Kane Brown will be a name that you’ll probably be hearing a lot of if you haven’t already. He’s the 25-year-old country singer born to a white mother and Black father, who was also part Cherokee and not in his life.
Last month, Brown won big at the American Music Awards, wracking up three trophies, including Favorite Country Male Artist. At the moment, he’s arguably considered the genre’s biggest breakout star.
But according to what Brown told People magazine, he’s endured a lot of racism along the way. In fact, the singer thought he was 100% white as a child, until he started getting called the n-word while attending middle school in Georgia.
“I’m biracial,” he stated. “I didn’t know that until I was 7 or 8 years old. I thought I was full white, which honestly, I can’t even really say because I didn’t see colors.”
“I found out that I was biracial and I still wasn’t thinking anything of it, but then I started getting called the n-word,” Brown went on. “I didn’t even know what it meant. I learned what it meant, and that’s when it started affecting me. I got in fights over it when I was little.”
But the newly married country star said he eventually “got over” the racist remarks and they only made him stronger.
And now he wants to help other kids who may be facing a similar situation, especially since he still deals with racism as a famous person.
“When I first got into country, I started getting some of those comments like ‘He’s an N-word.’ Stuff like that,” Brown explained. “I used to screenshot it and put it on Twitter, like ‘There’s still racism in the world.’ But I didn’t get into country music just to prove a point. I try to stay away from all negativity … Now you can call me whatever you want. It just brushes off of me.”