38. "Chuck D knows the deal (Murph Swipe--Ebony)" In response to In response to 0 Thu Jul-16-15 08:20 AM by murph71
When I asked him about the Confederate flag he was straight no chaser....It's quite possible to understand the importance of symbols AND understand that there's bigger fish to fry....
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Chuck D: People, especially the younger generation, throw the word hate around too liberally. But the murder of those innocent Black people in that Charleston church was the clearest indication of true hate. I’ve played in arenas with the confederate flag hanging. One time I was in Augusta, Georgia, in a place that would later be renamed James Brown Arena. I spent damn near 15 minutes in the middle of a concert talking about that damn flag!
How surreal was that?
Chuck D: It was crazy! *laughter* And of course you had people that was affiliated with far-right organizations, whether it was the Klan or whatever. They were part of the crew that did a lot of the stage work around the arena. So Public Enemy made sure to make a statement, because you have to stand up for something or you will fall for anything. Not only am I old enough to remember when the confederate flag was a symbol of a turbulent time, I was there years later when people were still saluting that flag while we were doing our damn shows. Symbols are powerful. And eliminating those painful symbols is very important. You don’t see anyone walking around with a swastika on their head.
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