I few days ago I wrote about Beyoncè’s entrance and reception into the country music genre. One of the goals of The Civil Conversations project is to stimulate civil, knowledge-based conversations about that which prevents America from being great. So I was happy when a friend - and to be clear, a very close friend - called me to engage in what turned out to be a long, deep, thoughtful conversation about my piece and about all the hullabaloo Beyoncè’s two country music songs launched. It takes a bit of chutzpah to call someone and tell them they’ve got it all wrong. I’ll call my friend ‘Carol’, a unisex name derived from the old German word “karl”, which means “man”, in order to keep my friend’s identity a secret.
Carol, a knowledgeable fan of all genres of music wanted to noodle with me about the attention and controversy over Beyoncè’s re-entrance into the world of country music. (I have no idea what that little do-dad over Beyoncè’s ‘e’ means or why it has to be there, but I’ll research it). I’m calling it her “re-entrance” because in 2016 she performed with the Chicks - formerly known as the “Dixie Chicks” before they dropped the racially tinged word “Dixie” - at the Country Music Association Awards where she had also received race-based pushback which Beyoncè has said inspired her new country album. (I wrote about the word “Dixie” here a few years ago.)
“Some fans were angry that the CMAs allowed her to play her music at “our country music show,” since she “hates cops, white people, and supports BLM.” (Nothing racist there Noooo!)
“Having Beyonce perform at the CMA Awards is like having Taylor Swift perform at the BET Awards,” one Twitter user wrote.”[1] (Nope…nothing racist there either!)
At any rate, Carol feels the issue is one of culture, not race. I disagree. I’m not entirely sure, but I think that Carol was also thinking that I wanted the country music genre to be more open to Black musicians. But that wasn’t the deal at all. I’d simply like to see Beyoncè write and perform a song and have people write about how great or awful or stupid the song is and have not even one person write one word that refers to race. I’d just like to see this country move beyond race. That’s it! I’d like to work myself, my board, my advisors, and the CCP employees out of a job. I’d like to just go fishing.
I kind of think of America’s race thing like a wet, wool blanket that lies over everything. It kind of smells. It’s kind of heavy. It hampers your every movement. But it’s been there for so long, you seldom notice it.
Oh, and according to my research, genre should really be genrè, and Beyoncè should actually be Beyoncé. Those little doo-hickey’s are called ‘diacritics’, not doo-hickey’s.
[1] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beyonce-cmas-dixie-chicks_n_581b9ebbe4b0aac62483218f
I thought I could ignore what I thought was just another issue surrounding high profile music icon but nooooo. Just read an informative article on this topic here. Glad I did. https://apnews.com/article/beyonce-cowboy-carter-country-music-9c865d00adf1f31f4bf22f126612e226
Beyoncé’s 'Cowboy Carter' reinforces her dedication to Black reclamation — and country music