The Detroit News reports that some NAACP supporters plan to boycott the Detroit branch's annual fundraiser over an honor for Kid Rock that they say doesn't mesh with the civil rights group's goals:
The rocker is set to receive the Detroit branch's Great Expectations Award at the annual dinner, which typically attracts about 10,000 people, on May 1 at Cobo Center.
But Adolph Mongo, a longtime political consultant and head of Detroiters for Progress, said he and others will sit out over Kid Rock's use of the controversial Confederate flag during performances.
Kid Rock and his representatives couldn't be reached. But in a 2008 interview with the Guardian in Britain, he said the flag to him represents southern rock 'n' roll.
Come on, NAACP. It's just not good PR to argue against the display of the Confederate flag in public places (as the organization has for years), and then give an award to a performer who proudly makes it a part of his act, without regard for how it is perceived by many African Americans.
The response from the Detroit NAACP's interim executive director, Donnell R. White ("Kid Rock … has consistently lifted up the Great Expectations of many persons … concerning the future of the city"), is inadequate. So now the flag is OK as long as we like the person who's displaying it? As long as he or she has done good deeds? Who gets to decide?
There's nothing wrong with a healthy debate about whether the flag represents hatred and bigotry or Southern pride, but the nation's leading civil rights organization needs to pick a side and stick with it.
Read more at the Detroit News.
In other news: Tyler Perry Wins Big at NAACP Image Awards.