Cash family denounces neo-Nazi wearing Johnny Cash t-shirt in Charlottesville 
 
 Following the violence last weekend in Charlottesville, children of country music legend Johnny Cash were distressed to see video of “a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi, spewing hatred and bile” while wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with their father’s name. 
 
 “We were sickened by the association,” they said, in a statement posted to Rosanne Cash’s public Facebook page on Wednesday. 
 
 “Johnny Cash was a man whose heart beat with the rhythm of love and social justice,” the statement said, before going on to list numerous humanitarian awards Cash received during his storied career. 
 
 “He would be horrified at even a casual use of his name or image for an idea or a cause founded in persecution and hatred. The white supremacists and neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville are poison in our society, and an insult to every American hero who wore a uniform to fight the Nazis in WWII,” the statement said, noting that several members of the Cash family served in the war. 
 
 “To any who claim supremacy over other human beings, to any who believe in racial or religious hierarchy: we are not you. Our father, as a person, icon, or symbol, is not you. We ask that the Cash name be kept far away from destructive and hateful ideology. We Choose Love,” the statement concluded. ||||| A message from the children of Johnny Cash: 
 
 We were alerted to a video of a young man in Charlottesville, a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi, spewing hatred and bile. He was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the name of Johnny Cash, our father. We were sickened by the association. 
 
 Johnny Cash was a man whose heart beat with the rhythm of love and social justice. He received humanitarian awards from, among others, the Jewish National Fund, B’nai Brith, and the United Nations. He championed the rights of Native Americans, protested the war in Vietnam, was a voice for the poor, the struggling and the disenfranchised, and an advocate for the rights of prisoners. Along with our sister Rosanne, he was on the advisory board of an organization solely devoted to preventing gun violence among children. His pacifism and inclusive patriotism were two of his most defining characteristics. He would be horrified at even a casual use of his name or image for an idea or a cause founded in persecution and hatred. The white supremacists and neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville are poison in our society, and an insult to every American hero who wore a uniform to fight the Nazis in WWII. Several men in the extended Cash family were among those who served with honor. 
 
 Our dad told each of us, over and over throughout our lives, ‘Children, you can choose love or hate. I choose love.’ 
 
 We do not judge race, color, sexual orientation or creed. We value the capacity for love and the impulse towards kindness. We respect diversity, and cherish our shared humanity. We recognize the suffering of other human beings, and remain committed to our natural instinct for compassion and service. 
 
 To any who claim supremacy over other human beings, to any who believe in racial or religious hierarchy: we are not you. Our father, as a person, icon, or symbol, is not you. We ask that the Cash name be kept far away from destructive and hateful ideology. 
 
 We Choose Love. 
 
 Rosanne Cash 
 
 Kathy Cash 
 
 Cindy Cash 
 
 Tara Cash 
 
 John Carter Cash 
 
 August 16, 2017 
 
 ‘Not one of us can rest, be happy, be at home, be at peace with ourselves, until we end hatred and division.’ Rep. John Lewis
– The Man in Black was not a fan of the guys in white hoods, Johnny Cash's children said after video surfaced of a neo-Nazi protester in Charlottesville wearing a T-shirt with their father's name. "We were sickened by the association," the late country legend's five children wrote in a statement posted on Rosanne's Cash's Facebook page on Wednesday, the Austin American-Statesman reports. "Johnny Cash was a man whose heart beat with the rhythm of love and social justice," they wrote. "He received humanitarian awards from, among others, the Jewish National Fund, B'nai Brith, and the United Nations." Cash "would be horrified at even a casual use of his name or image for an idea or a cause founded in persecution and hatred," his children wrote. "The white supremacists and neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville are poison in our society, and an insult to every American hero who wore a uniform to fight the Nazis in WWII." "Our dad told each of us, over and over throughout our lives, 'Children, you can choose love or hate. I choose love,'" they wrote. Their father, they wrote, should not be used as an icon by any "who claim supremacy over other human beings" or "believe in racial or religious hierarchy." (George HW Bush and George W. Bush have spoken out on Charlottesville.)