Country Music Association Fest Bans Confederate Flags For First Time

[TeamProg]

Source: HUffPost

Jun. 4, 2022, 12:54 AM EDT |

The flags and flag imagery are prohibited to "protect the safety of our fans and ban discrimination," according to a CMA statement.


The Country Music Association has banned all Confederate flags and Confederate “flag imagery of any kind” at its upcoming festival for the first time.

The four-day CMA Fest in Nashville, one of the largest of its kind in the nation, will be held June 9-12 after a two-year suspension due to the COVID pandemic

Barring the Confederate flag was part of the CMA’s updated policy to protect the safety of fans, the organization said in a statement to the Tennessean newspaper.

“This year’s CMA Fest is our first major fan-facing event in nearly three years. We have always had policies in place that protect the safety of our fans and ban discrimination, but we felt it was important to further refine our language to explicitly outline what will and will not be tolerated,” the statement said.

The statement didn’t go into detail about safety issues concerning the flag, but the battle flags can be be intimidating and infuriating, and a flashpoint for conflict and violence.

“Our event policy ... states any behavior that causes one of our attendees to fear for their personal safety will not be tolerated, and that is inclusive of any displays of the Confederate flag,” the statement said.

The move comes amid increasing criticism of displays of the flag and of Confederate monuments.

The flag has been viewed in the past as a symbol of the Southern roots of country music with little sensitivity about the Confederacy’s fight to preserve slavery. But that acceptance of racist emblems has changed as more artists of color have become involved in the genre, and as artists and industry leaders push for racial equality in country music.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/country-music-association-fest-confederate-flag-ban_n_629ad34de4b0c184bdd14f6b

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A move in the right direction.

[groundloop]

1. That's gonna' ruffle some feather.

But hey, if someone gets bent out of shape because they can't bring their redneck flag then fuck 'em.

[TeamProg]

2. I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like

country music, denigrate means 'put down'.

Bob Newhart

[dchill]

4. Yes! Great one, Bob.

[PJMcK]

7. Newhart was an awesome comedian

The finale of "Newhart" was pure brilliance!

[dalton99a]

10. +1

[Bev54]

29. I love country music, and so do most of my friends, all of us are

liberals. It is only in the US where it is another thing that is politicized and related to racists and evangelicals. I live in Canada where country music is just music we enjoy to dance to.

[Mysterian]

32. Never heard that one before!

Newhart is a great comedian.

[dchill]

3. It's are hairtij!

[hatrack]

11. Hairatij Knot Haight!!

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended

Thanks for the thread TeamProg.

[Thomas Hurt]

6. I can hear the screeches of Woke and angry squealing now.

[PJMcK]

8. The Arts often move cultures

This is a very progressive move for this organization given how many of their members are going to be pissed. It doesn't matter, though because a great majority of music industry executives are liberal. This move mirrors other advances by entertainment companies and groups.

[Eliot Rosewater]

9. When NASCAR did this I feared the backlash would cause them to backtrack, they didnt.

Many country stars are liberal.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, for example.

These are victories, big ones actually. We have to note them and tell others about them.

[Traildogbob]

15. Willie

Is actually country. Can’t get much more liberal, and loved.

[Tanuki]

21. Tim and Faith rock!

https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/11/09/tim-mcgraw-and-faith-hill-call-gun-control-and-common-sense/848543001/

"Unlike many other country music stars, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are speaking their minds about guns.

The superstar couple reflected on the mass shooting in Las Vegas — at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival — and talked about their support for gun control.
....
"This isn’t about the second amendment, this is about gun control," Hill said. "What struck me so hard after the Vegas shooting – and this is the truth – it’s when the doctors and nurses came out and said they had never seen wounds of this magnitude because these are the kinds of wounds that you see on a battlefield in war.
That is wrong, period. Our military ... have been fighting for this country and the democracy of this country for so long ... and it’s not so we can have citizens that walk this free country in this democracy and be afraid they’re going to be shot up by someone as if they were on the battlefield from hundreds of yards away."...(more)

[Eliot Rosewater]

33. They both worked with my grandson recently, they were wonderful.

Hint

1883

[imavoter]

36. I'm glad to hear they are wonderful.

Tell your grandson I love1883...
and the grief in the story line is
helping me with my own.

[Eliot Rosewater]

37. Thanks

[yellowdogintexas]

40. Dolly. nt

[Ilsa]

12. I think having rules like this or, "Only the US flag and state flag are

permitted at our event," should be the norm. No nazi flags or white supremacists flags, either.

[ZonkerHarris]

24. yup

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. That is most excellent news!

:woot:

[KS Toronado]

14. One thing I always ask Confederate flag humpers

Who attacked who? Who fired the first shots in the Civil War? Then it's on to why do you love a
country that attacked The United States?

[groundloop]

16. But but but..... war of northern aggression and all that.

[KS Toronado]

19. Yea, I hear ya

Rallying cry back then was "They're coming to take our slaves away"
Today it's "They're coming to take your guns away.
Those in the wrong always use fear.

