Paul McCartney Calls for Justice for George Floyd in Recalling Time The Beatles Refused to Play Segregated Gig

Paul McCartney took to Instagram saying he wants justice for George Floyd’s family and recounting a time the Beatles were asked to play for a segregated audience decades ago. McCartney, 77, posted the message Friday, writing “saying nothing” to racism is “not an option.”

"I know many of us want to know just what we can be doing to help. None of us have all the answers and there is no quick fix but we need change,” the musician wrote. "We all need to work together to overcome racism in any form. We need to learn more, listen more, talk more, educate ourselves and, above all, take action.”

McCartney also told the story of a concert The Beatles were set to play in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The show's organizers asked them to play for a segregated audience, to which The Beatles did not agree.

"It felt wrong. We said 'We're not doing that!' and the concert we did do was to their first non-segregated audience," he wrote. "We then made sure this was in our contract. To us it seemed like common sense.”

He added that almost 60 years later, we are still dealing with racism as an issue.

"I feel sick and angry that here we are almost 60 years later and the world is in shock at the horrific scenes of the senseless murder of George Floyd at the hands of police racism, along with the countless others that came before,” he said.

Along with this post McCartney shared links to organizations that where people could donate, including: Black Lives Matter, Color of Change, and the NAACP. 

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