Brad Paisley was called a racist after telling a joke involving ABC's new sitcom, "Black-ish" at the CMA Awards this week. Several prominent African-Americans however, including the show's star, Anthony Anderson, said they enjoyed it.
"Welcome back to the CMA's," Paisley said from the stage, introducing the Wednesday night special.
"Everybody, there's usually a show on Wednesdays – a new show I've fallen in love with. It's so funny. And so if any of you tuned in to ABC tonight expecting to see the new show 'Black-ish,' yeah… this ain't it," he said sheepishly, eliciting laughter from the audience.
"In the meantime, I hope you enjoy 'White-ish,'" Paisley joked, gesturing at himself and the predominantly white audience.
Almost instantly, the itchy trigger fingers of several dozen Twitter users blasted out tweets accusing Paisley of being racist.
The star of "Black-ish," Anthony Anderson, also took to Twitter, weighing in on the so-called controversy with his own thoughts.
The following day, Alabama radio host David Person sought to unpack the joke for those who didn't get it, and use the joke as an opportunity to talk about the history of black musicians in country music.
"As an African-American Southerner, let me assure singer Brad Paisley that I'm not among those who were offended by his joke at the Country Music Association Awards. Not only was it not racist, it was actually a smart poke at the perception of country music as an all-white conclave of artists and fans," Person
wrote in a column for USA Today.
"The Paisley joke is a great example of the confusion many people have about the difference between talking about race and actually being racist. Pointing out a perception of a white-ish music genre or a black-ish television show isn't racist."
He then recommended that audiences check out the CMT documentary "Waiting in the Wings," which chronicles the history of black musicians working in the country genre.