What's wrong with TN? - "Try That in a Small Town".

[KidsHappen]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2023/07/20/jason-aldean-song-video-pulled-cmt-controversy/

This is local to me and I am curious to know what people think about this song/video after reading the article about the history of where it was filmed and the scenes that were edited.  

Edited August 2, 2023 by KidsHappen

[Shoeless]

What I truly think about this person and his video likely violates board rules. 

I think anyone that claims the song and video "isn't so bad" or any variation of "he didn't mean it like that" are full of 💩

None of the lyrics or imagery used is an oopsie accident. I don't buy it for a minute that it was all innocent and he had no idea and everyone is just being so meeeeean to him. 

🐄💩

Edited August 2, 2023 by Shoeless

[Pawz4me]

The lyrics and imagery are clearly racist. At least I don't see how anyone who is honest and hasn't spent their entire life in a cave in the middle of nowhere would think that it isn't.

I'm willing to give him a pass on the setting of the video. From what I read that was a production company decision (which is totally believable to me), and the town is a common site for filming.

Doubling down on insisting the song isn't racist is . . something.

[HomeAgain]

Well, he was all ready to get out of a small "rearview" town a few years ago. 

I'm not going to give him enough weight to find him anything than morally repugnant.

[Xahm]

Even if he didn't mean any of it in a racist way, glorifying vigilantism is not ok. It's shallow thinking of wanna-be heroes, and it's currently making America a much less safe place to live.

[El...]

It's expressing the same ideas that drive lynching, and not too subtly. He's saying, we don't need cops or social structures to handle bad people, we'll deal violently with them ourselves.

Also, while it's sort of sweet to think of a Mayberry where people are close and ready to defend each other (against...who? "Urban" outsider criminals? But I digress), it's a pipe dream. Uvalde is pretty small, and people did not rise to the occasion. 

Uvalde feels like a low blow, but I'm going to leave it because it's true.

My 15yo bi-racial kid saw the music video and did a smidge of unauthorized swearing. She would be the universally recognized outsider in the small town where I grew up.

He's singing mythology, and that mythology has not helped us.

[JennyD]

I think that the song, and especially the video, are a cynical ploy for relevance from an aging star.   

Jason Aldean -- who is still a huge star but not nearly as hot as he once was -- has been undoubtedly watching the much younger Morgan Wallen rocketing up the country charts with hit after hit.  And Aldean and his managers decided that what his own career needed was some "anti-woke" energy.  (And they might have been right, sadly.)

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by JennyD

[livetoread]

I was struck by the idea that in small towns people that live there don't ever disrespect law enforcement or the law. I'm sure any sheriff could tell stories about those same good old boys who would beat up (or worse) an outsider who have also gotten drunk or high and spit on police or broken the law. It's severe insider/outsider dynamics. When we in the in-group do it, it's good old boys being country, but when you in the out-group do it, it's terrible and worth a beat down because you are scary and we aren't.

[Carol in Cal.]

I think that there are a lot of people who are nostalgic for a past that never really was and for community that they may or may not have actually experienced and that may or may not have actually existed.  I blame television, largely.  

[Katy]

I think it’s a song written by a group of people that didn’t include the singer and it appealed to him to stoke the fears and pride of right wing fans, whether or not he knew about this history of the area. 

And there absolutely ARE looting and riots in small towns, even if they are rare and affect so few people they don’t often make the news. I don’t remember a 6 month stretch as a kid that my dad wasn’t prepared to show up in riot gear to some protest or another. And every time there was a tropical storm or hurricane close enough to require people to leave, both homes and businesses were looted. 

[livetoread]

22 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I think that there are a lot of people who are nostalgic for a past that never really was and for community that they may or may not have actually experienced and that may or may not have actually existed.  I blame television, largely.  

I did a road trip last month, and there were parts of the trip when I could only get country music on the radio. I listened for hours and was struck by this exact thing. There was so much nostalgia and romanticizing contrasted with underlying paranoia towards those trying to take it away.

[Lady Florida.]

15 minutes ago, Katy said:

I think it’s a song written by a group of people that didn’t include the singer and it appealed to him to stoke the fears and pride of right wing fans, whether or not he knew about this history of the area. 

