'Hidden Message' in Jason Aldean's 'Small Town' Video Sparks Furor

Country-music singer Jason Aldean is facing a fresh backlash over his song "Try That in a Small Town"—this time regarding a teaser clip he released two months ago.

The controversial track includes the lyrics that if somebody "cross[es] that line," to "cuss out a cop, spit in his face" or "stomp on the flag and light it up," to "try that in a small town." Aldean also sings: "Got a gun that my granddad gave me. They say one day they're gonna round up/ Well, that s*** might fly in the city, good luck."

On May 19, ahead of releasing his track, the 46-year-old musician posted a seconds-long clip of the song on TikTok. The video included highlighted lyrics, as well as newspaper cuttings. One of the latter has now sparked renewed criticism of Aldean, as it pertains to attacks on an anti-segregationist newspaper owner in Jim Crow-era Mississippi.

In a video posted this weekend, TikTok user @dannyfcollins breaks down the information on the newspaper clipping that was included in the visuals.

Collins zoomed in on the article to find that it was a letter to Percy Dale "P.D." East, the founder of now-defunct newspaper The Petal Paper based in Petal, Mississippi. Writing to him was Don Gross. He described himself in a letter dated May 21, 1956, as a public relations consultant to civil rights organization the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Gross told East that he had never "seen anything that startled me as much as the March 15 issue of the Petal Paper with its incredible [ridiculing] of the White Citizens Council crowd. I'm referring specifically to the full-page as I assume you wrote headed, 'You Too, Can Be Superior.'"

Per the Mississippi Encyclopedia, East became known through his publication for having regularly "unleashed a barrage of screwball satire to ridicule segregation, white supremacy, and massive resistance to integration." East was ultimately run out of the small town where he resided amid growing unpopularity.

"I hope I am not congratulating a dead man," Gross wrote to East. "This must have taken courage and I hope you are still with us. I'm mighty curious to know what happened after you exploded this blockbuster in your community."

The records of the article kept by the Library of Congress say East responded to Gross in a letter dated May 24, 1956. He wrote that he was harassed in his small town and his newspaper lost over 200 subscriptions because of his stance.

Of the subscription loss, East added: "Naturally, I can't prove it, but I have good reason to believe that there is something resembling an organized effort to stop advertising with my paper."

Recalling an encounter with a detractor the previous summer, East wrote: "I stopped for a traffic light in Hattiesburg and a man walked up to my car and invited me out, saying that if I'd get out he'd mop up the street with me. Naturally, being a coward, I declined, telling him that he'd have to offer more inducement than that. That's one minor incident."

TikTok user @dannyfcollins also referenced a Smithsonian Magazine article from 2018 that reported how East was "spied on, spat upon and threatened with violence and worse" for speaking out against racism.

"And why would this happen to Mr. P.D. East? Because he tried that in a small town. He challenged the Southern racist establishment," the TikTok user added. "But let Jason Aldean tell it, and everybody that's supporting this song, this song has nothing to do with race."

The post sparked uproar from a number of TikTok users, one of whom wrote: "Like it's one breath away from 'this is a sundown town...'"

Echoing that sentiment, another commented: "Literally the first thing I thought when I heard about his song even before I listened to it was 'is this about a sundown town?'"

Historically, sundown towns are areas with all-white residents that have policies based on race, such as ordering Black people to leave their neighborhood by nightfall.

"It keeps getting worse and worse the more I hear," wrote one TikTok user, while another asked: "Why didn't he put any clips from the [January 6, 2021] INSURRECTION??"

As of press time, Aldean's clip remains on TikTok, where he told his fans in a caption: "To me, this song summarizes the way a lot people feel about the world right now. It seems like there are bad things happening on a daily basis, and that feels unfamiliar to a lot of us. This song sheds some light on that."

While a flood of new comments in the past two days have questioned the highlighted newspaper cutting, many Aldean fans praised the track.

"Damn good song, as per usual! Nice to see a huge artist speaking their mind like this," wrote one fan, while another commented: "Love it!!! I'm from a small town!!! No better living!!!"

Another TikTok user questioned how much oversight Aldean had of the video, writing: "I don't know if this Jason guy knew this but it's his song so he had to okay the video so it is on him."

Newsweek has contacted a representative of Aldean via email for comment.

Aldean—who has won the support of former President Donald Trump, among others—is facing other complaints relating to his track. His music video sparked criticism from many for being filmed outside of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where a white mob killed Henry Choate, a Black man, in 1927. The video also shows riots and protests in different parts of the country.

Last weekend, Aldean unveiled the music video for his song, which music channel Country Music Television (CMT) decided to drop from its broadcasts on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the station told Newsweek that the music clip is no longer on rotation on the channel, but did not offer any further information as to why the decision was made.

The track and its accompanying video have sparked an ongoing debate on social media. One detractor on Twitter branded the track "very scary," while a supporter wrote that the song depicted how Americans "are sick and tired of the crimes, criminals, violence, repeat offenders, liberal DA [district attorneys], 2A [second-degree] assault, defund the police BS [b*******]."

Aldean—who grew up in Macon, Georgia, and Homestead, Florida, with populations of 157,346 and 80,737, respectively—responded to some of the criticism last Tuesday.

He tweeted: "In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM [Black Lives Matter] protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.

"There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it—and there isn't a single video clip that isn't real news footage—and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music—this one goes too far," Aldean added.

"'Try That In A Small Town,' for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief," he said. "Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences.

"My political views have never been something I've hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this country don't agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to—that's what this song is about," Aldean added.

Update 07/24/2023 7:30 a.m. ET: The headline on this article has been updated.