[TeamProg]

22. +1 !!!

[Chainfire]

17. Only 150 years behind the times.

I guess that is about right for the country music scene.

[Turbineguy]

18. Americans coming together to enjoy themselves?

RWNJ's won't like it.

[The Jungle 1]

20. Why would you allow a flag that celebrates treason.

We were way to nice to the south after their war of treason.
Spare the rod spoil the child. The south still acts like a petulant child.

[LisaM]

23. I am going to be in Nashville for those four days.

I guess this will be interesting.

[keithbvadu2]

25. "The Confederate Flag"

Notice that they identify it as "The Confederate Flag".

Confederate Flag ad from the time of LBJ.

Its supporters have long said it's not just a Southern symbol.

"The Confederate Flag is no longer a sectional emblem. It is now the symbol of the White
race and White supremacy."

[paleotn]

30. Thunderbolt flags and pins?

Is that southern for Schutzstaffel, better known as the SS? The symbolism is very similar. So is the ideology.

[SouthernDem4ever]

26. Better late than never

I guess.

[WiVoter]

27. Great To Hear! Definitely A Move In The Right Direction

Here is a video from the 90’s called Cherokee Highway by a group called Western Flyer. I just kinda of came across it on YouTube & in my opinion, it is very powerful. In fact, maybe if this group is still around it might be time to open an award show with it, or have another group re-do it.
https://m.

&t=205s

[The Jungle 1]

35. Good song.

[NullTuples]

28. Yay, but this tightening of restrictions may well increase the chances of violence.

Republicans have worked hard to build up a third of the American population into powder kegs.

Did the CMA do the morally and ethically right thing? Of course.

Will it have the effect of calming rather than inciting? Somehow I don't think so.

This feels like yet another slight whiff of how ex-KGB Putin & groups like the Koch-led Federalist Society have guided our very willing GOP over decades to create a society ripe for fascist takeover. And because it's been allowed to fester and grow for so long, in situations like the one the CMA faced, there is no winning.

[paleotn]

31. Welcome to the 21st century, CMA. It's about time.

[Trueblue1968]

34. In these days, People who support and rally round the confederate flag are sometimes the most violen

In these days, People who support and rally round the confederate flag are sometimes the most violent.

[Cha]

38. Good on them!!

[OldBaldy1701E]

39. And there goes around a third of their ticket sales.

There are literally videos and promotional images of country/western artists displaying that thing, even fairly recently. Some of them are just not going to accept that their beliefs are wrong. Some of them are not going to spend a dime on anything that does not allow them to be their ignorant selves. That is just the way of things. Not that I mind watching these idiots lose ever single outlet for their hate. Also, bear in mind that this only stops them from waving that around at the ceremony. The entire length of Broadway is going to be covered with that image now. I hope all of my friends there are ready for it. The locals are usually more than willing to stay far away from downtown during such events. This one might bleed over into the rest of the city. We will see I suppose.

[yellowdogintexas]

41. that event draws massive crowds.

There are concerts all over the city at a variety of venues; some small & some large. Someone with an AR15 or equivalent could outdo the Las Vegas shooting in sheer numbers. Actually there could be several of these. Metro Law Enforcement would be seriously strapped.

I hope there are no repercussions due to the flag order.

"The Country Music Association has banned all Confederate flags and Confederate “flag imagery of any kind” at its upcoming festival for the first time.

What about all the Confederate flag junkies who live in Metro Nashville and the surrounding area (say a 150 mile radius)? There are a ton of them and they are going to be royally pissed off. I will not be surprised at all if they raise hell somewhere. Nashville itself is a very blue area but is surrounded by some seriously red counties.

This does not bode well.

[Wonder Why]

42. "But my great-great-great granddaddy fought honorably under this flag"

Yeah, but your great-great granddaddy used it to terrorize and kill minorities after reconstruction.

Yeah, but your great granddaddy used it to kill and deny those same minorities any rights in the early 20th century.

Yeah but your granddaddy used that same flag to kill and discriminate against minorities even as they helped America fight Germany, North Koreans and China.

Yeah, but your daddy used that same flag to kill minorities and their children in the fifties and sixties when they wanted to go to the schools, ride on the buses, and vote in the country they helped pay for, .

Yeah, but you used that same flag to kill and deny equal treatment to minorities at the end of the last century.

Yeah, but your children are using that same flag, not to honor their great-great-great granddaddy who fought for a wrong cause but to honor the evil wrought by your great-great granddaddy, great granddaddy, granddaddy, daddy and you who used it for evil purposes.

Yeah, but your grandchildren are using it to overthrow the government, the constitution, and democracy and to continue to kill and deny civil rights to minorities and everyone else in this country.

Your flag did not start as a symbol of evil. You, your ancestors and your descendants took care of that part.

[Rhiannon12866]

43. It only took 161 years...

[MissMillie]

44. Makes sense

It is the "Country" Music Association... meaning the American country.

Nothing more anti-American than a Confederate flag.