And at least two of the writers plus Aldean are NOT from small towns. This song was written to pander to a very specific group of people, many of whom are also not from small towns.

[Heartstrings]

Writing truthfully about small towns would have to include cooking and doing meth, mountain dew in baby bottles, theft of anything not nailed down, and stripping copper out of things, to sell for the aforementioned meth.  Not to mention 4 or 5 adults living off of Grandma's social security check in 1 single wide trailer.      

signed, person who has actually lived in a small southern town. 

Edited August 2, 2023 by Heartstrings

[Grace Hopper]

Just gonna drop this here. Language warning. 
 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8LRpqE3/
 

[Heartstrings]

1 hour ago, Grace Hopper said:

Just gonna drop this here. Language warning. 
 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8LRpqE3/
 

This is one of my favorite things.  😍And I'm a fan of country music, generally. 

[City Mouse]

Part of me believes that he and his team absolutely created this song and video on purpose. Controversy gets a lot more attention (and sales). I assume that every word and image was chosen deliberately. If he really didn’t anticipate the outcome, or think there was anything wrong with it, then he is a **** idiot.

Small towns are no icon of justice. They are just better at hiding things because the fear of outsiders is stronger that any sense of right and wrong.

[WildflowerMom]

He and his wife try to drum up controversy however they can get it.   He is getting older and like someone else said, Morgan Wallen has moved in (and has a much better voice, btw), along with a new generation of country music singers who are getting more attention.   He’s trying to stay relevant.   But the attention this song keeps getting drives me nuts, because it’s having the exact effect he wanted it to have.  He’s winning every time people argue about the song and I hate that.   

[Lady Florida.]

2 hours ago, Grace Hopper said:

Just gonna drop this here. Language warning. 
 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8LRpqE3/
 

Perfect. A much needed update to the David Allen Coe song (written by Steve Goodman and John Prine), You Never Even Called Me By My Name.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Lady Florida.

[Grace Hopper]

2 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

Perfect. A much needed update to the David Allen Coe song (written by Steve Goodman and John Prime), You Never Even Called Me By My Name.

Oh I love that song! 

[Lady Florida.]

30 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

Oh I love that song! 

So do I. 🙂

[Lecka]

I also love that song. 
 

It reminds me of my relatives who didn’t like Johnny Cash “because he is a criminal.”  
 

But outlaw country is a-ok!

[ktgrok]

5 hours ago, Grace Hopper said:

Just gonna drop this here. Language warning. 
 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8LRpqE3/
 

Jason Aldean is definitely a right wing racist/nationalist. Easy to google things he has said. But there are a few people speaking up for better values in country. This one is a favorite. 

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by ktgrok

[MercyA]

57 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Jason Aldean is definitely a right wing racist/nationalist. Easy to google things he has said. But there are a few people speaking up for better values in country. This one is a favorite. 

 

Also...

Lady Antebellum changed their name to Lady A.

The incomparable Dolly Parton changed the name of her Dixie Stampede show to simply The Stampede and said, "Of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!"

Blake Shelton: "Praying for justice for George Floyd, peace in our communities, and lasting change."

Tim McGraw: "I don't know how it feels to be black in America. I don't know how it feels to walk down the street at night and feel eyes of suspicion. I don't know what it's like to carry the worry for my child simply because they are black. I won't pretend to."

LeAnn Rimes: "If your heart doesn't ache, I mean ACHE, and the fire in your belly doesn't burn hot, you're not paying attention. PAY ATTENTION."

I'm not a country music fan but I love that these artists are using their platform to speak truth.

[Grace Hopper]

47 minutes ago, MercyA said:

Also...

Lady Antebellum changed their name to Lady A.

The incomparable Dolly Parton changed the name of her Dixie Stampede show to simply The Stampede and said, "Of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!"

Blake Shelton: "Praying for justice for George Floyd, peace in our communities, and lasting change."

Tim McGraw: "I don't know how it feels to be black in America. I don't know how it feels to walk down the street at night and feel eyes of suspicion. I don't know what it's like to carry the worry for my child simply because they are black. I won't pretend to."

