NAACP Nashville President Proposes Talk With Country Singer About Racial Slur
A country music singer is continuing to face backlash after using a racial slur, and now the NAACP Nashville President wants to get involved.
Sheryl Guinn, the president of the NAACP's Nashville chapter, announced on Thursday (Feb. 4) that she is willing to inform the singer, Morgan Wallen, a Tennessee native, about the history of the n-word, according to ABC’s Good Morning America.
"The comments made by Morgan Wallen are atrocious and wrong,” Guinn said in a statement on Facebook. “This term has an ugly history and Morgan Wallen should be aware of that and work to eradicate its use. I offered to educate him on this matter, but it does not exonerate accountability on his part. He must be held responsible for his egregious comments."
The statement comes after TMZ released a video on Tuesday (Feb. 2) of the country singer shouting racist and vulgar language. At a time when the nation is undergoing a reckoning of sorts in racial and social justice, the response was swift. Wallen was immediately suspended indefinitely from his record label, Big Loud Records.
He was dropped from multiple radio companies, removed from CMT, the country music channel, and barred from Academy of Country Music Award eligibility, among other fallout, ABC reports.
Wallen issued an apology, in a statement obtained by Good Morning America for using the racial slur following the video's release.
"I’m embarrassed and sorry. I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back," he said in a statement on Wednesday (Feb. 3). "There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better."
It’s unknown if Wallen has responded to Guinn’s offer.
