Confederate Flag Losing Favor For Concerts

In a recent column on his website, Charlie Daniels wrote the flag has always represented “a sign of defiance, a sign of pride, a declaration of a geographical area that you were proud to be from.”

He added that he opposes racism and that every person deserves the same rights no matter the color of their skin.

“Unfortunately,” Daniels said, “the Confederate battle flag has been adopted by hate groups — and individuals like Dylann Roof,” the man recently charged with shooting nine black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C.

Members of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization founded by Al Sharpton, recently called for General Motors to drop its sponsorship of Kid Rock’s summer tour over his use of the flag.

The Rev. Charles Williams II, president of the Michigan chapter of NAN, told the Detroit Free Press, “We will be furthering our call to ask GM to remove their support of funds for Kid Rock’s tour.”

GM responded in a statement that “we have been in touch with Reverend Williams, and representatives from Chevrolet will be meeting with him later this week to better understand his concerns. We need to let some open and constructive dialogue occur as a first step, and we’ll go from there.”

However, a Kid Rock representative told the paper the artist hasn’t used the flag onstage since May 2011, when he accepted a Great Expectations Award from Detroit’s NAACP.

“It’s been more than five years since he’s had that flag on tour,” publicist Nick Stern said. “They’re protesting something he’s not even doing.”

John Rich of Big & Rich told Fox News he agreed with the push to remove the flag from outside the Statehouse in South Carolina. Darius Rucker, a Charleston native, tweeted he was “incredibly proud of my city for handling this tragedy with love. Thankful to be a part of a community that can come together in a time of need.”

But the flag has plenty of defenders. During an appearance on talk radio program World Positive Thinkers, Ted Nugent recently said, “I believe that we always have to look at substance over symbolism and I think we have to be honest.

“If we burned every Confederate flag today, would they stop shooting each other in Chicago?” Nugent asked. “If we burned every Confederate flag today, would we stop sanctuary cities from accommodating murderers and rapists and savage people?”

He continued that he believes “the Confederate flag is one of honor for the Southern tradition, I believe you should have every right in the world to display that flag and wave it proudly.”