The war and the treaty felt “betrayed” after finding a cotton plant in a dressing room

• The War and Treaty recalled finding a cotton plant in her dressing room
• The disturbing incident occurred at the Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Music Festival last month, where the Grammy-nominated duo was performing
• The couple spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the feeling of “anger” and “sadness” about the derogatory symbol

The War and Treaty discuss a disturbing discovery made in their dressing room at the Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Music Festival last month.

Before their June 29 performance at the Austin event, the country duo revealed: The Hollywood Reporter that there was “a cotton plant” in their room, which they found deeply offensive.

“We all know what this means,” said 41-year-old Michael Trotter Jr. about the racially motivated act. “We all know what this means in this country for people who look like us.”

Tanya Trotter, 50, said her experience of the incident was “a hard blow for the granddaughter of a sharecropper.”

“My grandfather bought the plantation in New Bern, North Carolina, where he grew cotton,” she said. “My family still lives there. When you look at these things, you think, ‘Wow, even though my grandfather bought the plantation, there’s still a lot of suffering behind the people who didn’t have a chance to turn it into economic development for their families.'”

The “Blank Page” singer said she didn’t want to “sit there and educate anybody” about why the cotton plant was an insult, “because it’s not my job to educate anybody about what cotton is and what it stands for in this country. That just shouldn’t happen.”

“It’s not just about racism anymore, it’s about more than that,” she added. “It’s a safety issue now because we need to feel safe when we come to these festivals.”

Recalling his feelings at the time of the incident, Michael explained, “I felt anger. I felt disrespect. I felt sadness. Sadness not only because of the meaning of this plant to people who look like me, but sadness for myself because I am a son of this land.”

The “Leads Me Home” singer said he felt “betrayed” by the derogatory symbol because he “served this country honorably in the 16th Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division of the United States Army.”

“I’m hurt because of this service. I’m very open about my wounds and scars and I felt betrayed,” he continued. “It’s not fair. It’s something that white artists don’t have to worry about at all… It just comes through the guts of this genre. So I feel like it’s not enough for us to talk about it, we have to demand that we talk about it.”

The War and Treaty performed at the festival as planned, but Michael said THR There was a moment when he almost ripped her out of the show.

“When I demanded that we leave the festival quickly and get out of there, Tanya and I were in our hotel room trying to talk to our 12-year-old son, Legend, and he finally approached us,” Michael added. “He said this was not the time to be silent about this. He was very upset and understood exactly what that meant. He is homeschooled and knows what that means… because Ty and I sat down and drilled it into him.”

On Wednesday, July 3, after the THR When the interview was published, War and Treaty addressed her comments in an Instagram Story post, saying, “We went back and forth about whether to comment on this incident. Ultimately, we knew this issue was bigger than just us.”

The Grammy-nominated couple added, “We hope you take the time to read this article. Thank you for taking the time to report on this, @hollywoodreporter.”

PEOPLE has contacted representatives from The War and Treaty and the Sips & Sounds Music Festival for comment.