Roots, Toots n' Hoots Blog

Garth Brooks, point made

Jeffrey Remz  |  November 26, 2014

Garth Brooks has not been a particularly political figure in country music. He has taken an occasional position here and there, but those have been far and few in between.

The most obvious one, perhaps, is "We Shall Be Free," where Brooks sang "When the last thing we notice is the color of skin / And the first thing we look for is the beauty within /When the skies and the oceans are clean again /Then we shall be free."

He also endorsed the right of gay people to marry, one of many country performers to do so.

But Brooks decided to pull back this week in the wake of the decision by a Missouri grand jury not to indict Ferguson police officer Darrell Wilson in the shooting death of an African American teen Michael Brown.

Brooks was slated to appear on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and syndicated show Live With Kelly & Michael on Tuesday, but decided against doing so.

Brooks sent an email to fans, saying, "We landed in NY last night to the news of the civil unrest that was going on in our nation. To spend the day promoting our stuff like nothing was wrong, seemed distasteful to me. I will gladly reschedule any or all appearances the networks will allow. Love one another...g."

That seems in keeping with Brooks' attitude of people getting along. It's a simple sentiment, but at least he did not sit back and avoid dealing with the Ferguson issue. Yes, it may have been easy in light of the circumstances to bow out, but Brooks, nevertheless, made a worthy point.