Country Artists Speak Out Against The Police Killing Of George Floyd

Country artists are speaking out in regards to the death of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck on May 25th. The incident has since inspired protests and conversations about race and law enforcement around the country, with many country stars participating in that conversation.

Here’s what some singers are saying:

• Kip Moore: “To the black community…I’m Srry that you’ve screamed for so long about feeling oppressed and it’s fallin on deaf ears. You matter. I hear you, i see you, and I have nothing but love for you. To the police officers all over… Im Srry that those of you doing the job the right way, always get lumped into the same category with the few doing it the wrong way. I’m thankful for you guys and know most of you have your heart in the right place. We should celebrate your bright days more. To God, I’m Srry that we’ve been here this long and continue to be terrible to each other. I’m sure your vision for us looked drastically different. I Hope we can work towards changing that now…Not soon, but now. #onelove”

• Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard: “We, especially the white community, have the opportunity and the obligation to create real change in history. I hope and pray that we can lean on love, grace, forgiveness, compassion, and empathy moving forward. This isn’t and shouldn’t be about a political, religious, or cultural agenda. This is about humanity. This HUMAN race. ‘ALL lives matter,’ and it’s time that we let our actions speak louder than our words. To the families and friends of the ones we’ve lost, I’m so sorry. I know words won’t fix or bring back your loved ones, but please know that you all are on my heart and in my prayers every day and have been for weeks. I will continue to pray for healing, comfort, and peace that I know first hand only God can give, through this unimaginable time. Also know, we will stand with you and fight for justice. Your loss with not be in vain. To the police officers. I know most of y’all are good people with good intentions to protect and serve, and for that I say thank you. Thanks for being willing to put your life at risk every day. We appreciate all you do and are extremely grateful. We are also sorry that there are some cops out there with different agendas, with hate in their hearts, that ruin and taint the reputation of anybody with a uniform on. We support the good ones and know you guys are fighting a tough battle right now. Just know that y’all are making a difference for the better and showing the world that if people can be taught to hate than people can also learn to love.”

• Kane Brown: “We will never see peace in this world until we ALL see each other as PEOPLE. We will never understand each other when you have people on 2 different sides. We have to become 1 to be at peace.”

• Dan + Shay: “When the news began to break, so did our hearts. For the family of George Floyd, and for the black community as a whole. This is not the first time this happened, but by God, please it be the last. It is truly devastating to think that someone could carry so much hate. We, as humans, MUST come together to make a change,” their passionate note continued. “Racism and discrimination because of someone’s skin color is simply just WRONG. Politics and all other bullshit aside, we all have a great responsibility to understand that our social media net may not be as wide as others, but we post this in hopes that we inspire someone, to speak up too.”

• Mickey Guyton: “Silence is deafening every time a person sees injustice and chooses to say nothing. Now is the time to rise up and speak up. #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #JusticeforAhmaudArbery #BreonnaTaylor.”

• Caylee Hammack: “We can’t heal a thing if we keep pretending nothing is broken.   #GeorgeFloyd.”

• Martina McBride: “I am overwhelmed with so many emotions. There simply has to be #justiceforgeorgefloyd.”

• Lady Antebellum: “We can’t speak to how it feels to be the target of racism in America, but we can see the pain, the suffering and the toll it continues to take. Our hope is that we all take the time to listen, educate ourselves, have difficult conversations and make changes through our own actions. As parents, it breaks our hearts knowing our children are living in a world where this level of hate exists, but we will raise them to lead with love, respect, compassion and a serving heart. We pray for peace and the wisdom to do just that.”

• Maren Morris: “Watching someone die on a twitter feed is extremely traumatizing, but nothing compared to what happened to this man and his family. This has to end.”

• Kassi Ashton: “I haven’t really spoken on #GeorgeFloyd, because I’m honestly without words. All that’s in my mouth is complete hatred and I know that isn’t the solution. I don’t know what the solution is. But this HAS TO END. No human being should be treated that way. May justice come.”

• Ashley McBryde: “Spread love until we suffocate all the hate. We have to be better. We have to do better.”

• Tim McGraw: “Nobody’s ever improved on the ideal that all are created equal and that we should love one another as we love ourselves….I’m just a man who loves his family and wants this world, this country, this life to be experienced to the best of any child’s imagination and ability. Without regard to color, creed, religion or sexual orientation. It’s just time that we understand that your child feels and loves, my children feel and love, all children feel and love. Hate is observed and taught.”

• Carly Pearce: “Walk in love. Ephesians 5:2.”

• Brothers Osborne: “Went to the rally today in Nashville. Kept as much distance as possible, wore a mask, and sanitized the hands like crazy. It was a beautiful and peaceful display of exercising our 1st amendment right. Social media isn’t a place to debate any topics. We’ve learned so many times. But it is a place to let the world know how you feel and hopefully give some hope to the hopeless and a voice to voiceless.”

• Little Big Town: “We stand with our brothers and sisters and we WILL be a part of the change.”

• Tenille Townes: “I have sat down to find words over these past couple of days and I really don’t know what to say. But I keep speaking George Floyd’s name and I’m letting the sadness and hunger for change soak in every time I do. I haven’t walked in these shoes, but I want to listen and lean in and take action to stand beside the black community who have and do everyday. I’m sending love to everybody hurting right now with a very heavy heart. And the belief that we can change things one person at a time.”

• Lindsay Ell: “Silence isn’t solving anything… Today I went downtown to be a part of a rally because everything going on in our country right now isn’t right. For the family of George Floyd, and to the black community as a whole, my heart breaks for you. We have to start speaking up and teaching each other there is only one kind of love. Racism is a learned behavior and we are far too educated of a society to let this injustice continue to happen. Let’s use our voices to instill change in the heart off equality and love. We’re not trying to start a race war, we’re trying to end one. #blacklivesmatter Also, burning police cars and violence is NOT the answer.”

• Russell Dickerson: “My heart is broken. I’ve tried a thousand different ways to try to put this… RACISM MUST STOP IN THIS COUNTRY. The death of so many innocent black lives must stop because yes, they matter.”

• Chris Young: “The Death of George Floyd is heartbreaking. The circumstances are terrifying. Period. I don’t know how we fix this, but this is something we HAVE to fix. Racism is NOT something that should be ignored, and this is something that should not exist. Sorry, but I just can’t stay silent on this.”