Folks, I have met Willie and talked with him about the music business, his politics and so on... let me shed just a little light here, if I can...

    Willie is a 70-year-old man... he was raised literally dirt poor in Texas during a time that most spoiled suburbanites wouldn't have been able to last... He is part Native American, and I personally have seen him associate with black people, whites, Indians, Hispanics and probably other minority people groups, just in case the racial-sensitivity-police are reading this... Willie has plenty of good intentions in his heart for EVERY independent farmer, and for lots of other neglected people as well...

    As far as this song goes, there are plenty of other songs that are a LOT more racist and narrow-minded than this one... lots more stupid lyrics out there than these... no one complains when in "The Highwayman" he sings about soldiers' blood being shed on his blade as he lyrically portrays a pre-Civil War-era highway robber...

    Let's try and remember the source, here, folks... Willie has very rarely given a crap about anyone's "industry" opinions, and frankly, those who say they wouldn't take a chance on selling a few more records by singing with a big star in their field are mostly hypocrites... anyone who sells the stuff wants it to sell well... politics be damned; I have heard Mudcatters say in the past that if a person doesn't like folk music, fine; it's not for them... same goes here... radios have buttons to select other stations, and CD's only play songs you don't like if you buy them and put them on...

Just MHO.

A different guest