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Maren Morris Speaks out on Festivals Still Allowing the Confederate Flag

Maren Morris spoke about the presence of confederate flags at country music festivals during Country Radio Seminar.

What Maren Morris Had to Say

“The Middle” singer spoke on a panel with Luke Combs during the event on February 17. The pair discussed accountability in the country music industry.

The hitmaker confessed that she didn’t know the true meaning of the confederate flag until she was fifteen or sixteen. “This is how horribly whitewashed, how history has failed us. That ‘Southern pride’ thing or ‘The South will rise again.’ They’re all just terms thrown around. There was no explanation behind it.” Morris added that she believes the majority of country music fans don’t know the deeper meaning behind the flag’s history.

Morris then discussed the flag’s place at country music festivals among fans and wants the flags banned from all major events.”Can we just agree at these country music festivals…” she began. ‘I see the Confederate flags in the parking lots. I don’t want to play those festivals anymore.”

“If you were a black person would you ever feel safe going to a show with those flying in the parking lot?” she questioned. “No, I feel like the most powerful thing as artists in our positions is to make those demands of large organizations, festivals, promoters, that’s one of the things we can do is say, ‘No, I’m not doing this. Get rid of them.’”

On Her Own Accountability

Morris also spoke about confronting and holding herself accountable. Last summer, a writer Andrea Williams called her out on Twitter for not collaborating with Black writers or producers on music that is influenced by the R&B genre.

“I remember when she said that on Twitter… ‘Why are you coming for me? I love Black people,’” she recalled. “I think just accepting that and going, ‘Oh okay, that’s a really good question. Why am I doing these R&B-influenced songs?’ Because that is in me, with a bunch of white people. I think for me going forward, I’ve got to correct that and acknowledge that yeah, absolutely, cultural appropriation is a real thing.”