After 30 years, the Dixie Chicks change their name to just 'The Chicks'

The Dixie Chicks, a female country band dating back to 1989, appears to have officially changed its name to "The Chicks," possibly out of concern that the band's original name could invoke racist sentiment in some way. 

"Dixie" as a term has long referred to the southern United States; the nomenclature derives from the Mason-Dixon line, a latitudinal demarcation once seen as the principle divider of free northern states and slaveholding southern states. 

Also on Thursday, the Dixie Chicks's various social media fronts and websites had shifted the band's name over to simply "the Chicks." 

On Thursday the group also released a new single, "March March," a song that appears to criticize gun rights activists, pro-life politicians and climate change skeptics.