Some of you may remember Kid Rock; he’s the white rapper from Detroit not named Eminem who leeched off black culture until he realized that he could make more money being a redneck and then abandoned rapping for some kind of singing career.
Many of you don’t remember him, and that’s fine, too, considering that he isn’t that memorable; but the wannabe black rapper-turned-real-time racist is causing a stir as the scheduled opening act for a new Detroit sports arena.
According to the Associated Press, Kid Rock is set to open the new Little Caesars Arena—which will host the NHL’s Red Wings and the NBA’s Pistons—and is scheduled for six more shows at the $860 million, 20,000-seat arena, starting Tuesday. Peter Hammer, director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Detroit’s Wayne State University, calls this move “incredibly tone-deaf.”
“Everything is different post-Charlottesville[, Va.],” Hammer told AP. “These are moments where you have to act as a matter of character and state what your values are, Everything now is becoming symbolic. That means we have to choose our symbols carefully.”
Not only has Rock openly been an open supporter of Donald Trump; he’s also been an ardent supporter of the Confederate flag, wifebeaters and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Plus, he’s given an expletive-laced attack against NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and wears a cowboy hat, proving that he’s the poster boy for white America’s racist leanings.
“While I can’t control what any artist does or says, I can guide our businesses to continue bringing life-changing opportunities to people in our community,” said Ilitch Holdings President and CEO Christopher Ilitch, whose company manages the new arena. “I will always demand that our companies strive to do right by Detroit, our community and its people.”
The push to cancel Rock as a headliner came from the Detroit chapter of Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, which has previously criticized Rock’s love of the Confederate flag.
“This is the straw that broke the camel’s back,” the Rev. Charles Williams II, president of the network’s Detroit chapter, told AP. “When you hire Kid Rock, who is known to be dog-whistling and catcalling to white supremacist organizations and the white supremacist community, ‘alt-right,’ whatever you want to call them, and you take our tax dollars to do that? That’s wrong.”
Read more at Page Six.