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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>(I'm sure that many if not most of
Daniels's fans make the same distinction among Arabs as does he. "Hey Travis!
This har's a song 'bout 'tremist Wahabbi Muslims, not them Sunnis and Shias
what's helpin' us bring freedom t'Raq! Git yore sects straight,
son!")</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black
size=3><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3>Charlie Daniels Angers Arab
Community</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=black><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>DEARBORN, Mich. Aug.
5 (AP) - Charlie Daniels, the man who wrote and sang "This Ain't No Rag, It's a
Flag," is drawing heat from Arab-Americans who say it refers to a derogatory
term used against them. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Daniels, 67, is scheduled to perform
Saturday in Dearborn, the center of southeastern Michigan's 300,000-member
Arab-American community. </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>After the Sept. 11 terror attacks,
Daniels wrote and recorded the song, which became a country hit. </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>It begins: </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>"This ain't no rag, it's a flag and we
don't wear it on our heads. It's a symbol of the land where the good guys live.
Are you listening to what I said?" </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>On Saturday, the Charlie Daniels Band
will perform at the city-sponsored Homecoming Festival. </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>"Someone who is trying to get popular
through bigotry, bias and hatred should not be welcome, especially in a city
like Dearborn with its rich diversity," Imad Hamad, regional director of the
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told the Detroit Free Press.
</FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>City spokeswoman Mary Laundroche said no
formal complaints have been received about the performance and the show will go
on. </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>"Ragheads" is a slur used against Arabs,
Muslims and others who wear turbans or cover their heads. </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Daniels says the song is not directed at
Arabs and Muslims in general, just at turbaned terrorists like Osama bin Laden.
</FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>"It's not anti-Arab or anti-anything," he
said Wednesday by phone from Tennessee, where he lives. "The only thing it's
'anti' is the people who bombed us on 9/11. I have people who say you're putting
down people who wear turbans. I'm not." </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>"There are good Arabs and bad Arabs, good
Greeks and bad Greeks, good people and bad people in any race," Daniels said.
"I'm not a racist person. I came up during the old Jim Crow days. I know what
racism is." </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>--- </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Information from: Detroit Free Press,
</FONT><A href="http://www.freep.com"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>http://www.freep.com</FONT></A></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>