Kid Rock tells Confederate Flag protesters to "Kiss My A**"

[ABetterDetroit]

WTF? he owns the house next door to the moonigian mansion.

Some little understanding that the confederate flag offends people like the swastika or Islamic State flag is a reasonable expectation of a rational human being.

[Gistok]

I'm not a Kid Rock fan at all, but you people are just following the herd with this Confederate Flag BS. Where was the outrage in the media before the shooting in South Carolina??? The media is only making this such a huge issue, and groups are singling out people like Kid Rock to make $$$$$$$$$. Profiting on a tragedy or making a name for themselves in the government and it's sickening. Kid Rock adopted an ex girlfriends mixed child that he thought was his, has given millions to low income groups and had put a lot of money into the city [[even owns a house by the Detroit River) and because a group told him to stop flying a flag [[something that I've heard he really doesn't do anymore) you are all about it. How about we talk about people who are actually racist or do bad things to people based on their race? That would actually accomplish something.

Jerrytimes.... I don't often agree with you... but that was well stated.

Bham1982.... get your memory back and Google Kid Rock's giving up the flag for his concerts quite some time ago. P.S. I don't like his music either... but it's none of anyone else's business what music one should like.

Gnome... also very eloquently stated.

ABD.... no the Moonigian [[is that a Freudian slip?)... correct spelling Manoogian Mansion is not next door to Kid Rock's mansion... they are at opposite ends of the Berry Subdivision waterfront mansions.... there's no law against living near the mayors residence....

The "herd indignation" on this thread is very funny.... misplaced... but funny. Gnome was correct.... go check out the group that is raising the stink.... they don't exactly pass the smell test either...

P.S. Some people are indignant that neither Roger Penske nor Dan Gilbert have a home in Detroit... others are indignant that Kid Rock does.... go figure...

[Jimaz]

... Might as well dynamite the KKK-sculpted Mount Rushmore [[never cared much for that, either), as well.

I think you must be referring to Stone Mountain in Georgia rather than Mount Rushmore itself.

[Honky Tonk]

Now that IS funny.

[canuck]

Now that IS funny.

And weird...lol

[Jimaz]

The Treachery of Images

The human mind has a way of conflating symbols with what they symbolize. Rochelle Riley understands this: Removal of slavery symbol is where the work begins.

Whether or not the Confederate flag is expunged, we're still left with the problem of how to deal with hatred itself.

The way to expunge hatred is to relentlessly redirect it exclusively toward itself.

[canuck]

I'm really happy that flag has come down. A symbol of domination/oppression is gone from a public place. One more victory over hate.

[Wesley Mouch]

I'm really happy that flag has come down. A symbol of domination/oppression is gone from a public place. One more victory over hate.

And one more imposition of your views on others. Not everyone who loves the confederate flag is a racist hater. And you've lumped them all together in your unending pursuit of thought control. Thanks G-d you're around to tell others what they should think. [[Pardon the rant -- but its tiring watching the self-righteous left impose themselves on the world precisely how the self-righteous right did when they were in power. Its no better now just because I agree more with the self-righteous left [[shocking, but true).

[canuck]

And one more imposition of your views on others. Not everyone who loves the confederate flag is a racist hater. And you've lumped them all together in your unending pursuit of thought control. Thanks G-d you're around to tell others what they should think. [[Pardon the rant -- but its tiring watching the self-righteous left impose themselves on the world precisely how the self-righteous right did when they were in power. Its no better now just because I agree more with the self-righteous left [[shocking, but true).

The problem with your view is that the symbol in question is not only a forum of PC versus the numbskull dime-a-dozen cliché-ridden rocker aesthetic. It really is a symbol of political oppression flown as an object of reverance in a state capital near the grounds of the state capitol where it was once [[not too long ago) displayed front and center. I stand my ground, I pity those who make excuses for this kind of thing. I have the same opinion of the Nazi swastika in that context. Do you?

[Dan Wesson]

A cause celebre has been created with winners in both sides. I don't think I have ever seen so many Stars and Bars waving from cars and trucks as I have this weekend.

