New racism accusations surround Jason Aldean on TikTok as controversy keeps building

A TikTok creator is adding to the mounting racism allegations that surround Jason Aldean’s controversial “Try That In a Small Town” song and music video as the country star continues to refute any racist undertones.

Danny Collins posted a video on July 22 to his 73,500 followers of him breaking apart a promo of the song the singer put on his own TikTok on May 19. In the lyric video, vintage newspaper clips are featured. One in particular captured the attention of Collins, a former minor league baseball pitcher, who pointed out that one article in particular was shown as Aldean sings “see how far you make it down the road.”

Despite most of the words being blurry, Collins did a deep dive and was able to track down the original article, he shows in the video.

In a letter to the editor of The Petal Paper — a satirical newspaper that pushed back against racism and white supremacy in Mississippi — the reader, an NAACP public relations consultant, was shocked at the paper’s “incredible ridiculing of the White Citizens Council crowd” in a full-page ad.

He then hoped the article’s author, Percy Dale “P.D.” East, was still alive after writing such a thing.

East replied that he was very thankful for the letter and said that “I’m not yet dead.”

“Following the issue of March 15th, we had half dozen calls and not one would identify himself,” East wrote. “One person told my wife to tell me not to stick my head out of the house for at least a six weeks.”

East also explained that he was called a “(racial slur) loving b------” and that he had lost over 200 subscribers for the paper after the stunt.

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

McClatchy News has reached out to the record label that represents Aldean, BBR Music Group, but has yet to hear a response.

Aldean’s song has been mired in controversy, with some critics accusing it of being “pro-lynching” or filled with racist “dog whistles.” In the song, Aldean sings of “good ol’ boys” and gives an ominous warning to people stepping on American flags and confronting police officers. The video, too, has proved divisive, as it was filmed in front of a courthouse in Tennessee where Henry Choate, a Black teenager, was lynched publicly in 1927 by 350 white men.

On July 18, the Country Music Television network pulled the song and music video. Aldean has denied any racial undertones in his song, instead saying those accusations are “not only meritless, but dangerous.”

“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,” Aldean wrote July 18 on Twitter. “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.”

Who was P.D. East?

East created The Petal in the 1950s after the Supreme Court outlawed racial segregation in public schools in a 9-0 vote, followed by Mississippi lawmakers creating the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission and citizens forming White Citizens’ Councils “to counter advocacy for civil rights,” the Smithsonian Magazine reported.

“I closed my eyes and ears tighter,” East said, according to the Smithsonian. “But inside my heart and mind something was wrong. My moods of depression were frequent; my outbursts of temper were frequent. I knew neither why nor what. One thing I did know: I had to get it out, whatever it was.”

People assumed the satirical paper was actually taking digs at the Black community, so they bought subscriptions, only to discover it was ridiculing the white citizens’ councils.

“Thus the tiny Petal Paper, circulation 2,300 at its peak, launched one of the most relentless and single-minded crusades in the history of the Southern press, during which East went from being an eager-to-please businessman to what he called an ‘ulcerated, pistol-packing editor’ who took on the biggest issue of his day with unforgiving satire,” Smithsonian reported.

“His unique stand for racial equality put him in touch with Eleanor Roosevelt, William Faulkner, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Upton Sinclair, Roy Wilkins of the NAACP and the TV entertainer Steve Allen and his actress wife, Jayne Meadows. It also got East spied on, spat upon and threatened with violence and worse.”

‘First I’ve heard of the newspaper clipping’

Conversation followed in the comment section of Collins’ TikTok, with some thanking the creator for bringing this to their attention, especially after Aldean addressed the controversy during a concert on July 21.

“’You’re reading too far into it’ no my dude here is just straight up reading,” one person said on TikTok.

“It’s like they don’t know what the internet is,” another commented.

“This is the first I’ve heard of the newspaper clipping and backstory. Chilling,” one person commented.

“Best deep dive on this subject I’ve seen thus far,” another said.

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