Luke Bryan thinks America is still learning "about the severity of racism".
Luke Bryan has defended the country music scene
The 45-year-old singer rejects that idea that racism is particularly prevalent in the country music scene - but he acknowledges that it's a nationwide problem that will "take time" to resolve.
He explained: "First of all, there's racism throughout the whole country. To just sit here and single out country music as some kind of racist format is not altogether natural and true."
Luke thinks it's important to be open-minded about the issue in order to fight racism.
During a Q&A on a panel for the Television Critics Association, Luke shared: "I've been privy to various board meetings where we recognise our problems as an industry, and things take time.
"I think this country learns every day about the severity of racism. And like I said, I think sometimes you have to open your eyes and understand other people's side of the story."
Luke also explained that he's always "fired up" during his gigs when he sees "an African-American fan or someone of a different colour that didn't look like a typical country music fan".
He added: "It was always one of the coolest images in my world because that means I crossed over and touched somebody else that maybe stereotypically somebody else wouldn't agree with.
"And I think, as country music learns, yes, there's a bigger audience out there for us as artists."
Meanwhile, Luke previously claimed that "simplicity" is the key to country music.
He said: "The simplicity, that’s the beauty of country music, really. Country music has been able to do that historically better than any other genre, is the simplicity of … how the simplicity creates the emotion even bigger and better."
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