Country music group Lady Antebellum changes name because of ties to slavery

Country music trio Lady Antebellum has decided to change the group name to Lady A, in light of recent events in America. Like may others in this nation they are reassessing their lives in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder and riots in this nation. The group us taking a stand for Black Lives Matters because they, like many other Caucasian Americans were stunned to watch the African American man die on video. People all over the globe could not believe that police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

Now supporters of racial equality are speaking out because this video is evidence of what previously they had only heard about. In a letter to their legions of fans, the popular Lady A trio said that what happened to George Floyd opened their eyes wide to the injustices that black people face in this nation. This is why they have decided to change their name and be in solidarity with everyone who was horrified by the video and wants change to come to this great nation,

The former Lady Antebellum trio consists of Charles Kelly, Hillary Scott and David Haywood. The group was formed in 2006 and won the Country music New Artist of the year award in 2008. It is not yet known, how this decision will affect the group's popularity, or record sales. Lady A could lose fans because of their stand considering what happened to another singer who spoke out. The Christian Post revealed last week that Christian singer Natalie Grant and her husband Bernie Herms had lost at least 1,000 followers because they spoke out against racism in the United States.

Considering the fact that the ethnic background of country music fans are less diverse than those who enjoy pop, rock, R&B and rap, this could cause Lady Antebellum to receive even more distasteful responses than Bernie Herms and his wife. Both Grant and her husband said that the fact that they received negative responses just shows how bad the problem really is. They expressed their viewpoint that whites who are silent only contribute to the issue and the couple agree that a lot of racism is within the (white) church. Following is one of many hateful responses the couple received.

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the word "Antebellum" simply means pre Civil War days which would be the time of American slavery. It is commendable that Lady A took such a stand and has decided to not associate with a time period where Africans were enslaved in America. It's not been made clear if the group understood the meaning of their name prior the recent events in America or were made aware of it because of what is currently going on, When prominent whites stand up and acknowledge there are race problems this carries more weight than when African Americans say it. It is sad, but not unexpected that some Americans do not want to address these very real issues and decide to attack those who do.

The image of Derek Chauvin with his knee on George Floyd's neck, and his hands casually in his pocket as if her were just shooting the breeze has affected people around the world. In addition to black men being murdered by the police, the issues of police brutality in general has come to the forefront. A 75 year old white male was knocked to the ground by police in Buffalo New York and left bleeding on the sidewalk. When the two officers who were charged were released from jail people were clapping. Other officers have quit the special forces team because their comrades were called on the carpet for being abusive to an elderly gentleman.

Even in this situation, where race is not an issue, there are some Americans on the side of the two officers who were at fault. Thank you Lady A, for taking a stand for Black Lives Matters. Thank you Bernie Herms and Natalie Grant for calling out racism within the church. Continue to stand for justice for all because there are more with you than against you. There will be those who believe the country trio should have retained the name that made them famous. Some will say this is going too far and that "Antebellum" simply means the days of early America, but in those days of southern belles and sipping mint juleps, Africans were indeed enslaved.

It is a tragedy that it took the death of George Floyd to bring us to this moment, but through each response, Americans are showing what is really in their hearts. America is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. We cannot allow this nation to turn into the home of cowards, hiding behind social media and threatening the free will choices of brave U.S. citizens. Perhaps others will admire the stance of Lady A and do what they can to show that racism and police brutality is wrong.