These past few weeks have seen System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan put his foot in his mouth one too many times amid the Black Lives Matter movement unfurling internationally.
During the apex of the protests and discourse surrounding the murder of unarmed black man George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, John Dolmayan took to Instagram to share ill-received praise of Donald Trump. The drummer commended Trump for being “the greatest friend to minorities.” A comment that was met with criticism from many System of a Down fans.
Dolmayan then made a follow-up post, criticising the movement calling to defund and dismantle police departments across the U.S.
The post featured a photo of a Mark Twain quote —note, there is contention as to whether or not Mark Twain coined the phrase or not— used to reinforce Dolmayans opinion that defunding the police was “stupidity”.
“Any celebrity or politician who is behind the defund the police movement is doing one of two things,” he wrote in the post caption.
“1. Showing you, who they consider the peasant class, how woke they are and how in tune they are with social injustice,” he continued. In other words, look like they give a shit but continue to live lavish well-protected lives while you bang your head on a wall.
“2. (Mainly politicians) Say anything to maintain their positions because the stupidity of defunding the police hasn’t fully been comprehended by the people advocating for it.”
Love Classic Rock?
Get the latest Classic Rock news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
Dolmayan believes that politicians will cut police funding as performative allyship with the Black Lives Matter movement. Though once the movement loses momentum, the government will double back and redistribute the funds back into the police budget.
Now, the musician has returned to Instagram to deliver a follow-up manifesto directed at those “coming from a morally superior position,” that have criticised his political rhetoric over the passing weeks.
Dolmayan believes that fans and critics “don’t want” and “can’t handle free speech” because they are “cowards and need to be herded along with the rest of the sheep.”
“The reason I post my opinions on this forum and open myself up to attack and ridicule is for you, the silent ones who think they are alone in a world where their thoughts are alien or wrong. You’re not alone, millions are with you,” he wrote.
“For those of you who think you are coming from a morally superior position therefore any differing opinion or viewpoint is invalid think again. It’s the easy path to think like you, it’s in their best self-interests for celebrities and politicians to support you but you will lose in the end because you are the very thing you pretend to fight against.”
He continued: “The true fascist, the true bigots hidden in plain sight from the same party who fought to maintain slavery, Jim Crow, non-voting rights for women, and who are directly responsible for 70 plus million abortions, a large majority of whom were black.
“You don’t want free speech, you can’t handle free speech because you are cowards and need to be herded along with the rest of the sheep.”
John Dolmayan went on to acknowledge that he is privileged to work in an industry where one can be politically outspoken without fear of facing repercussions.
“I’m lucky, I’m in an industry where you CAN be honest about your views wherever they fall with little to no repercussions. I don’t rely on a movie studio, label, media or anyone else who will bow down to pandering political correctness and am in no danger whatsoever of ‘losing my job’ because you don’t like what I have to say.
“This is a dangerous time where free thought and speech is under attack but it will pass, the next generation is watching as they always do and they will overcome your insanity.”
These comments arrive after System of a Down’s frontman Serj Tankian posted a statement on Instagram calling for US citizens to force President Trump and his regime to resign. I think we’ve all come to the mutual, silent understanding that we may not receive a new SOAD album for quite some time because any studio session between the band is sure to transcend to heated political warfare.
