Not too long ago, I was returning from the store down the street from my house. I was walking through my middle-class suburban neighborhood in Sacramento, California, when I peered to the left and something caught my eye. There was a white pickup truck with a plethora of conservative tributes, like a Blue Lives Matter flag and another sticker with 1776 deified over two crossed rifles. 

The one that captured my attention the most was a white decal in the middle of the back window, displaying the words “try that in a small town.” This sticker was a reference to the Jason Aldean song released earlier this year. 

On the surface, the song seems to be about protecting your city and bringing criminals to justice. When it came out, it received mixed reviews from people online. Due to its content, some called the song controversial, while others saw it as patriotic.   

I wouldn’t dub myself someone who is chronically online, but I’m aware of most current events that occur due to my relationship with the many facets of the internet available in the lovely 21st -century. It was only inevitable that I would hear about this song prior to my real-life encounter. I try to not participate in the discourse that takes place online. 

Due to this, I never had a reason or need to listen to the song. But seeing this sticker piqued my curiosity, and I felt obliged to indulge in something I typically feel is beneath me.

I went home and listened to the song.

You know those videos when a child who is deaf gets a device that allows them to hear? They get to experience the sweet sound of their mother’s voice for the first time, and they are ecstatic, bursting with joy. Well, this experience was the complete opposite of that.

The song is terrible (and that’s putting it nicely). It is a shame to not only the country genre, but to music in general. The lyrics are so simple they could have been written by a child. The melody is not impressive at all. The guitar is somewhat decent, but added with the other parts of the song makes it just as subpar. It’s a wannabe power-ballad that lacks any depth or emotion. All it succeeds in, is highlighting the ever-present histrionic “patriotism” that contaminates our nation.    

And the video. The video aims to highlight everything that extreme right-wing members of society feel is wrong with the country. That people are upset at the systemic injustices they face on a regular basis. 

In the video, Aldean and his band are performing in front of what looks like a courthouse with an American flag draped from it. It also features clips from security cameras of people committing crimes, and from different protests and “riots” that have taken place in America.

This song made it to the level that it is on because it was able to provoke people enough to bring attention to it. I think that as a society, or at least those who are opposed to music and art like this, we should no longer acknowledge and shine light on what is an obvious ploy to get us to react to an asinine and dreadfully mawkish attempt to diminish the struggles of Black people.

I can admit that this experience stirred up thoughts within me. But that is not to say that this material was “thought provoking.” It did not benefit me in any way, and if anything, did more harm to my already fragile psyche.

At first, I couldn’t help but to be mad. Then I laughed. Then I was mad again. Then I laughed.

I was mad at the blatant disrespect for a culture that I associate myself with. I was mad at the way that Aldean covertly portrayed us. 

Sidenote: we all know that he’s talking about Black people. Just because he doesn’t mention it directly in the song doesn’t take away from the connotation that permeates the contemporary red-state ethos. 

I laughed because it was stupid. It was a mind-numbing journey through delirium. I thought to myself “how can this be real?” I suppose I forgot this is America after all.

In the first verse of the song Aldean sings, “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face. Stomp on the flag and light it up.” Many of the images from the music video appear to be from protests or “riots” that took place across the U.S. in recent years. 

What were those protests usually prompted by? A Black person being murdered by the police who supposedly are here to protect and serve. People have the right to cuss out a police officer if they feel that they did not properly do the job they were hired to do. Conservatives are quick to defend the Second Amendment, but apparently, they forgot about the first one.

Are people in small towns blind to the hardships that people within bigger cities face? Are they so dense that they believe we all live in gold palaces and drive luxury cars? Do they think people commit crimes because big cities somehow make people inherently evil?

I truly don’t understand the logic. Did Aldean not take the time to consider why people are protesting the police? Did he ruminate about why people decide to take their country’s flag and set it on fire? 

It’s called discrimination, it’s called racism, it’s called injustice. Something that my ancestors fled to big cities to escape because of what happened in small towns. Those small towns where they were burned, whipped, raped and hung from trees in a carnivalesque fashion.

Although it is not as conspicuous as it was in the past, the systemic lynching of Black people (and other poor minorities) still exists. Whether it be through the education, housing or judicial system. The fact that injustice is still prevalent in society should be obvious based on the reaction from the people who are currently subjected to said injustice.

I was disheartened by a video that I watched which was a reaction to the song by four young Black men. They all said that the song/video “goes hard,” and they couldn’t see why it was controversial. 

I feel like this is a quintessential example of groupthink. Where people don’t want to contradict others so they can fit in. Or maybe they truly could not see the dishonor the song emanated.

This type of media will only further divide the people of this country, and maybe even the world. 

We must collectively strive for what is right for our people. If not, we will continue to fight amongst ourselves instead of who we should actually be fighting against.