LeAnn Rimes: "If your heart doesn't ache, I mean ACHE, and the fire in your belly doesn't burn hot, you're not paying attention. PAY ATTENTION."

I'm not a country music fan but I love that these artists are using their platform to speak truth.

I just wish Lady A had entirely changed their name because in my mind the A goes straight to antebellum. Not saying their action didn’t make a statement, just that my brain works like that. 

[Terabith]

Robert Heinlein:  “You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.”

Seems applicable to this song.  
 

[saraha]

5 hours ago, City Mouse said:

Small towns are no icon of justice. They are just better at hiding things because the fear of outsiders is stronger that any sense of right and wrong.

The night the lights went out in Georgia comes to mind

[HomeAgain]

54 minutes ago, Grace Hopper said:

I just wish Lady A had entirely changed their name because in my mind the A goes straight to antebellum. Not saying their action didn’t make a statement, just that my brain works like that. 

And that Lady A was already a stage name, for an African American jazz/soul/blues singer.

They stole it from her and made her fight for it, which rather defeated their intentions to not be racist.

[Grace Hopper]

24 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

And that Lady A was already a stage name, for an African American jazz/soul/blues singer.

They stole it from her and made her fight for it, which rather defeated their intentions to not be racist.

Gosh I’d forgotten about that. I wonder why they weren’t amenable to a completely different name. 

Edited August 2, 2023 by Grace Hopper

[Heartstrings]

Just now, Grace Hopper said:

Gosh I’d forgotten about that. I wonder why they weren’t amenable to a different name. 

I don’t think they are popular enough to withstand a full re branding.     

[MercyA]

1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

And that Lady A was already a stage name, for an African American jazz/soul/blues singer.

They stole it from her and made her fight for it, which rather defeated their intentions to not be racist.

Ah, I had no idea. I just read that their fans already called them, "Lady A."

They should have picked something else, but I'm sure it's hard to let go of a band name. Dixie Chicks just became The Chicks, for instance.

[KidsHappen]

5 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Jason Aldean is definitely a right wing racist/nationalist. Easy to google things he has said. But there are a few people speaking up for better values in country. This one is a favorite. 

 

I love this!

[HomeAgain]

1 hour ago, MercyA said:

Ah, I had no idea. I just read that their fans already called them, "Lady A."

They should have picked something else, but I'm sure it's hard to let go of a band name. Dixie Chicks just became The Chicks, for instance.

I think they probably could have played with the name.  Instead of Antebellum they could have made a one letter change to Antibellum. A little mix of Greek and Latin, but it would have made the name their own and kept it close enough for fans.

Or, they could have pulled a Hootie/Darius Rucker and completely changed their music to go with their new name.  Fresh start. 😄

Either way would have had them come out better than how they ultimately looked after the name battle.

[Farrar]

To me, the fact that he removed the BLM protest footage from the video was basically admitting they understood it was super racist.

[Ting Tang]

12 hours ago, Heartstrings said:

Writing truthfully about small towns would have to include cooking and doing meth, mountain dew in baby bottles, theft of anything not nailed down, and stripping copper out of things, to sell for the aforementioned meth.  Not to mention 4 or 5 adults living off of Grandma's social security check in 1 single wide trailer.      

signed, person who has actually lived in a small southern town. 

I live in a small town. The population is less than 1,000. I have issues with the quality of education, but I would not say this is at all accurate about my town or the surrounding towns. I understand there are some rough ones, but most are just… kinda boring. At least in my part of the country. 

[WildflowerMom]

2 minutes ago, Ting Tang said:

I live in a small town. The population is less than 1,000. I have issues with the quality of education, but I would not say this is at all accurate about my town or the surrounding towns. I understand there are some rough ones, but most are just… kinda boring. At least in my part of the country. 

I’ve always lived in southern towns and what they wrote does not accurately describe any town I’ve lived in, either.  

[Ting Tang]

Just now, WildflowerMom said:

I’ve always lived in southern towns and what they wrote does not accurately describe any town I’ve lived in, either.  

I live in the Midwest. My biggest gripe is there’s nothing here, lol. They do host many community events and parades throughout the year. I would not know where the drugs or trailers are…. I’ve also lived in a wealthy suburb over 100,000 in population. Lots of drugs there—and money to buy them. 

