Kid Rock was met by a chorus of boos outside of a Detroit NAACP event on Sunday [May 1]. Demonstrators expressed their displeasure with the organization for hosting an affair to honor the rocker’s humanitarian efforts.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, protestors unhappy that the NAACP would  pay tribute to a man who brandishes the Confederate flag onstage at his shows. The protesters burned replicas of the southern battle flag and picketed with signs reading “No to Kid Rock.”  

Rock told attendees of the annual fund-raiser, “I love America. I love Detroit, and I love black people.”  He explained that his use of the flag is in memory of one of his idols, 1970‘s rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd and is not meant to make any statements on race. 

Despite the explanation, protestors continued heckling the rock star from the pavement. Inside Rock graciously accepted an award for advocacy in Detroit before making an announcement that his foundations would donate $50,000 to several Detroit nonprofit organizations and another $50,000 as relief to the southern states affected by the recent tornado.

(Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images)