Bob Dylan began his career as a songwriter with a clear focus and voice supporting civil rights and equality, but that doesn't seem to change the way a Croatian community association feels about the artist after his interview with Rolling Stone for its September cover story last year. The Council of Croats is now suing Dylan and the magazine.
In the interview, Dylan was asked what his thoughts were about the similarities or differences between what was going on in 1860 and present-day America. This was his response:
"Mmm, I don't know how to put it. It's like . . . the United States burned and destroyed itself for the sake of slavery. The USA wouldn't give it up. It had to be grinded out. The whole system had to be ripped out with force. A lot of killing. What, like, 500,000 people? A lot of destruction to end slavery. And that's what it really was all about.
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."
Free speech laws are different and much more strict in Europe than they are in the U.S. As of now the suit has been accepted on formal grounds but has yet to be evaluated on its merits, according to Business Insider. Cases like this may take up to 18 months to reach a conclusion and even longer considering the counter-party isn't a French citizen. If found guilty, Dylan and Rolling Stone would face formal sanction and a fine.
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