Lady Antebellum Changes Name Because of Slavery Reference | 22 Words

Country music trio Lady Antebellum have revealed that they have changed their name amid the Black Lives Matter protests, but it seems not everyone is happy with the move.

Keep scrolling to find out why the band's name was so harmful and what they are changing it to...

The Black Lives Matter movement is gaining traction like never before.

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 Since the death of George Floyd, protests for the movement have been happening across the globe in volumes we've never seen before.

This kind of police brutality has been happening for centuries now...

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 But George's death has sparked an outrage like never before.

Thousands upon thousands of people have been taking to the streets in protest...

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 And they are all marching for one thing: For the blatant racism and injustice in this country to be brought to an end.

Many protests turned violent...

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 But change needs to happen and, at the moment, this seems like the only way to make it happen.

Remarkably, however, they seem to be working.

Thanks to these riots, the Black Lives Matter movement is dominating global headlines, and it has completely taken over social media.

It has also taken over our streets...

For instance, a group of people painted large yellow letters saying "Black Lives Matter" down two blocks of 16th Street in D.C - a two-lane road that coincidentally leads to the White House.

Protests have been happening across the pond too...

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 Hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the streets in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

We are witnessing history in the making...

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 And people are continuing to demand justice.

One of the most recent events is the tearing down of statues of slave traders and other controversial figures by protesters.

Just last week, across the pond in the UK, a video went viral of protesters tearing down a statue of 17th Century slave trader Edward Colston and tossing it into a nearby river.

Colston was a slave trader.

Colston was Conservative MP for Bristol following his tenure as deputy governor of the Royal African Company. He is thought to have trafficked as many as 84,000 African men, women, and children, with an estimated 19,000 dying on their journey to the Caribbean and America.

A statue of Christopher Columbus in Virginia was another of those torn down and defaced. 

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 The statue was ninety-three-years-old and had been standing there to commemorate the Italian explorer.

Controversy has surrounded Columbus' name for many years now...

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 His transatlantic voyages unlocked an entire continent for European colonization and turned the Italian explorer into a modern symbol of conquest and violence for native Americans.

It didn't take long for the protesters to completely dislodge the statue...

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 And this is when things turned ugly.

The statue was set on fire and covered in graffiti...

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 And protesters then dumped it in Richmond's Fountain lake as a final demand for justice.

Many agreed with the protestors' actions...

And people spoke out against Columbus and what he stood for in history.

Many celebrities are using their platform to speak up...

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 And now it seems country music trio, Lady Antebellum are taking a stand.

The band formed nearly fourteen years ago...

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 And they've enjoyed huge success - bagging Record and Song of the Year Grammys for the 2009 hit “Need You Now."

But this week they have announced they have changed their name...

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 The band took to Twitter to make the announcement, in which they told fans that they will be ditching their current name due to the the slavery reference.

They penned a lengthy tweet about the decision.

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 And addressed both the slavery reference and the reason why they have been so late in changing their name.

"When we set out together almost 14 years ago, we named our band after the Southern ‘Antebellum’ style where we took our first photos."

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 "But we are regretful and embarrassed to say that we did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word referring to the period of history before the Civil War, which includes slavery. We are deeply sorry for the hurt this has caused," they wrote.

They also went on to say there is no excuse for their lateness.

Now, they will just be called "Lady A." And of course, reactions to the news arrived fast from Twitter users...

Some people praise the band for growing and educating themselves.

Some acknowledged that while we've still go far to go, that this was a step in the right direction.

Others weren't so forgiving, however.

Many put the band on blast for changing their name and tried to make the point that black people don't listen to country music so why bother. What on Earth? 

Many were saying they were no longer a fan of the country trio.

"And just like that, I'm no longer a fan!"

Looks like the name change has infuriated some fans.

For the record, we think it was a great move to change their name! For more like this, keep scrolling to see why a group of white celebrities have been slammed for a Black Lives Matter video they made...