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This is such a key point. The more work I do to tear down country music’s racist systems, the more I realize that a lot of white folk in Nashville (and elsewhere) don’t mind AT ALL when they’re the only ones in the studio, on the stage, at the office. https://twitter.com/tylachelleco/status/1334957567332769799
But it's also wild cause, even in Nashville, people DO crave Blackness. They crave Black culture and Black innovation; they just don't think they need actual Black bodies in order to get it.
I say it all the time, but non-white ppl are MASTERS at "the count." Within moments, we can walk into a room and give an exact count of how many non-white ppl are there (AND how many of those non-white folk are actually tokenized support systems for white supremacy).
The real work is in getting white folk to have this same reaction as soon as THEY walk in a room, to not need me or someone else to point out the room's stark whiteness.
(And, yes, all white rooms are still bad even when there are plenty of women or queer folk.)
(And, yes, all white rooms are still bad even when there are plenty of women or queer folk.)
Also: This work isn't just about saying that non-white folk are welcome. It's about being intentional about extending those invitations and making them FEEL welcome.
In this town, we're dealing with generations of exclusion in which non-white folk were made to believe that they simply didn't belong
I mean H E L L O
https://twitter.com/camcountry/status/1333785653256065024
I mean H E L L O
https://twitter.com/camcountry/status/1333785653256065024
So yeah. White folk in Nashville gotta immediately start noticing—and caring—when everybody around them is white.
Then they gotta get real intentional about fixing it.
Then they gotta get real intentional about fixing it.
I love Mickey for her tenacity and resilience, but I know that not everyone has the temerity to deal with racist BS for a whole decade.
There are some people who gave up after a couple years or a couple months, some who maybe didn't come to Nashville at all.
There are some people who gave up after a couple years or a couple months, some who maybe didn't come to Nashville at all.
So you wanna get serious about diversity in country? You can't wait on those people—the artists and marketing folk and musicians and managers and stage crew and...—to come back around.
You gotta GO GET THEM.
You gotta GO GET THEM.