[Shoeless]

I live in a small town, and drugs and guns are problems in the bigger town next to us. The "big town" has 28k. Mine has less than 1000. 

Mine is one of 3 stick-built homes in the subdivision. Everything else is a trailer.  The trailers don't bother me; most people here want land for livestock vs fancy houses.  The gun range that moved in 2 miles away bothers me. We aren't that far from Sutherland Springs and I have some big feelings about that. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by Shoeless

[Halftime Hope]

1 hour ago, Farrar said:

To me, the fact that he removed the BLM protest footage from the video was basically admitting they understood it was super racist.

They had to remove it because of copyright issues with the TV station footage.

[KidsHappen]

For people who are not familiar with the area, Columbia (where this was filmed) is not exactly a small town. The population is 42,000 people which is bigger than the town I live in. Columbia has a a lot more problems with drugs, alcohol and violence than any of the surrounding towns. We personally have known two young men who were shot and killed at work, one at a pizza place and the other at a gas station.

I have lived in many small towns including one that had a population of 100 at the time, SAA-LUTE!, and none of them were as described in this song. He as previously mentioned is not from a small town either nor does he live in one now. Also that court house is not the only one in Columbia. There were other choices of where to shoot. This is the Nashville area for goodness sakes. There are tons of filming locations in the area, just about all of which would have been less contentious. 

I grew up on traditional country and then outlaw country before turning to rock in my teen years. Then when I was pregnant with my second dd my mom moved in with me. She watched CMT and I got introduced to what was called new country at the time, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, etc. and came to have some appreciation for that as well. We moved to the Nashville area 20 years ago now and my hubby was heavily involved in the songwriting business for along time but then his co-writer passed and we haven't listened to country music in years. It's not the same music it used to be. 

[Terabith]

Tera Vance said:  

I didn’t know why people kept mentioning “small towns,” but assumed it was a pop culture reference I was missing.

So, I googled it.

Jason Aldean, a country singer I've never heard of and will probably never think about again after people stop talking about him, recently released a song called, "Try That in a Small Town."

The song, if you've not heard it, threatens violence on people who do various things like car jacking, stomping on a flag, “cussing out” a cop, or robbing a liquor store at gun point.

A friend of mine pointed out that Aldean is from Macon, Georgia, with a population of over 150,000.

That’s… not a small town.

I’m from Logan, WV. Population is 1,400.

I came from Chauncey, WV, a coal camp in Logan. Population is 283. I am actually from “Chauncey Holler” (Hollow). Population is probably fewer than 100 people.

I’m from an actual small town.

I’m descended from the Hatfield/Vance clan of Hatfield and McCoy repute. I’m cut from the Shawnee resistance to the Indian Removal Act. My ancestors were freedmen. My ancestors mined the coal that kept the pacified middle class warm and cozy in their domesticated complacency.

And yes, if you come to an actual small town as an outsider and do things that seem threatening to insiders, they’ll handle it internally.

That much is true.

What Jason Aldean is talking about isn’t anything like what people from actual small towns would say. In fact, you won’t hear from them at all because it is not in the ethos of people from insular, isolated communities to try and posture with the outside world.

They don’t think people are actually going to come there and try to burn their crumbling infrastructure and rob their single-wide trailers and their dead grandma’s house they squat with duct tape and cut up trash bags for windows.

No city person is traveling to the middle of nowhere to steal your Aunt Gert’s Buick Skylark, Jason.

They don’t carry enough jugs of oil and coolant to pull over every few miles and top it off because they have not been waiting on that black lung settlement for over a decade to get their car fixed.

Noey (Noah) Mullens, the town mechanic, passes everyone’s car inspection because no one cares about regulations. The police would not ticket Aunt Gert, either, because when most everyone is that Poor, the police know better.

The police don’t “cross that line.”

No one is afraid of getting caught or being reported because no one is looking.

No one cares. No city folk care. No suburban country music singers care.

They’re invisible.

Police do not have much of a role in small towns. People do handle things on their own. No one is spitting in a cop’s face in a small town because Officer Joe Sias and his brother Don aren’t patrolling.

