Forget whatever you love or hate about Bruce Springsteen. This isn’t about him. Forget that you miss Broadway or whether you would pay exorbitant ticket prices to see him. This has nothing to do with style.

Springsteen on Broadway returned over the weekend to a packed house including NBC’s Brian Williams and Gov. Phil Murphy. I thought he was a Bon Jovi guy? But again, it’s not about that. It’s about the dozens of misguided protesters outside the Saint James Theater demonstrating against the fact that COVID-19 vaccinations were required to see the show. These self-appointed social justice warriors were using the word segregation. They even had the word on their signs.

What a slap in the face to anyone who felt the burn of actual segregation in this country. The comparison of a private venue and a private business promoting concerts and a private performer requiring vaccination at the tail end of a pandemic to segregation is pathetic.

Historically speaking, segregation in this country has been about race and separation of the races. Blacks not allowed to use a white man’s water fountain. Blacks not allowed to attend certain schools. Race isn’t a choice. Whether to get vaccinated is.

This is not coming from the government. This is not coming from a public school district. While glamorous this still amounts to a private business enterprise making rules on what they feel is best to keep people safe. Just the same as businesses are still allowed to insist on wearing a mask on their turf if they feel it is best. Further, it’s based on a real public health crisis and not imagined racial superiority.

The definition of segregation can mean something as simple as the process of separation. But they chose this word on purpose. They could have used exclusion or division, isolation or disassociation. They didn’t. They chose the word segregation to strike a national raw nerve because of the deep feelings of segregation in the United States and in so doing they played the victim card. Something types like this call out right away if that victim card were played by a minority or a “libtard.”

First world problem.

You can’t go in to see a rock star for a $500 ticket because you chose to not be vaccinated. Boohoo. A far cry from the color of skin you were born with forcing you into less than status that affects so many parts of your life. You’re right that you have the right to decline a vaccination. They have the right to decline your business for something as frivolous as a Broadway show. Rights work both ways.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.

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