While big name celebrities get all the focus, lesser known celebrities like Greg Cope White are risking a lot more by taking the the same stand.
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Author, activist, food television personality, and GMP contributor Greg Cope White recently cancelled a Mississippi farm-to-table tour as an protest against the state’s newly passed law condoning discrimination against LGBT consumers. He was excited about the trip; Greg would have a chance to promote his book THE PINK MARINE, he’d get to milk a cow, he’d meet handsome cooks with Southern drawls. But he opted out.
That’s the example we need: the individual who could lose so much, laying it down for the sake of Doing The Right Thing.
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In other news, Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr also cancelled events in North Carolina, for very similar ethical reasons. Except while the Boss and Ringo get front-page coverage and golf claps galore, Greg will probably suffer in relative silence, even though his sacrifice holds more powerful weight.
Much like the widow’s two mites in the biblical parable, Greg Cope White is giving what he has to argue against an injustice. Proportionally speaking, will Springsteen or Starr feel a significant hit to their bottom line? Will their bank accounts suffer? Honestly, probably not. What makes Greg’s stance so powerful is how much it hurts. It’s not just the money. It’s the experience of struggling to succeed, being given a unique opportunity, and then reluctantly declining.
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I applaud big names and elite stars for taking a moral position on these controversial laws. But they’re not risking much. They might lose a tenth of a percent of their annual income while simultaneously garnering warm fuzzier from the media and fans. Kudos. Keep it up.
Let’s not, however, lose focus on the fact that it’s the grassroots efforts, the David throwing stones against an angry and prejudiced Goliath, that really hits home. That’s the story that should get your blood flowing. That’s the example we need: the individual who could lose so much, laying it down for the sake of Doing The Right Thing.
Greg Cope White may not be the Boss or a Beatle, but his heartfelt and sacrificial stand against discrimination makes him a different kind of rockstar.
(Link for cancelled event)
https://www.facebook.com/
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“I sought counsel, I prayed, I cried. I can’t come. I’m crushed. Who wins here? No one.When my grandmother was 5 years old, she pushed a handcart across the Oklahoma dustbowl to West Texas. She and my grandfather grew cotton. I picked up pecans on their land for the pie she taught me to make. Their life was one of the hardest I witnessed. My parents just sold their Texas ranch where they raised ostrich, emus, goats and cattle.Tears stream down my face as I write this, thinking of everything the six generations of Texans before me have taught me, physically showed me, about hard work and dedication. Their love and acceptance of me made me the man I am today. Sure the US Marines helped, but it is the tradition of my family’s ranching and farming lifestyle that instilled me gratitude for life’s bounty. My connection to our country and society manifests in the food I cook, and the stories I write about the faces and souls that taught me. I’m in the Sons of the Revolution – and I have 300 years of strong Americans guiding my spoon.If I were to come, your governor wins. I’ll tell him on every platform of the personal cost to me from his hate. Please tell him too. Let freedom ring loudly.Please know that you are my heroes.God bless you, and God bless our beloved country.”