Posted on 08/05/2004 5:26:28 AM PDT by wmichgrad
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Charlie Daniels, the man who wrote and sang "This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag," is drawing heat from Arab-Americans who say it refers to a derogatory term used against them.
Daniels, 67, is scheduled to perform Saturday in Dearborn, the center of southeastern Michigan's 300,000-member Arab-American community.
After the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Daniels wrote and recorded the song, which became a country hit.
It begins:
"This ain't no rag, it's a flag and we don't wear it on our heads. It's a symbol of the land where the good guys live. Are you listening to what I said?"
On Saturday, the Charlie Daniels Band will perform at the city-sponsored Homecoming Festival.
"Someone who is trying to get popular through bigotry, bias and hatred should not be welcome, especially in a city like Dearborn with its rich diversity," Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told the Detroit Free Press.
City spokeswoman Mary Laundroche said no formal complaints have been received about the performance and the show will go on.
"Ragheads" is a slur used against Arabs, Muslims and others who wear turbans or cover their heads.
Daniels says the song is not directed at Arabs and Muslims in general, just at turbaned terrorists like Osama bin Laden.
"It's not anti-Arab or anti-anything," he said Wednesday by phone from Tennessee, where he lives. "The only thing it's `anti' is the people who bombed us on 9/11. I have people who say you're putting down people who wear turbans. I'm not."
"There are good Arabs and bad Arabs, good Greeks and bad Greeks, good people and bad people in any race," Daniels said. "I'm not a racist person. I came up during the old Jim Crow days. I know what racism is."
Those people are more offended by Daniels than Bin Laden.
I prefer "Diaper Heads" over Rag Heads. Diapers contain human waste
Muslim diversity...
Saudi Arabia - Conversion by a Muslim to another religion is punishable by death. Bibles are illegal. Churches are illegal.
Yemen - Bans proselytizing by non-Muslims and forbids conversions. The Government does not allow the building of new non-Muslim places of worship.
Kuwait - Registration and licensing of religious groups. Members of religions not sanctioned in the Koran may not build places of worship. Prohibits organized religious education for religions other than Islam.
Egypt -Islam is the official state religion and primary source of legislation. Accordingly, religious practices that conflict with Islamic law are prohibited. Muslims may face legal problems if they convert to another faith. Requires non-Muslims to obtain what is now a presidential decree to build a place of worship.
Algeria - The law prohibits public assembly for purposes of practicing a faith other than Islam. Non-Islamic proselytizing is illegal, and the Government restricts the importation of non-Islamic literature for distribution.
Jordan - Has the death penalty for any Muslim selling land to a Jew.
If they don't like the way he's living, just leave that long haired country boy alone.
i know charly,
he is a good christian man,and that is the reason the press want's to call him a racist.
GODSPEED!
I'm rather partial to "sheet heads."
Bzzzzt! Wrong. Charlie Daniels has been popular longer than you've been in this country Imad. Try again.
Seein' as Charlie's a country boy, I reckon it would be appropriate for him to tell the Ay-rabs to SHOVE IT.
It never occured to me that the song had anything to do with turbans ... I was thinking of those silly "do rags" that gangsta wannabes wear (including Toby Keith, sometimes, knock it off, Toby!) sometimes with American flag patterns.
And who cares if they're offended, anyway. Nobody cares when I'm offended, not even my family :-).
That's what they get for being hyphenated Americans.
Oh gimme a break ! STFU you losers !!!
"Heavily Arab" or otherwise.
Period. End of sentence. Full stop.
"Diaper Heads" is my term of choice as well.
His soap box columns on his website are great !
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