Dixie Chick Natalie Maines was apparently brought to tears when she saw a mother teaching her two-year-old son how to hate.
The country singer has become a lightning rod for abuse and protest after she announced that she was ashamed to come from the same state as President George Bush (Texas), since she does not agree with his stance on the war in Iraq.
However, Maines said that she could ignore most of the abuse, which has included death threats, having her CDs stomped on and radio boycotts, until she saw an overly vicious mother on TV.
She said: "The sad things came just down the road - watching children at those rallies stomping on our CDs.
"There was a mother holding her two-year-old son outside of a show protesting. (She was) telling our cameras, 'Screw 'em, screw 'em,' and (she) turned to her two-year-old and said, 'Say screw 'em.'
"That just made me bawl because I'd just witnessed someone learn to hate and I didn't know that kind of hatred existed."
