U2, Bono and the forgotten racist moments on tour

When I was a kid, my father cranked up the car stereo after “Vertigo” came on the radio one fateful evening. The loud, distorted riffs of The Edge’s guitar ripped through my little eardrums as I sat in the back seat, covering my ears until the song was over. It was magical. As I grew older, I began to appreciate U2’s politics. I saw them as more of a protest group than simply a rock band. They did not shy away from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_XfbHou88w" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">The Troubles in Northern Ireland</a>, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/new-years-day-99430/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">the Polish Solidarity movement</a>, or <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/see-bono-talk-u2s-bullet-the-blue-sky-origins-in-new-video-187064/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">U.S. foreign policy in Latin America</a>, particularly under Ronald Reagan. They were the first major band <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/09/music-is-beyond-politics-when-u2-went-to-bosnia-in-1997/262704/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">to play in Sarajevo after the Bosnian War</a>. Standing up to hate and violence seemed to be their theme, and I liked it. Combine that with lead singer Bono’s humanitarian work around the world, especially the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G2PpO7DwsM" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">fight against AIDS</a>, and U2 became something of a musical moral compass for me. <a href="https://medium.com/@benhabrams/u2-bono-and-the-forgotten-racist-moments-on-tour-d53aa1890e1d">Learn More</a>