They probably never fired their weapons on the job at anything other than a rabid raccoon or coyote, and they’re considerably less armed than the average citizen. No one calls the police to report crimes.

But in a small town, you are very likely to be robbed by your neighbor’s adult kid with a meth or oxycontin addiction. They’ll steal your grandparents’ cancer and hospice meds and your tube TV.

And no one riots in a small town because they can’t afford to reach the power structures that left them so poor.

At nights, people steal the flood grates around small towns for scrap metal. They loot abandoned houses and businesses for copper wire and metal pipes to scrap. No one is ever going to revitalize those structures, so people just look the other way. By day they pick up beer and soda cans on the side of the road— for scrap.

Anything to avoid the mines.

Aldean’s video shows b-roll of protests, property destruction, violence, and generally unrelated incidents in big cities.

Nobody in those videos cares about what’s happening in somebody’s small town. This is the suburbanite white dude fantasy version of Scarface. It’s the product of having no sense of personal identity and appropriating some ill-imagined mixture of actual generational Poverty culture (which is not a white phenomenon) and a wholly American mythos of having a closed culture that worships assimilation.

They often don’t think they’re racist because they often do genuinely like their Black and Brown neighbors who fish and hunt with them and go to their churches and whose kids are on their kids’ little league team.

They have a vision of living in community that they can’t bring to reality because things have changed since the boomer generation's good hand. They have dreams of being financially successful if they just work hard enough, but those dreams are not coming to fruition because they’re an American myth.

They’re trying to hold on to a sense of grandiosity characterized by surviving struggles they never experienced and by having values they don’t understand or have no connection to.

They are angry at anyone defying the order because they cope with the loss of hope for a mythical future by trying to blame people being crushed by the systems that are also eroding the white working class (at a slower rate).

The rate has been so slow, they don’t realize their sentimentality about how great this nation is came from lies they were told and an identity that is as empty and illusory as the history they learned in school.

It’s the equivalent of trying to be the proverbial “golden child” to an abusive parent, maintaining the illusion that the truth-telling “scapegoat” is actually the problem.

That’s the “great again” that people like that bank on. The proverbial “New Jerusalem.”

Is the song racist?

That’s the wrong question, because it’s oversimplified.

Is the song a mediocre by-product of a mass delusion that white settlers have agreed to maintain because they too had their identities stolen by colonialism, so that they are also defined by Uncle Sam’s toxic legacy as the golden child who is too cowardly to ask questions, hear the truth, accept accountability, or fight back?

Yes.

This peacock of a song is a blatant and pitiable attempt at being unable to accept that they only get a pass from Uncle Sam when they assimilate into a fictional character that upholds the colonial ego of Big Daddy Nationalism and Mama Manifest Destiny.

Unpacking that everything you’ve ever been told is a lie is hard work, and they’re not cut out for that because they’re not actually workers.

They aren’t the cheap labor they benefit from. Their “small town” fantasy is as sincere as their “honest worker” fantasy.

They need to consult their ancestors, and not just the ones who got free [stolen] land.

My “small town” ancestors shot the sheriffs and the deputies, they burned whole towns to the ground, and they led the most violent uprisings in the history of Uncle Sam’s invasion because they did not see the people upholding the status quo as “their own.”

Jason Aldean has no idea who “his people” are. They’re not “small town” people. They’re the middle mass, the embodied entitlement that one inherits when they come from a legacy of settler colonialism, slave trading, and evangelical purity culture that justified genocide.

They’ve been convincing themselves they’re fighting for something noble for so long, they see the loss of that illusion as a threat to the only identity colonialism left them with— generic whiteness.

What he can’t handle is that he’s not a “good ol’ boy,” he’s just a bully doing the business of an abusive parent to preserve the illusion of the “pillar of community.”

If he knew how to be in community, he would not be building a cult following on nationalistic propaganda.

