Filed under: News, Politics, Race and Civil Rights
Soulful R&B singer Macy Gray might have put her size 12 foot in her mouth when she asked her Facebook fans whether she should follow through with her plans to perform in a series of concerts in Tel Aviv.
Gray was undecided about her tour because of the "disgusting" way the Israeli government treats Palestinians.
But surely she was not prepared for the backlash she received for voicing her opinion, including racial slurs directed toward her and African Americans in general.
Gray posted the following on her Facebook page:
"I'm getting a lot of letters from activists urging/begging me to boycott by NOT performing in protest of Apartheid against the Palestinians," she wrote. "What the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinians is disgusting, but I wana go. I gotta lotta fans there I dont want to cancel on and I don't know how my NOT going changes anything. What do you think? Stay or go?"
In response to her post, she received more than 4,000 highly impassioned responses including those below [comments edited for profanity]:
THe ugly ni**ers are joining the Darfurians entering here. All of you go away. wedontwantyou
Go find whoever is going to shag you you f***ing wh**e. Every piece of garbage opens their c**t on us. muslimit
Another "afro american." Nice name that the ni**ers made for themselves. Max
Who wants you? You look like a monkey. Mikhal
It's really disgusting that Israel is going to see black!!! music. Disgusting. Contaminates your soul. Ayela
Don't come we don't need your ugly fat a** here. Dude
Amidst all the hate, Gray made the decision to go through with her scheduled concerts. Via Twitter she tweeted the following:
"Dear Israel fans. Me and the band will be there in 20 days. Can't wait. See you then. Peace."
Countless entertainers have found themselves under pressure to boycott Israel, because of its heated relations with Palestinians. However, Gray performed in Israel in 2008 and 2009 and also performed in Caesarea in 2000, so she is no stranger to the region.
Other performers have opted to cancel concerts due to the more than six decades of conflict between the rival territories.
Singer Elvis Costello canceled his planned concerts in Israel last summer because of what he called the "grave and complex" sensitivities. Earlier this month, Johnny Depp's wife, French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, decided not to perform in a concert scheduled to take place on Feb. 10. There was speculation that Paradis, who said her concert clashed with a prior meeting, was in no uncertain terms politically motivated to skip out on the concert date.
Regardless of Macy Gray's feelings on the Israel-Palestine conflict, she recognizes that she is an entertainer and is still going to meet her obligation to the people of that region. She has the right to her opinion and no one's opinion should draw such harsh responses or racial slurs.