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Contributed commentary by APSU Professor Dr. David C. Rands:
I want to thank my colleague in the Department of History and Philosophy, Dr. Minoa Uffelman, for her critique of the currently popular song and video by Jason Aldean (“Try That In a Small Town”). It is important to recognize the complexity of the world we live in and the importance of being educated so we can understand contexts. Let me begin by stating that as with both Uffelman and Aldean, my views are shaped by my experiences, and hopefully informed by my training as an academic. I was raised in a suburb of Los Angeles and have spent considerable parts of my life abroad. I have lived in some of the largest cities in the world as well as small towns, and my academic training has a pillar of urban studies and community formation. I believe this training and experience shapes my views and hopefully allows me to articulate some of the complexities we see as we have a discussion prompted by Aldean’s song.
Yes, small towns have issues
Uffelman’s critique that “Try That In a Small Town” ignores the challenges of racial pasts in the rural South is certainly valid. Obviously, we should be more informed of the problems small towns can have. Try being a non-native English speaker in a small town, or someone belonging to a different faith. Try stepping out of your place in the social hierarchy or trying to present new ideas. Uffelman is reminding audiences that small towns are not necessarily the paradise Aldean would have us believe. Reality is more complex than a three-minute video can hope to convey.
An article in The Atlantic is an insight into the struggles ravaging small towns across America. Opioids, lack of employment opportunities, and rigid social hierarchies are pushing people to leave and never go back. Aldean’s utopian small town certainly isn’t reflected in towns like Beattyville, Kentucky, Ferriday, Louisiana, or Hebron, North Dakota, where lack of jobs, adequate drinking water, or medical facilities are incentives for young people to escape and never look back.
Uffelman isn’t wrong in her assertions that there are racial challenges in small towns as well. In 2016, 62 years after the Supreme Court ordered schools to be desegregated, a federal judge had to once again order Cleveland, Mississippi to integrate its schools. Obviously, the simplicity of small towns as the panacea to social problems is an unrealistic fantasy.
It’s a catchy song
However, truth be told, I like “Try That In a Small Town.” As someone who doesn’t like country music, and has at times shown distain for the genre, I find the melody catchy and the lyrics memorable. I think the song can be a door to discussion of both the benefits and drawbacks of society and human interactions.
When I first came to Clarksville for an interview, one of the very senior professors in the department described Clarksville as having all the drawbacks of a big city with none of the amenities. He had grown up in Clarksville and witnessed the growth and changes. I was coming from Frostburg, Maryland, a much smaller town, and was just happy to have an airport within a two-hour drive. In the time since moving here, I too have seen change and am reminded of the complexities of urban development. The desire to go back to the simplicity the “small town” represents (even if it is highly fictional) is compelling.
Redefining what we mean by ‘small town’
Possibly, looking at Aldean’s song in another way may help colleagues from all ideological stripes see it as a call for community and humanity. I would suggest that we all live in many “small towns” whether it is a suburb in Los Angeles or a neighborhood in Chicago. Church communities, school PTOs, or workspaces are all our “small towns.” The pandemic may have caused some fractures in those bonds and may have made us less connected. The larger societal pressures may be pushing us to abandon our communities for causes that neither care about us nor for us.
Aldean is addressing the age-old dilemma of balancing the need for control and anarchy by urging people to go back to their communities and together draw lines of socially acceptable behavior. His suggestions that sucker-punching strangers, carjacking, and robbing liquor stores are nearly universally regarded as things that shouldn’t be condoned. To Uffelman’s point, we need to be aware of the consequences of our communities’ lines. In the past, some have led to horrific injustices. In Clarksville, it is important that we have honest and open discussions about what lines we have drawn in the past, what lines we have now, and what lines we want to draw as we proceed. Then, as communities, we should unify to uphold those expectations.
We undoubtedly will not find every decision to our liking. Utopia doesn’t exist, but we can certainly work together to push our many communities towards an eutopian ideal. Maybe “Try That In a Small Town” is the catalyst to get us to do just that: try.
Dr. David C. Rands