[historically accurate]

I don't have a high opinion of the song and since I was driving around behind a car (in a city of 150,000+ no less) with a very similar window sticker, I like it even less now. I used to listen to almost exclusively country in the 90s - I hardly ever listen to music anymore. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by historically accurate

[Soror]

I do listen to country music sometimes but I'd never heard this song (or at least I don't remember it) when this controversy started. I went to a kickboxing class and the ladies were talking about it. Now, I had no frame of reference since I didn't know the lyrics. Locally people see it as a small town pride anthem. They see the positives that people look out for each other. They didn't see any connection to race. Racism is definitely a problem but I think people don't see it. They certainly didn't hear it in the song.

I grew up in a town of 300-600. I now live 15 minutes from the "big" town- population 16,000. The area is full of small towns. The only bigger cities are at least 1.5 hours away. The above description is not at all accurate of small towns here. There are people who do drugs but it stands out because it isn't common. Most every town has a trailer park but the overwhelming majority of homes are stick built. (Coincidentally we are on Vaca in the big city and drive by a trailer park on the way to our rental).

I certainly wish tsine things were different about where I live but I don't like being in cities for more than a visit. Cities aren't perfect either. I think people latch onto these things because people like to bash small towns and act like rural people and areas are all backwoods hicks that are less than.

[skimomma]

My family are music people.  We listen to just about every genre from classical to rap, including country.  My dd is a folk/bluegrass/rock/country musician.  She has really struggled with the identity that comes with modern country music and this song is a perfect example of why.  She recently stepped away from playing with a very successful regional country cover band because she had become uncomfortable with songs that portray similar values as well as the behaviors of some of the audiences they played to.  It was a huge money-maker for her, but between the ethical discomfort and the simplicity of the music (she could play songs onstage that she had never even heard before because they all have one of three chord progressions), she felt it was time to move on.  We are about as liberal as they come so I was surprised she lasted as long as she did.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of country artists that are singing about the real problems in small (and big) towns.  Two that come to mind are Tyler Childers and Billy Strings (both happen to be dd's musical idols).  Not only are their topics spot on but the music is complex and rich.  Childers, specifically, is currently under fire for his most recent release portraying a 1960s gay Appalachian couple.  To watch the video and read a little about it, this is a good article: https://www.npr.org/2023/07/27/1190148625/tyler-childers-in-your-love-interview

 

[Ting Tang]

1 hour ago, Soror said:

I do listen to country music sometimes but I'd never heard this song (or at least I don't remember it) when this controversy started. I went to a kickboxing class and the ladies were talking about it. Now, I had no frame of reference since I didn't know the lyrics. Locally people see it as a small town pride anthem. They see the positives that people look out for each other. They didn't see any connection to race. Racism is definitely a problem but I think people don't see it. They certainly didn't hear it in the song.

I grew up in a town of 300-600. I now live 15 minutes from the "big" town- population 16,000. The area is full of small towns. The only bigger cities are at least 1.5 hours away. The above description is not at all accurate of small towns here. There are people who do drugs but it stands out because it isn't common. Most every town has a trailer park but the overwhelming majority of homes are stick built. (Coincidentally we are on Vaca in the big city and drive by a trailer park on the way to our rental).

I certainly wish tsine things were different about where I live but I don't like being in cities for more than a visit. Cities aren't perfect either. I think people latch onto these things because people like to bash small towns and act like rural people and areas are all backwoods hicks that are less than.

Yes, I thought some of the comments (and sheer number of likes) were headed in this direction on this post.  It is rude to make fun of where people live; every type of town or city has its problems.   As for Aldean's video, I am against rioting (not protesting).  My big suburban hometown's downtown area sustained a lot of damage during the summer of 2020.  Those business owners and residents had nothing to do with what happened to George Floyd.  Not even the same state.  I did think that might have been what the song was getting at?  As for the song's filmed location, if it carries such trauma, why does it even exist (and without a historical marker)?  I can understand the trauma of that site.  Most music is manufactured these days.  I like some country, but usually the lovey dovey sweet songs.  Some I turn off, like the song about having your girlfriend's back if she kills her horrible husband.  Yeah.  

