Mickey Guyton Recalls Performing in Front of Confederate Flags and People Questioning Her 'Authenticity'

etonline.com:

Mickey Guyton is breaking ground in country music and blazing her own trail as she defies expectations. Now, the celebrated songstress is looking back at the earlier days in her career and the obstacles she faced before she ever got a chance to make it big.«I've been the only Black woman in the room from an early age, and I do find myself having anxiety about it,» Guyton recently shared in an interview with. «I've been the only Black woman a lot, like my whole life.

I did sing at concerts in front of Confederate flags, and that was something that was hard.»Throughout Guyton's career in country music, being a Black female artist has led to some in the industry not willing to give her a chance, or questioning her ability to succeed.

The singer reflected on how she'd been told there was no space for her in the country music landscape, «not only as a Black woman but as a woman.»She reflected on a meeting she once took with a record label, and remembered how «one of the label heads was questioning me and my authenticity and grilling me on country music, and if I knew it or not.»“I grew up in the South on gravel dirt roads," Guyton noted. «Shouldn’t that be enough?»Not all of the pushback she's faced has come in the form of thinly veiled bigotry — she's also been subjected to blatant racism during her time as a singer.«I was doing an after-show signing and I went to hug this kid who had Down syndrome, and as I was going to hug him, somebody walked by and said, 'Everybody's waiting for the N-word,'» she shared. «I remember someone in line turning around, mortified, but nobody stood up for me.»«One thing I realized as I was trying to figure out how to make a mark on this industry… I realized that it was not enough to just see.