Pinned by a video released in early February 2021, where he used insulting vocabulary for African-Americans, the singer was for a time “suspended” by his label and banned from award ceremonies.

But her second album ("Dangerous: The double album"), released a month earlier in January 2021, still sold more than three million copies -- more than Adele or Olivia Rodrigo.

In response to public demand, a second date in his tour was added to the prestigious Madison Square Garden in New York, where the singer was performing on Wednesday and Thursday.

At a time when "cancel culture", a tendency to banish artists or personalities for their excesses or their racism, is often singled out in the United States, critics of Morgan Wallen regret that he did not to be more accountable.

"Deep Hate"

"The sales of his album have skyrocketed because people, deep down, feel that we have done too much," said Sheryl Guinn, president of the antenna of the famous civil rights organization, to AFP. NAACP in Nashville, birthplace of country music, Tennessee.

A fan-funded message of support from singer accused of racism Morgan Wallen, in Nashville, Tennessee, June 8, 2021 Jason Kempin GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Archives

"Hate runs deep," tweeted singer Mickey Guyton, the first black woman nominated for a Grammy as a solo artist in the country category, who will sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl this weekend. .

For Sheryl Guinn, the problem goes beyond country music, a genre often criticized for its leniency in the face of racism.

For her, the difficulty is "that America itself does not care enough to eradicate racism".

Morgan Wallen, whose managers did not respond to AFP, apologized after the video broke, but lip service according to his critics.

"I'm disappointed he didn't do more, but I'm not surprised," says country historian Charles Hughes, pointing to a "whole system" that "allows (Wallen) to be reinstated without anyone having to justify themselves".

"Resentment and Privilege"

“You will never lose money in the United States if you bet on the resentment and the privilege of white people,” adds this professor at Rhodes College in Memphis (Tennessee), for whom one would have hoped that, “ even without financial incentive", the "moral" or "political" imperatives are more considered in this case.

Black country singer Mickey Guyton, in concert on December 1, 2021 at Rockefeller Center in New York Dimitrios Kambouris GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Archives

For Nashville-based entertainment attorney and artist manager Zach Scott Gainous, a controversy like the one surrounding Morgan Wallen can even draw attention to the artist in question and "boost" their "fan base."

According to Charles Hughes, country in general needs to "fundamentally rethink who gets hyped and why", a structural change that requires more than creating "limited superficial spaces to congratulate each other afterwards".

In recent years, black country and folk musicians -- especially women -- have carved out a space for themselves that the industry has long denied them, reclaiming in their own way a genre with African-American roots. .

Beyond the artists, Charles Hughes also calls for recruiting and hiring more black people in all trades in the country music industry.

"I think it's very important to divert our conversation from Wallen," he adds.

"There are so many other people doing great work. That's what the focus needs to be right now."

© 2022 AFP