Luke Combs apologizes for Confederate flag imagery as tough conversations consume Nashville - The Washington Post

Since Morgan Wallen was caught on camera saying the n-word two weeks ago and subsequently dropped from the radio and suspended by his record label, conversations about the fallout have consumed the country music industry.

But Wallen casually tossing off a racial slur was an embarrassing, very public example of how country music has long been a place where people of color have been routinely excluded and felt unwelcome.

The lack of diversity, evident on record label rosters and in concert crowds, on radio charts and in Nashville boardrooms, has existed for decades: Early in the 20th century, executives categorized music from Black country artists as “race records,” effectively removing them from the format.

“I think the only way that we can really move forward is by deconstructing our view of what the genre is built on, and acknowledging the fact that at its roots is racism and cultural appropriation — and completely destroying that mentality going forward,” country star Maren Morris said Wednesday during a segment on “CBS This Morning.” “Morgan is a symptom of a much bigger disease of what our genre is right now.”.

“I want people to feel welcomed by country music and by our community,” Combs added.

“I love country music so much, and I have my version of what I make,” she said.

She also revealed she received pushback for publicly criticizing Wallen on social media, which goes against the genre’s guiding principles of “country music is a family” and “we don’t go after people in public.” Morris urged Nashville singers to do the bare minimum by condemning the n-word and holding their peers accountable, even if it means awkwardness when you bump into them at the next award show.

Morris and Williams were also a part of a wide-ranging discussion Sunday night on singer-songwriter Rissi Palmer’s Apple Music radio show “Color Me Country,” which focuses on the Black, Indigenous and Latino roots of country music.

She brought up Mickey Guyton, one of the few Black artists signed to a major country label, who recently had a breakout moment with the release of two powerfully candid songs, including the Grammy-nominated “Black Like Me.”.

“Even if nothing else happens from here, Mickey stood up, Mickey said what she had to say, and she’s better off for it, I think, in the long run, period,” Palmer said.

“Years from now, we’re going to look back on this — or our children, or our children’s children, will look back on this — and want an accurate historical record,” she said.

Morris and Cam talked about the importance of difficult conversations and speaking up as allies, as Cam discussed working with the Grammys on diversity and being told it was “fine and normal” that the country music categories had no people of color.

On the “CBS This Morning” segment, which also included singers Ryan Hurd (Morris’s husband) and Vince Gill, Palmer was asked by co-host Anthony Mason if there was some “real self-examination” going on in country music.