Darius Rucker On Racism: “It’s Not Gonna Change Until Enough People Say It’s Wrong”

Racial equality has been an unending call that has gone for generations now. Up until recently, the call for racial equality has gotten louder. Darius Ruckers also joined into the uprising call against racism.

This was not the first time the former “Hootie & The Blowfish” member expressed his point for racial discrimination. Back in 2017, Rucker was asked to sing the national anthem during a Miami Dolphins game. This was also during the peak of the NFL player protest that has gone through for years. Rucker released a statement, during an interview, saying how it was so disheartening for him to see how disunited the country was. He also acknowledged why NFL players have been doing this, relating it to his life and to how several of his family members have experienced racial discrimination over the years.

Rucker has been very vocal in expressing his point when it comes to racial discrimination. With a recent interview, Rucker acknowledge that nothing has been more eye opening than seeing racism through the eyes of his children.

“Everything is not okay,” according to Rucker. The American singer recalled how he has to live his whole life with racism. Rucker remembered how he was walking into a radio station and having guys tell him “We are gonna play this because you are black.” It seemed like a person’s skin tone has been the basis of how society would look at him, Rucker added. 

Words have been a powerful weapon that could either make or break a person. The same is true with country music. Rucker reflected how a word could either make or break an artist’s career through what happened to the Dixie Chicks and how a single statement demolished their career. 

The singer also admitted that people think that racism is just a thing that the marginalized community has been going through and being rich exempts you from the cruel reality. As a matter of fact, there was one occasion when Rucker’s son was asked to pull over by police officers even without violating anything. As a father, Rucker was totally concerned about his son’s safety, recalling how a simple and innocent traffic stop has led to someone being shot in the past. Rucker, himself, also experienced being apprehended by police officers. The matter subsided only when the police officer recognized him.

Darius Rucker does not want his children and his family members to experience more of this. So do we.