[Bham1982]

And one more imposition of your views on others. Not everyone who loves the confederate flag is a racist hater.

If they aren't racists, then they're complete idiots. It has to be one or the other. If you're flying a symbol of slavery and oppression, you're either endorsing that oppression, or too stupid to know what you're flying.

[Richard]

If they aren't racists, then they're complete idiots. It has to be one or the other. If you're flying a symbol of slavery and oppression, you're either endorsing that oppression, or too stupid to know what you're flying.

There was an expose a few month's back about how slavery exists today in this country,an example is Asian nail salon workers forced to work 24 hours a day and sleep on cots in the back room in between customers,they work the first two years 24-7 365 to pay the trip.

There are still sweat shops in existence that use smuggled workers and supply them only with a bowl of rice and a cot.

Illegal or undocumented aliens work up to 80 hours a week for way below minimum wage,females are forced to sex with the boss with no recourse under the fear of deportation.

Subcontractors are used to circumvent laws and write checks to the workers and then turn around and force them to cash them through them for a fee of 40% of the check.Who is going to complain?

Underprivileged or those with lack of funds are jailed daily and forced to plea bargain charges that become a part of their record,guilty or not.

Oppression and slavery exist in this country today right under our noses,what exactly has changed?

and it all happens right under the American flag but it is a lighter shade so the uproar is silent or non existent.

[Bham1982]

There was an expose a few month's back about how slavery exists today in this country,an example is Asian nail salon workers forced to work 24 hours a day and sleep on cots in the back room in between customers,they work the first two years 24-7 365 to pay the trip.

There are still sweat shops in existence that use smuggled workers and supply them only with a bowl of rice and a cot.

Illegal or undocumented aliens work up to 80 hours a week for way below minimum wage,females are forced to sex with the boss with no recourse under the fear of deportation.

Subcontractors are used to circumvent laws and write checks to the workers and then turn around and force them to cash them through them for a fee of 40% of the check.Who is going to complain?

Underprivileged or those with lack of funds are jailed daily and forced to plea bargain charges that become a part of their record,guilty or not.

Oppression and slavery exist in this country today right under our noses,what exactly has changed?

and it all happens right under the American flag but it is a lighter shade so the uproar is silent or non existent.

This sounds like a bunch of excuse-making on behalf of racists. No one ever claimed that removal of the Confederate flag would then remove all wrongdoing from the world.

Are you seriously arguing that the Confederate flag should be flown because nail salons underpay workers?

[Richard]

This sounds like a bunch of excuse-making on behalf of racists. No one ever claimed that removal of the Confederate flag would then remove all wrongdoing from the world.

Are you seriously arguing that the Confederate flag should be flown because nail salons underpay workers?

Try reading and comprehending the reply I posted the quote with.

You said the confederate flag represented slavery and oppression. yes or no?

My reply was slavery and oppression still exist today under the stars and stripes,so your statement is a bit off.Nice try on the everybody that opposes your view is automatically a racist.

It is a piece of cloth that does not represent anything but what each individual holding it believes in and what it stands for.

Like I posted previously it does not matter what I feel about that flag or what it may or may not represent in the holders hand it is their right to fly it just as it is my right to fly the stars and stripes and to push to deny them that right defies the very existence of the stars and stripes.

Is that what it has come down to now? I want my rights protected when it is beneficial to me but if my fellow American does something I am uncomfortable with it is okay to deny that person their rights.

I am not gay and I cannot stand the pride flag let alone bathe the white house in it,but it does not matter because they have that right to fly it and they can fly it to their hearts content and it would be going against the fabric that this country was founded on to deny them that right.

There are no laws that say what flag on can or cannot fly,so have at it,you do not need a flag to separate and divide this country,they are doing just fine without it.

[Bham1982]

You said the confederate flag represented slavery and oppression. yes or no?

Yes.

My reply was slavery and oppression still exist today under the stars and stripes,so your statement is a bit off.Nice try on the everybody that opposes your view is automatically a racist.

