Muhammad Ali, as the then Heavyweight Champion of the World, illuminated the immorality of Americas involvement in the Vietnam War when he chose prison over conscription. Jackie Robinson defied a nations racism and threats to his physical well being when he swung the bat for an entire race.
Equally, America has a long tradition of musicians, performers, and artists risking reputation and fortune in the pursuit of social justice. Singers and songwriters have traced the arc of the advancement of human, civil, and environmental rights over the course of the last two hundred years in this country.
Rolling Stone magazine conducted a poll to determine the best protest songs of all time. Its no coincidence readers chose songs entirely from the 1960s and 70s an era of great social and political upheaval in America.
The second most popular protest song of all time, as voted by Rolling Stones readership, is Ohio, which was performed by Crosby Stills and Nash and written by the legendary Neil Young. The song attacked the Nixon Administration for the Kent State shootings that left four students dead, and the National Guard responsible for their deaths.
Many of Youngs songs speak to racial, social, and environmental justice. In 1970, Young also released Southern Man, which spoke to the Souths history of mistreatment towards black Americans. A sure way to lose 100 million fans is to label everyone living below the Mason Dixon line a racist. But this is what made Neil Young a hero to me. He was a clear example of putting social justice before personal gain.
Young further endeared himself to me and millions of others when he protested against Donald Trump using Rockin in The Free World as a Trump 2016 rally theme song. While Youngs manager said the presumed GOP nominee wasnt authorized to use the track, Young said he wouldve said no even if Trump had have sought his permission.
I am Canadian and I dont vote in the United States, but more importantly I dont like the current political system in the USA and some other countries, said Young. Increasingly democracy has been hijacked by corporate interests. The money needed to run for office, the money spent on lobbying by special interests, the ever increasing economic disparity and the well-funded legislative decisions all favor corporate interests over the peoples.
Young said he was a fan of Bernie Sanders, which, for me, only made the 71-year-old rocker just that extra much cooler by my estimation.
So imagine my horror nay disgust when I clicked on The Guardian to find an article under the heading Neil Young Permits Trump to Keep on Rockin.
I read that piece several hours ago and Im still hyperventilating. Neil, what have you done?
Ive got nothing against him [Trump], said Young. One the music goes out, anybody can use it for everything.
Wait, what?
Ok, lets tackle the first portion of Youngs statement Ive got nothing against him. After spending a lifetime championing hyper-liberal causes including racial equality how on earth can Young claim he has nothing against a man who has effectively promised to wind the clock back a half-century on civil rights? If Young was as active in his songwriting today as he was in the 1970s, Im sure many of his new releases would say something about proposals to ban Muslims entering the United States, and something else about reducing an entire race of people to drug dealers to rapists.
As for Young dismissing his earlier protest against Trump with the casually dismissive, Once the music goes out, anybody can use if for everything this is a wimpy like cop out. Artists have, in fact, even sued politicians for co-opting their music without their endorsement.
In 1996, GOP candidate Bob Dole used a rework of Isaac Hayes Soul Man. In turn, Hayes, a staunch liberal, sent the Dole campaign a cease-and-desist letter, threatening to sue Dole $10,000 for every time the campaign played the song. Hayes told the New York Daily News, "Nobody gave any permission here," adding, "It also bothers me because people may get the impression that David [Porter] and I endorse Bob Dole, which we don't."
Artists and bands such as Foo Fighters, Orleans, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen, and John Mellencamp have also opposed Republican Party presidential candidates using their music for political purposes.
"I don't think it has anything to do with money. It has to do with the political viewpoint of the artist or songwriter or publisher," Chuck Rubin, founder ofArtists Rights Enforcement Corporation, told Rolling Stone. "But they do have the right to either say yea or nay."
Tragically, Young has said yay to the most vulgar and racially divisive political candidate to reach the national stage, and for that I must now say nay to Young.
When I try to think of a reason for why Young turned over on Trump, I can only think of money. It brings to mind Michael Jordans response to a question on why he wasnt more outspoken on matters of national political importance. Republicans buy shoes, too, Jordan replied, which, in a hyper-corporatized, overly privatized, universe, goes a long way to explaining why we rarely find heroes like Muhammad Ali and the very much younger Neil Young.
This article was written by CJ Werleman for American Herald Tribune on May 26, 2016. CJ Werleman is a journalist, political commentator, and author of 'The New Atheist Threat: the Dangerous Rise of Secular Extremists.
