Donald Trump Is Making a Statue of a Famous Singer and His Daughter Can’t Stand It
Sometimes, attempting to honor classic rock artists can backfire. Donald Trump ordered the creation of a statue of an iconic singer and his daughter wants nothing to do with that. The singer’s son, however, has a different attitude towards the current president.
Donald Trump ordered statues of George Washington, Dr. Seuss, and others
The Hill reports Trump plans to create a statue garden called the National Garden of American Heroes. The garden is slated to feature statues of significant Americans from many fields. It will include presidents like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, activists like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King, writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Harper Lee, and Dr. Seuss, and athletes like Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, and Muhammad Ali. Some of America’s most famous singers will also be honored, including Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, and Whitney Houston.
One of those singers is Woody Guthrie. Guthrie is most known today for penning the anthem “This Land Is Your Land.” He also wrote numerous protest songs on various topics. Notably, one of his protest songs, “Old Man Trump,” targeted Fred Trump, the father of the current President of the United States, for being racist. Billboard reports that the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department accused the elder Trump of refusing to rent his properties to Black tenants.
Why Woody Guthrie’s daughter thinks he would have deplored the planned statue
Guthrie’s daughter, Nora, discussed her father’s tune “Old Man Trump.” “I’ll let Woody speak for himself,” she said. “He left Trump’s Beach Haven apartment then, in 1951, and would not want to live in any Trump property — or garden — now.”
“Old Man Trump” criticizes Fred for discriminating against Black tenants. “I suppose that Old Man Trump knows just how much racial hate / He stirred up in that bloodpot of human hearts / When he drawed that color line / Here at his Beach Haven family project,” Guthrie wrote.
Guthrie attacked Fred for charging high rent as well. “Beach Haven ain’t my home! / No, I just can’t pay this rent! / My money’s down the drain / And my soul is badly bent! / Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower / Where no Black folks come to roam / No, no, Old Man Trump! / Old Beach Haven ain’t my home!” Guthrie wrote.
What Woody Guthrie’s son said about Donald Trump
Guthrie’s son, Arlo, is also a folk singer. He’s most known for the Thanksgiving anthem “Alice’s Restaurant.” During a 2016 interview with the Sun Herald, he took a lighter view of the Trumps when discussing “Old Man Trump.” “These days, I have no problem speaking out against some Trump policy, but I will not judge the character of Fred Trump or his son, Donald,” he said. “I’m happy to tell you what I think is right or wrong, but I leave the judgment to a higher authority.”
In a 2018 interview with Asbury Park Press, Arlo said he took issue with the Trump administration. However, he didn’t want anyone to judge the president based on his father’s actions. He deemed that guilt by association.
The government has yet to create the National Garden of American Heroes. It will be interesting to see if the statue of Guthrie comes to fruition.
