Chris Stapleton Hits Mainstream Racism
Chris Stapleton has really stepped in it. And by stepped in it, of course, I mean he affirmed the basic human rights of a sub-group of people and said so publicly.
Stapleton was on CBS This Morning promoting his new album:
"You know, I thought we were living in a different country. And that's 100% real," Stapleton said. "I feel like the country that I thought that we were living in was a myth."
When asked if he supported the Black Lives Matter movement, Stapleton added: "Do I think Black lives matter? Absolutely...I don't know how you could think they don't."
Now, that answer is Stapleton playing the middle ground to try his best to not alienate either side of the conversation. Even your traditional racist or bigot will say "black lives matter,” but will usually follow up with some form of “all lives matter,” or “I think black lives matter but I can’t support BLM.”
Stapleton did not go as far as his fans on the left would have wanted - to ardently support Black Lives Matter, the organization doing hard work on the front lines of racial injustice in America. But there’s reason to believe he either privately supports them or supports the main causes they stand for - Stapleton’s wife, Morgane, is pretty outspoken on Instagram about her political ideology.
In case you don’t know, the quick history of Stapleton and his career trajectory is pretty remarkable. A relative unknown, for the most part, Stapleton played in bands like The Steeldrivers and The Jompson Brothers while also maintain a writing and publishing gig in Nashville. During that time, Stapleton wrote several mainstream country hits like "Never Wanted Nothing More”, cut by Kenny Chesney, “Love’s Gonna Make It Alright” by George Strait, “Your Man” by Josh Turner, and “Come Back Song” by Darius Rucker, among a handful of others.
Toiling around in relative obscurity, Stapleton found success as a solo act with his 2015 album “Traveler.” He was able to tour that album as a headliner for the first time in small-to-medium theatres across the country. It was at that point he caught the ear of Justin Timberlake, who tapped him as a performance guest at the 2015 CMAs.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Stapleton becomes a superstar overnight and starts outselling every other mainstream act in touring dollars and album sales, besides Garth Brooks.
The fame and fortune is great - but before his big break, Stapleton found himself in a cozy Americana bubble. A bubble that is largely liberal-leaning and allows for someone like Chris to share their social justice opinions without much scrutiny. There are exceptions to this rule, obviously.
The Americana/roots scene is not monolithic in any way, but artists like Brandi Carlisle, Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, and others have been afforded the opportunity to make a good living while being politically and socially outspoken.
If you don’t want to speak out, you don’t have to - because those questions aren’t being asked to most mid-level Americana performers.
Once Stapleton became a mega-star and bridged over into mainstream country, he found a largely white, largely conservative consumer base. One more interested in pop-beats and good times than social issues or controversial topics. A fanbase more willing to look the other way than face a problem head-on - or, Hell, even be willing to admit there's a problem in the first place.
The outrage, faux or not, was predictable.
It’s very interesting to see folks who hate “political correctness,” or “cancel culture,” use the very same techniques they supposedly despise in order to pressure an artist to cave to their political whims.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and can spend their time and money as they see fit, but part of the reason the mainstream country fan accepted Stapleton is he’s a large man with a long beard and a black cowboy hat, and they saw themselves in him. His “superstar overnight” story also endeared them to him - almost an “if he can do it, so can I.” line of thinking. Those thoughts are short-sighted and silly, of course, no one on the planet has a voice like Stapleton’s; and very few have the ability to craft a song as he can.
But these are the same people who support a billionaire born, Manhattan real estate mogul who has never gone without work or lived anything remotely similar to paycheck-to-paycheck.
They believe it because it’s comfortable - and because regardless of the facts, they want someone to say they care than to prove it so. Once Stapleton made it clear he found himself on the other side of an issue, mainstream racism had no recourse other than to attack.