Tom Petty Regrets Using Confederate Flag

Tom Petty, a singer known for his easy-going manner, has found himself in the middle of the ongoing controversy surrounding the Confederate battle flag.

It was 30 years ago that Petty, who was raised in Florida, released the album Southern Accents. In an essay published by Rolling Stone, Petty said growing up in the south desensitized him to the Confederate flag.

“The Confederate flag was the wallpaper of the South when I was a kid growing up in Gainesville, Florida,” Petty said. “I always knew it had to do with the Civil War, but the South had adopted it as its logo.”

The Southern Accents album was initially envisioned as a concept album of life in the south and the song Rebels, in particular, was written from the point of view of a man with strong family customs rooted in southern traditions. Petty said when it came time to market the song and the album, the Confederate flag seemed like a natural fit.

“My thought was the best way to illustrate this character was to use the Confederate flag,” Petty said. “I wish I had given it more thought. It was a downright stupid thing to do.”

Petty said as the tour to support the album got under way, it became clear that he had made a mistake.

“I regretted it pretty quickly,” Petty said.

What made matters worse for Petty was when fans began to wear shirts and bandannas with the Confederate flag on them to shows during a subsequent tour two years later. Petty said things came to a head when someone threw a Confederate flag bandanna onto the stage.

“I stopped everything and gave a speech about it,” Petty said. “I said, ‘Look, this was to illustrate a character. This is not who we are. Having gone through this, I would prefer it if no one would ever bring a Confederate flag to our shows again because this isn’t who we are.'”

Petty said the reaction from the crowd that night was mixed with some fans cheering and others booing. Regardless the speech worked and Petty and his band were able to put the Confederate flag behind them.

“It’s a little amazing to me because I never saw one again after that speech in that one town,” Petty said.

While Twitter didn’t exist in 1985, fans are using the site to express their support for Petty and his stance on the Confederate flag. Many tweets reflect the sentiments shared by fan Ian McNabb who says he now has a deeper respect for Petty.

I love Tom Petty's music and I respect him even more as a person. http://t.co/twZXYmo7Ow

— Ian McNabb. Cultural attaché: Kensington, L,pool. (@empiresend) July 14, 2015

Even though Petty was able to move on from his involvement with the Confederate flag, he said he continues to feel stupid for having ever used it all. Billboard quotes Petty as saying that people who want to display the flag should take into consideration all its connotations.

“People just need to think about how it looks to a black person. It’s just awful,” Petty said. “It’s like how a swastika looks to a Jewish person. It just shouldn’t be on flagpoles.”

[Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images]