Dixie Chicks
Dixie Chicks is an American music band that originally formed as a country music band, but has spanned other music genres, such as pop and alternative country music.
"Destroying The Dixie Chicks Ten Years Ago"
Two sisters, Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, joined Natalie Maines as the lead singer in Dallas, Texas, in 1989.
On March 10th, 2003, when the lead vocalist publicly made controversial remarks about President George W. Bush, a major controversy erupted ("Natalie Maines Makes Controversial Comments About Pres. Bush"). The comments were the primary cause of the fall of the band that at that time had become famous across the globe. Maine said that she was ashamed that the president hailed from their home state during a performance at the Shepherd's Bush Empire theater in London, England. Though the trio was performing in a foreign land, the comments immediately circulated across the United States and this made many country radio stations stop playing their music with an immediate effect.
Maine was expressing her personal views on the impending invasion of Iraq by the United States led by Goerge W. Bush who was then the current president ("CNN.Com - Dixie Chicks Pulled From Air After Bashing Bush - Mar. 14, 2003"). The comments were to show that the band was against the invasion just like most of the rest of the world was at that time. Looking critically at the comments, one would conclude that her comments were merely meant to make the audience at peace and comfortable with their presence in the land but unfortunately, the comments were taken out of proportion and ended up ruining the band's reputation, which resulted in their banishment from the country music industry.
The Media's Role
The fact that the media drew more and more conclusions and even made the comment that Maine done to appear to be very abusive to the president, was wrong in the first place. The media pushed Maine to the extent of giving an apology which they mistook for a forced apology and hence brought in no significant good to the band's reputation (Newman). The media should have taken the apology with the much weight they did with the comments as this could have eventually saved the situation. The discrimination of the news at the hands of the media teams is what made the situation worse, and the banishment of the band from the country music industry can best be traced to the press rather than to the actual comments made.
Denial of Human Rights
The expulsion of the band from the country music industry can be termed as denial of human rights. The fact that the banishment came as a result of Maine saying something against the president is a clear indication of the denial of freedom to speech as it depicts that no one is supposed to say anything that is against the person in power or the government ("Ten Years Ago Today A Dixie Chick Dared To Hit Bush On War—And A Hate Campaign Began"). The fact that the media operated in a way that condemned Maine and her real comments and even went ahead to discredit her apology is another clear indication that even the media lacked the freedom to support anyone who said one thing or another that was against the government or the president. The radio stations halted playing the country music from this particular band immediately her comments reached their end, and this is an indication of reluctant support the radio stations had to offer to the government and the listeners regardless of what was happening and their feelings about it.
Works Cited
"CNN.Com - Dixie Chicks Pulled From Air After Bashing Bush - Mar. 14, 2003". Edition.cnn.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.
"Destroying The Dixie Chicks – Ten Years After". Saving Country Music. N.p., 2017. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.
"Natalie Maines Makes Controversial Comments About Pres. Bush". The Boot. N.p., 2017. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.
Newman, Melinda. "Ten Years Later: What We Learned From The Dixie Chicks Controversy". UPROXX. N.p., 2017. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.
"Ten Years Ago Today A Dixie Chick Dared To Hit Bush On War—And A Hate Campaign Began". The Nation. N.p., 2017. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.
