Staff Writer
Bob Dylan has been one of the most influential musicians over the past five decades. Not only is he a Grammy winner and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, his lyrics have been known to carry social and political messages. Some of his songs including “Blowin’ in the Wind” became anthems during the 1960s and the civil rights movement.
However, the singer-songwriter is now involved in a lawsuit after a few statements he made in the September issue of the French edition of Rolling Stone. Dylan had a lot to say when asked about parallels between Civil-War era America and America today.
“Mmm, I don’t know how to put it. It’s like . . . the United States burned and destroyed itself for the sake of slavery. The USA wouldn’t give it up. It had to be grinded out. The whole system had to be ripped out with force. A lot of killing. What, like, 500,000 people? A lot of destruction to end slavery. And that’s what it really was all about,” he told Rolling Stone.
“This country is just too f–ked-up about color. It’s a distraction. People at each other’s throats just because they are of a different color. It’s the height of insanity, and it will hold any nation back — or any neighborhood back. Or any anything back. Blacks know that some whites didn’t want to give up slavery — that if they had their way, they would still be under the yoke, and they can’t pretend they don’t know that. If you got a slave master or Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that. That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood.”
The Council of Croats in France was not happy with the last statement, claiming it was a racial slur against them. It is quite a sensitive subject since there have been tensions between Roman Catholic Croats and the Christian Orthodox Serbs for decades. “It is an incitement to hatred. You cannot compare Croatian criminals to all Croats. But we have nothing against Rolling Stone magazine or Bob Dylan as a singer “, Vlatko Marić, secretary general of the organization, said.
According to International Business Times, authorities could take from 12-18 weeks to investigate the case. The free speech laws in France are much stricter than those in the U.S., so the iconic singer may face a huge fine if found guilty.
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