Indiana State U Issues Statement After Student Made "if you're Black, you're not country" remarks

[yardwork]

15. Let me try to convince you otherwise.

What we know as "country" music has deep roots in African American and Spanish culture. American country music is a melding of British Isles folk music, African instruments and rhythms, and Spanish instruments and rhythms. The banjo is descended from an African instrument. The guitar was brought by Spaniards.

This misconception that country music is all-white has its roots in segregation. Black musicians in the U.S. helped create every uniquely American type of music, from jazz to gospel to rock to pop to blue grass to country.

Simply put, none of those uniquely American types of music would exist without Black Americans.