“To live and let live” is a proverb worthy of remembrance. As our homogenized society moves further from acceptance and more towards fear, it’s not lost on me that it took four white guys to write a song about violence now dominating the charts. “Try That in a Small Town” is the latest assault on human dignity. With worn and tired lyrics it boasts about guns and small town boys sticking together.
But one of the giant omissions of this mess of a song – and there are many – is that it champions a dying breed.
When we are told “the west was won”, it’s with this kind of swagger. The bravado is used to hide the truth that the west was stolen at the cost of indigenous lives and ways of being. These whitewashed storylines creep into our discourses today with the latest out of Florida introducing a curriculum espousing that human beings benefitted from being enslaved.*
Really? What sickness is this that continues to dominate the airwaves and receives so much support?
I haven’t watched the video of the song. I read the lyrics and that was enough.
Sing and make some money fellows. The tide is turning and your chest thumping proves it. You’re not striking fear; you’re inviting resistance. And how will that resistance look? Like the colors of the rainbow we will rise and envelope you. We will plant gardens where you poisoned the soil; we will restore the waters until they are pristine again.
Most importantly we will teach love and forbearance and if you are fortunate, we will forgive you.
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And if you want a deeper dive into Florida’s latest controversy: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/jul/24/kamala-harris/do-Florida-school-standards-say-enslaved-people/
let kindness win 