‘You Ain’t Country’: White Indiana State University Student’s Racist Beyoncé Video Draws Protests

Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty

Listen: It is no secret that ever since Beyoncé dropped the first two tracks from her country-themed Cowboy Carter album, white people have been having a rough go of it. Actually, salty Caucasians of country music fandom have been salty about the Lemonade singer delving into what they clearly believed was a white-owned genre since she released her acclaimed song “Daddy’s Lessons.”

(Also, that song is eight years old now. It’s wild that anyone was ever surprised by Bey’s foray into country music.)

MORE: Karen Video Shows White Woman Tell Black People They’re ‘Lucky To Be’ In America And Not ‘A Dust Pool In Africa’

Recently, a white student at Indiana State University drew the ire of other students at the school when she recorded a TikTok video that took things a step further than the garden variety anti-Beyoncé hate we’ve seen from aggrieved white country fans who had no issue with Jason Aldean releasing that corny-ass MAGA commercial he tried to pass off as authentic country music. This student not only declared that Beyoncé isn’t country, she claimed no Black people are, and she seems to be basing that stance on the fact that Black people were enslaved and thus not real Americans.

Indiana State University released a super weak response in regards to one of their students Asa Blanton, who decided to unleash her white supremacist views about Beyoncé and ultimately Black people as a whole. To make matters worse, this clown is an actual Nursing student at the… pic.twitter.com/FwXklTnP34

— Nicole's View (@BLKLiberation84) April 9, 2024

“I’m sorry, but if you’re Black, you’re not country. I don’t care,” the ISU nursing student identified as Asa Blanton said in the video. “I wish I meant that in the nicest way, but babe, I know you were raised in the country or your grandparents were—but they was picking, OK? They wasn’t planting. Just keep that in mind. They wasn’t making money. They were getting sold for money. You ain’t country.”

It’s unclear why this KK-Karen believes Black people being slaves or descended from slaves would preclude them from being country—after all, the banjo was literally created by enslaved Africans—but there’s no point in trying to find logic in a white tears rant. There’s nothing new about white people getting their confederate flag drawers in a bunch every time it’s pointed out that Black people have been a part of country music since the genre’s inception, and that it’s easily arguable that it wouldn’t exist without us. That was a thing long before Beyoncé ever breathed the first note of a country-inspired tune into a microphone. 

White nationalist Patrick Howley is upset because there were too many Black people at the Country Music Awards: "Country music is different. It's not Wakanda." pic.twitter.com/PMfO1E22e2

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) April 13, 2022

Anyway, after Blanton’s video went viral, the university issued the same generic statement institutions always issue after a racist incident draws widespread attention and condemnation.

“The student’s comments do not align with our institutional values,” the statement read. “We reaffirm our commitment to fostering an inclusive environment. ISU takes incidents of this nature seriously and is committed to ensuring a welcoming environment for everyone.” 

Seriously, these administrators have got to stop using the same template for standard issue anti-racism statements that vaguely address the incident without really naming it while distancing itself from the un-namable racial incident. It’s lazy and transparently self-serving. It should surprise absolutely no one that all this Walmart Great Value brand statement did was cause ISU students to respond by protesting Blanton and the university’s weak response to her viral display of white (supremacist) fragility.

Learning that my talk with students at Indiana State University inspired them to take direct action against their administration for their lack of care in dealing with a racist whxte students Tik Tok video literally has brought me to tears. pic.twitter.com/eNXd3H33It

— Jon Paul, Ed.D. (They/Them/Tired) (@DoctorJonPaul) April 9, 2024

“Indiana State University’s response to this vile display of bigotry has been, to say the least, disheartening,” ISU’s Black Alumni Network said in a statement, according to Indiana Public Media. “Such a response is a slap in the face to every student, alumni, faculty and staff member who looks to ISU to uphold principles of inclusivity, respect, and dignity for all.” 

The ISU NAACP Collegiate Chapter and African Student Union also called on school administrators to come with a better and more sincere response to the video, which the NAACP described as “a student demonstrating discriminatory language in relation to a particular Black student attending a Fraternity and Sorority life event.”

ISU President Deborah J. Curtis eventually issued a lengthier statement on Tuesday, but it might be a little too little, too late.

@indianastate @IndianaStateCAS
What Dr. Deborah Curtis and future nurse Asa Blanton are obviously showing at Indiana State University. pic.twitter.com/uAtJiawvcz

— Mercurymess (@lisanne1105) April 11, 2024

At the end of the day, all white people have been doing since the arrival of Cowboy Carter is reminding us of their racial resentment and the fact that they don’t know the history of the musical genre they purport to love so much.

It’s pathetic—and also very American. 

Indiana 

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