Muddy Waters Quotes
I was always singing the way I felt, and maybe I didn't exactly know it, but I just didn't like the way things were down there-in Mississippi.
Gordon, Robert. Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters. Little, Brown, 2002, p. 23.
He was not only an atheist himself, but he was a major opponent of organized religion which he regarded as one or the major initiators and drivers of slavery, segregation and discrimination. For this reason he was critical of Martin Luther King—{583307}. His irreligiosity had always prevented his gaining much support from his fellow African Americans even though a great writer like H. L. Menken considered Schuyler, "the best writer in America".
Criticizing the Southern FBI agents for not enforcing Civil Rights Laws and protecting Blacks:
Armstrong rarely commented on politics (see {615854}), but the Governor defying the Supreme Court and not letting his people even go to school with other students was too much for him. He not only made the statement, but he approved it for publication. This shocked many who knew him as an apolitical person. He was particularly distressed with President Eisenhower who although he had warned Faubus that he would enforce the court order and then used federal troops to do so, Eisenhower was a man of action and not rhetoric and his lack of firm public statements overlooked an opportunity to use the Presidential “bully pulpit” and exercise his moral leadership and authority. Many then, and even 50 years later, were not sure where he stood on the issue of school desegregation. See {615852}.
The Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR, was then one of America’s most prestigious organizations. It owned Constitution Hall, then one of the largest and most beautiful concert halls. In 1932 the DAR had passed a resolution banning Negro performers from Constitution Hall. By 1939 few thought they would still maintain the ban, but when Marion Anderson, the great Negro Singer was scheduled for an Easter Concert, the organization refused to rent the hall. Not only did the First Lady resign from the DAR, but she arranged to have the famous Easter Concert at the Lincoln Memorial. It was not only a rebuke to the DAR but it stimulated many other resignations as well as a de facto boycott of Constitution Hall where many citizens would not attend any event even 70 years later. Many notable figures resigned or refused to participate in DAR events thereafter and many artists and producers would never appear in Constitution Hall again.
This concept was one of the main selling points that the Southern leadership used to invest poor whites in the Confederate cause. The poor white, no matter how bad off he’s was, cold always see himself above the Negroes who were fit for being a servant while he was above that. See Jefferson Davis Quotation
McKinley Morganfield, known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".
