Political Rorschach Test in Denim

Most see what they want to see in Try That in a Small Town

The Song

Charges of racism aren’t exactly a new phenomenon in country music. However, Jason Aldean’s song, Try That in a Small Town, has the whole country talking about it. People who haven’t even heard the whole song have very definite opinions about whether or not it’s racist. One of my normally reasonable Facebook friends felt compelled to publicly declare that anyone who likes this song is a racist. At the same time, I’ve had conservative relatives passionately defend the song even though they don’t like country music and likely would never have heard the song without the controversy. What the heck is going on with this song?

Is this song actually racist? That’s the obvious place to start, and it’s surprisingly easy to answer, no it’s not. That’s not to say it’s not problematic, because it is, but race is never mentioned or even alluded to. I think some charges of racism come from the video as much as the lyrics, but again, it’s pretty hard to point to anything overtly racist. It basically switches between scenes of largely white urban unrest, good small-town people, and Jason Aldean performing the song. There’s simply nothing you can point to and say, “that’s racist.”

Liberal Accusations

Those that are charging the song is racist, claim it’s making thinly veiled references to lynching and sundown towns where those with brown skin had better not be caught in town after dark. However, these claims are pretty thin. The song is pretty specific about the types of actions that will result in you “not getting far down the road.” None of them have anything to do with race.

It’s also been pointed out that the video was filmed in front of the Maury County Courthouse which was the scene of a 1946 race riot. The riot began when a group of African American veterans tried to stand up for their rights and were met with a violent white mob that destroyed many black owned businesses. Rather than trying to maintain order, local law enforcement protected the white mob and murdered two black men who were in police custody. Seen in that light, perhaps it’s not too surprising some would see the song as an endorsement of the white mob in 1946. But that interpretation requires a lot of assumptions about this song that aren’t supported by the actual lyrics or video. It seems more likely the sight for the video was chosen because it’s conveniently close to Nashville rather than being the sight of a race riot nearly eighty years ago.

Not Racist, But Problematic

The cries of racism from progressives aren’t really justified, but the song does have serious problems that are legitimate areas of criticism. It starts off with a list of five things you better not try in a small town. Sucker punching strangers, carjacking, armed robbery, assaulting cops, and burning the flag. The first four of these are just regular crimes that aren’t tolerated anywhere. Liquor store robberies are dealt with the same regardless of the size of the city. The police are called and if they’re caught, they’re arrested. This song would have the listener believe that in a small town they don’t call law enforcement, rather the good ol’ boys will hunt down the criminal to administer small town justice. That’s simply not reality in small town America.

The fifth item on the list of things you’d better not try in a small town is even more problematic. Aldean sings “stomp on the flag and light it up . . . see how far ya make it down the road.” Burning the flag is a Constitutionally protected form of speech, even in small towns. This line is reinforced by clips in the video which portray protesting as the type of activity you’d better not try in a small town. This flies in the face of the Founding Fathers who fought to secure the right to protest and who engaged in a little political protest of their own in Boston Harbor in 1773.

More than any specific lyrics or images in the video, I think the real problem with this song is Aldean’s repeated references to extrajudicial punishment. That’s what makes this a fundamentally unamerican song. A suspect’s right to due process, including a fair trial in front of a jury of their peers is one of the most basic of American rights. Aldean glorifies good ol’ boy justice that too many African Americans experienced firsthand during the heyday of Jim Crow. But rather than singling out a particular minority group, Aldean is calling for mob violence for suspected criminals and those advocating unpopular ideas. This song paints a troubling picture of small towns where individual rights are subject to the whims of local muscle.

The Defense

The song’s defenders have argued it’s about small-town values in a world that’s more concerned about political correctness than basic right and wrong. That claim simply doesn’t hold up too much scrutiny. There’s only one line in the entire song that expresses that sentiment. Aldean sings “Around here, we take care of our own,” which is repeated several times. If that was the theme of the song, I doubt we would be having this debate. However, even that line is sang after, “try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road, around here we take care of our own.” It suggests the way they take care of their own is vigilante justice against perceived wrong doers, rather than actually helping each other out. There’s also a passing reference to gun culture. However, given the number of guns in cities it’s hard to make the case that guns are specifically a small-town value.

Many are too fast in throwing around the term racism. That has the unintended consequences of lessening the impact of the label. This is a shitty song, that’s disturbing on several levels. It’s basically a rallying cry for vigilante justice, but that doesn’t necessarily make it racist. But this article is less about the song, than it is about reaction to the song. Unfortunately, it seems Try That in a Small Town has become a political Rorschach test. Those on the left have fallen on the knee-jerk reaction of declaring any problematic conservative position as racist. At the same time conservatives, seeing the progressive reactions have instinctually rushed to defend the song while ignoring its unamerican themes.

This song represents everything that’s wrong in America today. How both sides of the political spectrum have rushed to judgement without actually examining the song itself. For liberals it’s a little easier to forgive this given how it glorifies actions that where the hallmarks of the Jim Crow south. For conservatives this is just another example of them defending deeply troubling ideas without taking the time to question what exactly they’re defending.