Posted on 07/13/2002 8:00:56 PM PDT by parsifal
NAACP Delegate Calls for Boycott of Country Music!
Rev. Mohammed X. Bagheera, delegate at large to the recent NAACP convention, called for a boycott of Country and Western Music. Rev. Bagheera was known as Leroy T. Washington before his conversion to Islam and once lived in Albany, Georgia. Asked about his call for a boycott, Rev. Bagheera offered this insight into his past: "I remember being chased down a dirt road by two good old white boys in a pickup truck. They had Honky Hank Williams blaring on the radio as they was chasing me. He was moanin'some kind of blues as I remember. If that song hadn't ended and the station started playing a religious song, "On The Wings of a Dove", I figure I would have been a goner. A thing like that will mark you, for sure."
It was pointed out that in a recent Music City poll, less than one percent of Black-Americans listened to Country and Western Music. Rev. Bagheera replied, "Well, it ain't the numbers that count, it's the thought. Nobody thought we could get the Confederate Flag down either, but we're winning that battle. We have even boycotted the whole state of South Carolina. We can sure boycott some radio stations."
Rev. Bagheera also lamented the lack of black country music magicians. "Everybody knows that Little Richard is responsible for country music as we know it today, but the only country music performer of color was Charlie Pride."
Representatives of several Nashville studios refused public comments, but privately stated that they foresaw little impact from the boycott. As one un-named executive pointed out, "Country and Western Music is no longer the resort of the uneducated red neck. Our demographics show the average consumer of "rural pop" as we classify C&W, makes nearly $6.00 per hour and drives a pickup truck that is less than three years old."
Rev. Bagheera was also questioned concerning the inclusion of "Western" music in the boycott. He pointed out, " They are just as bad as the country songs. A lot of them cowboy songs include racist code words. Take that song "Rawhide" for example. "Rope and throw and brand ‘em" refers to marking slaves. "Tumbling tumbleweeds" is code-talk for runaway slaves."
(Plea for Special Love Offering to counter the boycott omitted)
Actually when the people vote on the issue, they vote to keep the CBF, as in Mississippi. The boycott of South Carolina proved to be a disaster - it was highly uneffective. Two years after it started, chamber of commerce analysis has not seen a dip in tourism.
You know, as funny as this SATIRE about "NAACP boycotts Country Music" is, there seem to be a whole LOT of folks on this board actually believe this as fact. That's scary...... It's a JOKE folks! TwoBit
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