[HomeAgain]

2 minutes ago, Ting Tang said:

Yes, I thought some of the comments (and sheer number of likes) were headed in this direction on this post.  It is rude to make fun of where people live; every type of town or city has its problems.   As for Aldean's video, I am against rioting (not protesting).  My big suburban hometown's downtown area sustained a lot of damage during the summer of 2020.  Those business owners and residents had nothing to do with what happened to George Floyd.  Not even the same state.  I did think that might have been what the song was getting at?  As for the song's filmed location, if it carries such trauma, why does it even exist (and without a historical marker)?  I can understand the trauma of that site.  Most music is manufactured these days.  I like some country, but usually the lovey dovey sweet songs.  Some I turn off, like the song about having your girlfriend's back if she kills her horrible husband.  Yeah.  

I mean, don't we also have the white nationalists to carry the weight of starting up riots to blame "antifa"?  It would be disingenuous to ignore that aspect of the riots when comparing the outrage over the cost of human life vs. the the cost of damage to property.

If the song was getting at a version of events that pandered to a specific crowd, we really must include all the facts.

[Xahm]

What's funny in a sad way to me is that riots are also the outgrowth of the same thing Aldean is supporting in this song. Something bad happens- don't trust the system to bring justice. Instead, go out with your friends and bring about change. It's understandable that people get impatient with lumbering forces of bureaucracy that have often failed, but understandable isn't the same thing as right. He wants to be able to take the law in his own hands while at the same time criticizing others who are taking the law in their hands.

 

By the way, I'm not saying the system is perfect at all, or that protesting is wrong. It's also not wrong to have a neighborhood watch that keeps an eye out and goes and mows Ms Becky's lawn instead of calling code enforcement. Protesting can be corrupted and so can that neighborhood watch. My point is that there's a reason to have a slow, lumbering system and that we need to work to make out the best system we can. I have a high school classmate who is a true anarchist. He has no faith in the idea that systems can ever work and instead believes only in direct, local community action. I know he'd be very upset by the images used in Aldean's song, but I'm curious whether he'd see any reflection in his own beliefs.

[Ting Tang]

40 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

I mean, don't we also have the white nationalists to carry the weight of starting up riots to blame "antifa"?  It would be disingenuous to ignore that aspect of the riots when comparing the outrage over the cost of human life vs. the the cost of damage to property.

If the song was getting at a version of events that pandered to a specific crowd, we really must include all the facts.

I brought up George Floyd because people are saying this song is racist. I’m against riots of any kind. People who were not even from the area caused the damage. Terrorizing a community because one man was murdered hundreds of miles away is not okay. The officer who killed George Floyd had a violent history on the job— they knew and did nothing. There were warning signs. Maybe blame the mayor or chief of police. Go terrorize them. I’ll add in my hometown area, a Black man was stabbed for trying to stop someone from destroying property. So yes, destruction of property does lend itself to human pain. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by Ting Tang

[HomeAgain]

2 minutes ago, Ting Tang said:

I brought up George Floyd because people are saying this song is racist. I’m against riots of any kind. People who were not even from the area caused the damage. Terrorizing a community because one man was murdered hundreds of miles away is not okay. The officer who killed George Floyd had a violent history on the job— they knew and did nothing. There were warning signs. Maybe blame the mayor or chief of police. Go terrorize them. 

Actually, it wasn't one man.  It was a systemic abuse of power over several police stations and several high profile cases.  It was a boiling point.  It would be like saying the whole civil rights movement shouldn't have been sparked because one boy was killed.  Emmett Till was a boiling point.

And again, you can go look it up, that white nationalists played a part in sparking and sustaining riots in order to cast a bad light and create an atmosphere in which all protests were set up to be war zones, regardless of what was actually happening at a protest or not. 

[Idalou]

I think this was before he edited his video, but this lady shows how he lied

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8Lj9KqE/

Edited August 3, 2023 by Idalou

[Ting Tang]

2 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

Actually, it wasn't one man.  It was a systemic abuse of power over several police stations and several high profile cases.  It was a boiling point.  It would be like saying the whole civil rights movement shouldn't have been sparked because one boy was killed.  Emmett Till was a boiling point.

And again, you can go look it up, that white nationalists played a part in sparking and sustaining riots in order to cast a bad light and create an atmosphere in which all protests were set up to be war zones, regardless of what was actually happening at a protest or not. 

I understand that. It wasn’t the little downtown store owners, either, or the residents of these towns. I don’t dispute there were agitators or people taking advantage.