Imagining country music paints a picture of simplicity and traditionalism, but it also illustrates exclusivity and white supremacy, both ideas and ideologies that perpetuate the notion that Black people do not belong in country music. Although our idea of country music is one that is white dominated and “innately” racist, country music has roots in Blackness and African American culture. Revisions to history as we know it needs to be made when it comes to country and folk music. The contributions of Black people can be traced back to slavery with the arrival of the banjo from West Africa during the Transatlantic Slave Trade (Rayford 2004). Black peoples’ importance in country music continued throughout the 20th century with artists like Deford…show more content… In Sanneh’s analysis of country as an identity, he states country “is also a demographic, a group of people who tend to be white and tend to think of themselves as not quite at home in the city, even if that is where they happen to live (Sanneh 2021).” In Sanneh’s understanding of country music as an identity, it further erases the identity of Black people who grew up in the South. The idea of a person being “country” does not only include white people, but Black people who happen to be from the south and equally immersed in southern culture. Beyonce fits this extended idea on what it means to be a country. She was born to parents who have roots in Alabama and Louisiana, and Beyonce herself is from Texas. The creation of the country identity should be extended to fit all people, including Black people who have roots and culture embedded in the South. Sanneh’s previous statement about the country’s identity erases an entire group of people and also erases centuries of history of African Americans living in the American South. Through this extended definition of what it means to be country, Beyonce is allowed a spot in country
