I think it's more to do with the relationship between artists on the scene, jealousy and the "cold shoulder" syndrome than racism. As someone from the literary field, I can confirm this. When someone generally successful decides to venture into styles or genres where they aren't the top dog (yet), it's bound to trigger a reaction like this from artists who haven't made it (really) big outside country music. It's a bit like if Stephen King started publishing bestsellers in romantic fiction too. There would likely be a few peers who'd think "does he really have to invade my turf too?". That's how I see it. The lack of mutual support between writers can be mind-blowing. They don't attend each other's readings, it's all incredibly ignorant. When ai throw an event, if you want any of them to show up in the first place you got to invite and pay them to participate.