Kid Rock Tells Protestors to ‘Kiss My Ass’ Over Confederate Flag
Just because the Confederate flag has been removed from the South Carolina states house doesn't mean the flag has stopped generating controversy. On Monday, the National Action Network's Michigan chapter protested outside the Detroit Historical Museum, which houses a Kid Rock exhibit, demanding that the rocker stop displaying the Confederate flag, Deadline Detroit reports. In a statement to Fox News' Megyn Kelly, Kid Rock relayed his message to those upset in his native Detroit: "Please tell the people who are protesting to kiss my ass/Ask me some questions."
Although Kid Rock was born and raised in Michigan, a Union state during the Civil War, the rocker has adopted the Confederate flag to highlight his Rebel Soul, the name of his 2012 album. In recent years, Rock has retreated to his estate in rural Alabama. Rock also toured extensively with Lynyrd Skynyrd, another – albeit Southern – act that made frequent use of the Confederate flag. However, Rock's current trek does not display the flag.
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A representative for Kid Rock declined to comment.
As Fox News points out, Kid Rock aligns himself with the Southern pride connotations of the flag and not its racial implications, since Rock's son Robert Ritchie Jr., is biracial, and as of December 2014, the First Kiss singer also has biracial grandchildren.
Despite the controversy, the Detroit Historical Museum stood by the rocker, saying his contributions to the Motor City outweigh his appropriation of the Confederate flag, which does not feature at all in the exhibit.
"The Kid Rock Music Lab is one of 10 permanent exhibitions at the Detroit Historical Museum," the museum said in a statement, WXYZ reports. "Kid Rock’s contribution to Detroit’s music history is significant and warrants his inclusion along with other key figures like Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, Aretha Franklin and Eminem. There are no displays of the Confederate flag in the Kid Rock Music Lab or anywhere else inside the Detroit Historical Museum."
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