Again, no one claimed that elimination of the Confederate Flag would eliminate all wrongdoing. The fact that nail salon workers are underpaid has zero to do with whether or not we should tolerate a flag representing slavery.

It is a piece of cloth that does not represent anything but what each individual holding it believes in and what it stands for.

Who cares? No one claimed otherwise. People have the right to be racists, and they have a right to be idiots. And reasonable people have the right to denounce racists and idiots. Whether or not there are other injustices in the world is completely irrelevant.

No one wants to make the Confederate flag illegal. It is a symbol of racism, though, and anyone who flies such a symbol is undoubtedly a racist or idiot.

[G-DDT]

Any elimination of an ugly racist symbol held in prominent reverence is a good start [[and let's not be complacent with just that).

Yet, it isn't just symbols or what a personae represents in our history. Even words [[and I'm not delving into "N-word" territory, because I don't want to hear this "It's not fair that 'they' get to use that word, but we can't" ignorant crizzap. Who would want to use it? Those within a race or culture use it amongst themselves as a way of isolating the way their own detractors would write them off and at the same time diminish the ugly weight of such words that can no longer sting them-like the way gays jocularly refer to themselves as "fags" or marijuana-smokers will say "Hey, burn-out-hey, stoner!" Besides, Richard Pryor eventually had a realization down the line where he vowed he would no longer use that word again-yet, again, I tirelessly digress...) seem to hold a profound sway. There was talk a while back about the Southern Baptist Convention wanting to drop the "Southern" from their own name.

[TheUsualSuspect]

I'm pretty certain I'm in the minority in my opinion...I often am about these things.

I'm admittedly, a white college educated middle class, overweight goof male. If I've got any offended or abused historical minority in me, I am frankly unaware.

When people get excited and all torqued up about an inanimate object [[even a word) , even if it is symbolic, be it the confederate flag, the Nazi swastika, or any other similar I don't get it.

All it does is give power to something which seem to me, to have had very little to begin with.

Burning / banning / barring the whatever...provides a focal point for retaliatory or vengeful anger and rage, but in reality...does it really change or affect the ideology behind it.

Maybe I simply underestimate the power and effect of these things...but as mankind and humandom evolves...I find myself disappointed in our reaction. All of those people murdered in that church, and the best we can do is point fingers at the confederate flag. Seems like a lot of cumulative energy spent addressing something pretty trivial and powerless.

[G-DDT]

While you may not be wrong on about how we perceive or throw weight on something. The matter addressed on this thread about the flag [[and whats-his-name) doesn't diminish what occurred in Charleston [[which has it's own thread for discussion over in "non-Detroit" issues). I will still maintain my stance that finally removing that flag from a prominent status where it shouldn't have been presiding is a good start in what I would hope would be a trek towards better in-depth reforms on how our society [[be it in law-like with Capitol Punishment, in politics, and yes, how the newspapers representing the "blackest city" in America always sports the whitest names and faces in it's Obituary section, while grotesque statistics indicate the high mortality rates of African Americans) engages in issues of race.

Besides, I'm glad Detroit is a place where folks have always had a history for justifiably bristling whenever a "menacing" portrayal of race may occur. http://www.snopes.com/racial/arts/dennisthemenace.asp

[Junjie]

I'm pretty certain I'm in the minority in my opinion...I often am about these things.

I'm admittedly, a white college educated middle class, overweight goof male. If I've got any offended or abused historical minority in me, I am frankly unaware.

When people get excited and all torqued up about an inanimate object [[even a word) , even if it is symbolic, be it the confederate flag, the Nazi swastika, or any other similar I don't get it.

All it does is give power to something which seem to me, to have had very little to begin with.

Burning / banning / barring the whatever...provides a focal point for retaliatory or vengeful anger and rage, but in reality...does it really change or affect the ideology behind it.

Maybe I simply underestimate the power and effect of these things...but as mankind and humandom evolves...I find myself disappointed in our reaction. All of those people murdered in that church, and the best we can do is point fingers at the confederate flag. Seems like a lot of cumulative energy spent addressing something pretty trivial and powerless.

