speech. I am sure we will not see Bob in jail anytime soon though. Just like Bardot, Dylan will just be fined heavily. Bob has millions like Bardot and he will just pay the fine and move on. Comments? Start a conversation on our JTMP Facebook Page!  (photo credit: Bob Dylan/CC)

AUG 24, 2013 - Activist-musician Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame has written an open letter to fellow musicians asking them to stand with him and boycott Israel for the Apartheid-type treatment of Palestinians living in the West Bank. Their lives are totally disrupted as a result of Israel's illegal and hostile takeover of native lands for their "settlements". In the letter Waters touches on a lot of subjects. He mentions the Trayvon Martin shooting and how he applauds Stevie Wonder for taking a stand against Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law and his call to boycott Florida. Waters explains how for the past 8 years he has been part of BDS, or Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, "a non-violent movement to oppose Israel's occupation of the West Bank and violations of international law and Palestinian human rights". He has pronounced they have found Israel guilty, "independently, by international human rights organizations, UN officials, and the International Court of Justice, of serious breach of International law."

Roger Waters states the obvious, that our governments and the United Nations are unable or unwilling to act, so "it falls to civil society and conscientious citizens of the world, to dust off our consciences, shoulder our responsibilities, and act." Read the whole letter on ElectronicIntifada.com here. What do you think? Leave a comment or start a conversation on our Justice Through Music Facebook Page.  (photo credit: Takver/CC)

July 16, 2013 - Can Ted Nugent get any more racist? It turns out he can. Nugent ranted recently that Trayvon Martin was a "dope smoking, racist gangsta wannabe", and "enraged black man-child" and a "skittles hoodie boy". Now, according to the insane and racist mind of Ted Nugent, all black men are constantly breaking the law and are making bad choices; everyone of them. Also, ALL of their problems they face are self-inflicted. Yes, Media Matters reported that while on the Alex Jones radio show, Nugent claims African-Americans could fix their problems by "being honest, law-abiding [and] delivering excellence at every move in your life." Nugent added that supposedly there are "black mobs across America that are guilty of the worst racism since the Klan." Are you frickin" kidding me? Did he just say that?! Then, he stunningly says African-Americans have bought into a "lie that somehow they're oppressed..." Yes, according to Nugent, the horrible racism and prejudice blacks face everyday in America is all just a fantasy in their head. Unfrickinbelieveable.

Nugent then ranted again about Trayvon Martin saying that Trayvon was a "dope-smoking, gangsta wannabe, involved with illegal drugs, and illegal guns and illegal people", and added that Martin was "emboldened by a Black Panther president" to attack Zimmerman. Watch the Media Matters clip below, and read more on Media Matters here.