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In a current dialog with 93.5 The Beach, Sevendust frontman Lajon Witherspoon, who has been a central determine within the rock and steel scene for practically three many years, opened up about his experiences with racism within the music business.
When requested about encountering racism throughout his profession, Lajon shared a specific incident from a tour with Slipknot. He recalled (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Not loads, however yeah, on the Slipknot tour, one time we have been someplace, there have been some racist children on the market and so they have been throwing up ‘Heil Hitler’ indicators. And I laughed at ’em and I mentioned, ‘You children do not even know what which means,’ that they have been doing it. However fortunately, we received by that.”
Regardless of this disturbing second, Witherspoon emphasised that he and his band have constantly rejected division and negativity. “And I feel we made a degree to let everybody know that we weren’t concerning the racism and the negativity, even nonetheless to at the present time. We do not wanna be divided then and we nonetheless do not wanna be divided now. However I really feel like our group and the music business that we’re in… all of us come collectively. There was no room for ignorance then and there is not any room for ignorance now. So we’ll simply preserve that going.”
Lajon‘s dedication to fostering inclusivity in steel extends past simply addressing moments of racism. In a separate interview with Full Metallic Jackie again in 2020, he mirrored on the significance of utilizing his platform to encourage change. “I feel as we speak we undoubtedly can see that there is been a scarcity of equality on this world that is being put within the forefront. Fortunately, within the business that I am in, within the steel group, I really feel like that is undoubtedly one thing that is not tolerated, I want to say, so far as I’ve seen. I really feel like this group is extremely welcoming, and I have been very blessed to be in it.”
Acknowledging that there are nonetheless people “hiding behind masks which can be racist,” Lajon firmly said his function in advocating for peace, love, and equality: “If there’s something that I can do, I’ll by no means not be a pacesetter in bringing peace, love, and equality to this business and to what I do. I can say love sees no colour, however I do — I consider that individuals do see colour, clearly. However I nonetheless wish to convey everybody collectively and have it not be an issue. I really feel like in our group, there’s not solely black — there’s white, there’s Asian, there’s all people — and that is what this world needs to be like. We must always undoubtedly get to that web page and the purpose, once more, to the place we do not have that drawback. I pray that we get there.”
Witherspoon believes that music has the ability to unite folks from all backgrounds, and Sevendust‘s various lineup is a testomony to that: “Folks see us, and so they see a bunch of various guys from completely different backgrounds and completely different ethnicities. It is one thing that we have completed for 20-something years now — we have not stopped — and I hope that is one thing that individuals will perceive and see and study from.”
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