I think if it were you being murdered or having your church burned down or learning a family history of being enslaved and terrorized by people carrying that flag, while it's simultaneously flying at the state capitol where the laws that govern you are made, you might have a different perception of just how "powerless" it is. Making it clear that the state government has moved from tacitly endorsing those actions to rejecting them is not a minor thing.

[Richard]

Yes.

Again, no one claimed that elimination of the Confederate Flag would eliminate all wrongdoing. The fact that nail salon workers are underpaid has zero to do with whether or not we should tolerate a flag representing slavery.

Who cares? No one claimed otherwise. People have the right to be racists, and they have a right to be idiots. And reasonable people have the right to denounce racists and idiots. Whether or not there are other injustices in the world is completely irrelevant.

No one wants to make the Confederate flag illegal. It is a symbol of racism, though, and anyone who flies such a symbol is undoubtedly a racist or idiot.

So in your and others view the confederate flag is a symbol of racism
and should be removed.

The white house was built with slave labor.
George Washington was a slave owner but yet his picture is on the bill.

It could go on forever if we choose to label everything attached to racism and remove it,where does it stop?

The most ironic part of it all is the most racist organization this country has known is allowed to fly their flag of choice with no recourse and no push to ban it because it does indeed represent racism on the part of the holders.

The U.S endorsed slavery 84 years under the stars and stripes,the confederates ,4 years.

Now back to the KKK and their flag of choice should we remove that symbol of racism ..... Yes or No



Which brings us right back to Kid Rock telling others to kiss his a** why ? Maybe because we as a country has failed to address racism productively and are making a sad attempt to cover up that failure by going after an innate object,and by going after that object we feel as though we have accomplished something and can now sleep comfortable at night knowing we supported the cause.

This is a time for the history books because we have managed to put a massive dent in the history of racism in this country by doing or resolving absolutely nothing that gets to the root of the real issues.

[Bham1982]

So in your and others view the confederate flag is a symbol of racism and should be removed.

Obviously, yes.

The white house was built with slave labor.
George Washington was a slave owner but yet his picture is on the bill.

All this nonsense has nothing to do with the issue, and is an excuse for flag apologists. Removal of the confederate flag will not remove all injustice in the world.

No, we aren't going to burn down the White House. No, we aren't going to exume G. Washington's grave and curse him to hell. But, yeah, state government in 2015 shouldn't be implicitly endorsing slavery by waving the flag of slavery. If G. Washington were around today, or if the White House were being built today, then, yeah, there would be consequences.

[noise]

The herd requires everyone to bow to its orthodoxy. You hit it on the head. I think Mr. Richie has his head screwed on much better than his critics. And he just doesn't care what they think. And that is the real problem. Someone who doesn't kiss the herd's ring must be destroyed.

Playing the victim is unbecoming. There is no herd. There is no "bowing to its orthodoxy".

The world changes. Some people disagree with those changes. Crying about "the herd," while an effective rallying of troops, is simply inaccurate.

Two days after this post and this Kid Rock thing still isn't a big issue. Nice try, though.

[noise]

Which brings us right back to Kid Rock telling others to kiss his a** why ? Maybe because we as a country has failed to address racism productively and are making a sad attempt to cover up that failure by going after an innate object,and by going after that object we feel as though we have accomplished something and can now sleep comfortable at night knowing we supported the cause.

You're giving Kid Rock far too much credit.

Removing blatant symbols of racism from government buildings absolutely gets to the root of the real issues.

[Scottathew]

The herd requires everyone to bow to its orthodoxy. You hit it on the head. I think Mr. Richie has his head screwed on much better than his critics. And he just doesn't care what they think. And that is the real problem. Someone who doesn't kiss the herd's ring must be destroyed.

The irony is that Kid Rock is kissing his herd's ring.

[Dan Wesson]

This NAN/Kid Rock thing, has this garnered national attention or is it just local?