[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition to tell country radio stations: Stop the racism and
gatekeeping and play Beyoncé's new songs on your radio stations NOW!

Dear MoveOn member,

Country music is Black history. Country music, like many, many other
genres, was invented by Black people, but racism, gatekeeping,
whitewashing, and erasure in country music actively prevent Black artists
from getting credit and being celebrated for their work. This is not
new.^1 But the latest?

Beyoncé recently dropped two new country singles, "Texas Hold 'Em" and "16
Carriages," and it wasn't long before the racism, revisionist history, and
gatekeeping began. First, Apple Music put the songs in its Pop category,
when the songs are clearly country. And when fans started requesting
Beyoncé's new songs at their local country stations, many of their
requests were rejected. One station, KYKC, even responded to a fan's
request writing, "We do not play Beyoncé on KYKC as we are a country music
station."^2

[ [link removed] ]Will you sign the petition to demand that country radio stations stop
the racism and gatekeeping and play "Texas Hold 'Em and "16 Carriages" on
their stations NOW?

Demand that the country music industry acknowledge country music's roots
in Black music history and stop the racism and gatekeeping. Beyoncé's new
music IS country music. They must play her new songs on their stations
NOW.

[3]Sign the petition

A study discovered that more than 11,000 songs played on country radio
from 2002 to 2020, only 3% of those were from Black and brown artists, and
of that 3%, only one-third were from Black and brown women.^3

That means that Black and brown women represented only 0.001% of songs
played by country radio over the course of 18 years. It's outrageous but,
unfortunately, unsurprising.

The country music industry must finally reckon with its own racism and
anti-Blackness, celebrate the roots of country in Black history, and
celebrate Black artists reclaiming a genre they birthed.

[ [link removed] ]The racism and gatekeeping has to end NOW. Click here to add your name
to the petition to demand that country radio stations play Beyoncé's new
songs NOW.

The banjo, one of the central instruments in country music, originated in
Africa and was brought to the United States by enslaved African people.^4
White people then appropriated the banjo and began using it for minstrel
shows, where they would wear blackface and mock Black people and Black
culture.^5 It's disgusting and dehumanizing.

This led to the rise of hillbilly music as a marketing category, which
became associated with a white, rural, southern audience. That's when
"race records" were created, to segregate Black people out of the genre
that they created, and music executives refused to let Black folks record
songs that they deemed to be "hillbilly," purposefully whitewashing the
genre even further.^6

This history of country music shows how Jim Crow segregation harmed Black
country music artists then, and still harms them today. 

[ [link removed] ]Enough! The country music industry including country radio stations
must take huge steps to make this right. Will you sign the petition?

Black music artists like Beyoncé are reclaiming country, a genre that was
theirs to begin with. And we need to be in solidarity with them and
challenge the status quo to pave the way for Black people to get a seat at
a table that they created.

We can't sit idly by and watch this continue. Getting the country music
industry—from radio stations to awards to other prominent artists—to honor
Beyoncé's new songs as country is just one small step toward bringing
about change. But with Beyoncé being the biggest artist in the world, this
is an opportunity for us to keep pushing, educating, and fighting for
change, and the impacts of our advocacy will pave the way for other Black
country artists for generations to come.

[ [link removed] ]Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to
your friends.

Thanks!

–Jensine, Nakia, Eric, Isbah, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Beyoncé is reclaiming country music for Black America," The Grio,
February 19, 2024
[link removed]

2. Post on X by JUSTIN, February 13, 2024
[link removed]

3. "Beyoncé is getting played on country radio. Could her success help
other Black women?" NPR, February 17, 2024
[link removed]

4. "Beyoncé Reappropriates 'Americana' With 'Renaissance Act II,'
Reminding the Grammys and Country Music Awards of the Genre's Black Roots
Years After Being Denied Just Acknowledgment for 'Daddy Lessons'" Atlanta
Black Star, February 13, 2024
[link removed]

5. "A Dive Into the Black History of Country Music: Giving Credit Where
It's Due," The Skidmore News, February 23, 2022
[link removed]

6. "Beyoncé is getting played on country radio. Could her success help
other Black women?" NPR, February 17, 2024
[link removed]

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