I love my country very dearly, and I greatly resent this implication that some of the places that I have sung and some of the people that I have known, and some of my opinions, whether they are religious or philosophical, or I might be a vegetarian, make me any less of an American.
— Legendary folk singer Pete Seeger (who died today) delivering a pointed rejoinder to the House Un-American Activites Committee in 1955. Committee members demanded during a hearing to know if Seeger had ever sung for a Communist audience. Seeger’s testimony landed him in contempt of Congress, but his sentence was overturned on appeal.