While the video for Jason Aldean's song "Try That in a Small Town" has been the subject of racism allegations, the majority of Americans, especially supporters of former President Donald Trump, do not believe that it deserved to be taken off the air.
A new poll commissioned by Newsweek shows that the majority of people don't believe the music video to be racist, while a minority agreed that the song itself was a "heinous song calling form racist violence," as claimed by a prominent Democrat.
Country singer Aldean has scored a hit with the controversial song after it reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but the track has been accused of promoting gun violence and containing "very scary lyrics," while its accompanying video was deemed to have "racist undertones" by some.
Democratic Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones called "Try That in a Small Town" a "heinous song calling for racist violence."
The song has divided opinions with celebrities like Shania Twain speaking out against it, while Trump and Ron DeSantis have thrown their support behind it. The song has divided opinions among the public too, with a marginal majority backing Aldean.
Polling company Redfield & Wilton Strategies conducted research on behalf of Newsweek.
Only 30 percent of those asked agreed it was a "heinous song calling for racist violence," while 50 percent either disagreed or strongly disagreed. There is a clear divide in those numbers when looking at the participants' political affiliations.
Of those that voted for Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election, 66 percent did not believe the song is a "heinous song calling for racist violence" while among Joe Biden voters, only 24 percent disagreed with the statement.
Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town" was originally released in May and went under the radar, but the release of its music video in July raised some eyebrows.
Accusations of racism were directed towards Aldean because the video was shot outside the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee where an 18-year-old Black man, Henry Choate, was lynched in 1927. When asked if they approved or disapproved or the filming location, 51 percent of adults polled said they approved, with only 21 percent disapproving.
Delving deeper into this divide, 59 percent of Trump voters approved while just 35 percent of Biden voters approved.
The backlash against the music video led to the Country Music Television network removing the song from the air, which led Aldean's fans to call for a boycott of CMT.
Only 33 percent of those polled agreed with CMT's decision to pull "Try That in a Small Town," while 52 percent opposed it. Once again the political divide can be seen when investigating that majority further; 70 percent of Trump voters opposed or strongly opposed CMT's decision while just 24 percent of Biden voters opposed it. In fact, 61 percent of Biden voters strongly supported CMT's policy.
The results are taken from fieldwork conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategy on August 5 and 6, 2023. Among their sample size of 1,500 adults, 35 percent had seen the music video for Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town" and shared their aforementioned opinions.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jamie Burton is a Newsweek Senior TV and Film Reporter (Interviews) based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
