Bob Dylan sued for racism by Croatians
Bob Dylan had been having what seemed like a great year, having gone on a massive tour, made an interactive music video, and released a huge box set, but now reports are coming in that he’s being sued by a group of Croatians for racism. In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, Dylan made a comment comparing the conflict between Catholic Croats and Christian Orthodox Serbs to that of Jews and Nazis and slavery in America:
This country is just too fucked 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
According to International Business Times, Croatian secretary general Vlatko Marić said, “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.”
Business Insider mentions that due to Europe’s strict free speech laws, Dylan and Rolling Stone would face a fine and formal sanction if found guilty.
