With Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé reasserts authorship over a genre Black artists helped birth and proves, once again, that culture is capital.

She reframed country music through a Black Southern lens, spotlighted forgotten legacies, and rewrote American mythology in her cadence.

But the cultural impact didn’t stop at the sonic. It came with boots, fringe, braids, and an economic boom.

Since Beyoncé kicked off her Cowboy Carter tour on April 28, the ripple effects have been immediate and measurable.

In a year marked by overlapping refugee crises—from Gaza to Congo to Sudan—the news that 59 white South Africans have been granted asylum in the United States raises a deeper question:

What does it mean to be seen as vulnerable, and who does the world believe is worth protecting?

Their claim? Racial discrimination.