Member-only story
Political Rorschach Test in Denim
Most see what they want to see in Try That in a Small Town
In America today nearly any topic can become politically polarizing. The color of an animated mermaid for example. Perhaps choosing the wrong social media influencer to promote your lite beer. However, for as much passion as the brown skinned Little Mermaid and the transgendered Bud Light video stirred up, they were basically one-dimensional controversies. Disney replaced a white mermaid with an African American one, and Bud Light partnered with a transgender Tiktoker. Either you’re ok with that or you’re not, but there’s not a lot more to say about it. The latest touchstone issue in America’s culture wars is more interesting.
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…