In this past calendar year, many organizations, industries and individuals have been called out for their behavior. Unfortunately for Country Music, it was thrown into the spotlight in an uncomfortable way this winter. One of its biggest stars, Morgan Wallen, was caught on video using a racial slur. Wallen’s neighbors caught the moment on their Ring camera on the night of January 31 and it was later posted by TMZ. Since then, many debates have been sparked about the history of Country Music and its inclusiveness. These conversations have created a lot of disagreement among fans and stars, while also causing problems for other stars in the genre. Since the Wallen scandal erupted, country star Luke Combs came out with an apology for having a Confederate flag sticker on his guitar in a 2015 music video. Other members of Country Music have tried to defend the genre despite the circumstances.  

Female star Kelsea Ballerini took to Twitter to share her opinion.

“The news[about Morgan Wallen] out of Nashville tonight does not represent Country Music,” Ballerini said. 

However, other stars do not feel the same way. Female star Maren Morris talked about the issue on a segment of “CBS This Morning”. 

“Morgan is a symptom of a much bigger disease of what our genre is right now,” Morris said. 

Many want to move forward by destroying the stereotypes situations like these are creating because they bury the diversity in Country Music’s history. Country Music legend Charley Pride contributed so much to the genre, right up until his death in December 2020. Despite all the opposition he faced, he became the first African American member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Even today, stars like Darius Rucker and Kane Brown are bringing diversity and topping charts and other stars like Mickey Guyton are speaking about their experiences as Black women in Country Music. 

Despite the mixed opinions within the Country Music industry, conversations are being had about its history and where it is going in the future.