Grammy-nominated country music duo The War and Treaty are speaking out about a racist incident they faced at the Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Trotter Jr. said he and his wife Tanya were devastated after they found cotton plant in their dressing room at the festival before going on stage.

“Anger is what I felt. Disrespect is what I felt. Sadness is what I felt. Sadness not just because of what that plant represents to people that look like me but sadness for myself because I am a son of this country. I served this country honorably in the United States Army 16th Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division. I’m wounded for that service. I’m very vocal about my wounds and my scars, and I felt betrayed,” Trotter told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s not fair. It’s something that white artists don’t have to worry about at all. … It just happens to come through the bowels of this genre. So, I feel that it’s not enough for us to talk about it, we have to demand that we be about it.”

The War and Treaty

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