Terry Wyatt
Conservatives are vigorously defending country singer Jason Aldean after the video for his controversial song, “Try That in a Small Town,” was pulled from CMT rotation following accusations that the tune promotes gun violence and sundown towns.
While Aldean has fired back at his critics, claiming allegations that he released a “pro-lynching song” are “not only meritless, but dangerous,” the video itself was filmed at Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee—the site of the 1927 mob lynching of Henry Choate, an 18-year-old Black man who was dragged through the streets before he was hanged from the building’s window.
The lyrics of the song, however, have drawn the most criticism. Seemingly taking issue with the BLM protests following the police killing of George Floyd, Aldean sings about how those who “cuss out a cop” or “stomp on the flag and light it up” will face retaliation from the “good ol’ boys” who were “raised up right” in the South.