On Blackout Tuesday & #TheShowMustBePaused

I am not attacking anyone personally, I love you all, but this music industry shutdown thing feels tone deaf to me. Let’s all participate in our actual world RN. don’t call ourselves the gatekeepers of culture either. Please
—2-time Grammy winning artist, Bon Iver
Before we begin here, even though it shouldn’t need to be said, but it’s important to emphasize, the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th was an absolute abomination, and a blemish on the history of the United States that will never be removed, and shouldn’t be. Everyone should feel embarrassed and appalled that such an incident took place, and even though the rioting, the damage of private property, and in certain instances, the injury and murder of innocent individuals in response is totally unjustified, the anger at the situation definitely isn’t. Furthermore, the continued instances of police brutality and overreach affecting all American citizens, but especially minorities and African Americans, needs to stop. And hopefully if anything good comes from the chaos of the past few days, it will be a renewed attention and addressing of these issues.
However, this idea to pause the entire music industry on Tuesday, June 2nd called Blackout Tuesday—and the calls by some to pause business for an entire week—can and possibly will be directly damaging to many independent artists, and independent music businesses at a time of already unprecedented pressure due to the extended COVID-19 shutdown, and now the looting and rioting that at times has disrupted business or specifically damaged music venues and storefronts.
The show has already been “paused” for 12 weeks and counting so the hashtag is insulting. But now is def a good time to talk about why there are so few black agents, managers, talent buyers, etc. #TheShowMustBePaused
Sonia Grover of Minneapolis music venue First Avenue
This well-intentioned, but poorly thought-out and somewhat misguided movement primarily promoted initially by major labels, can and will directly adversely affect independent music artists and music businesses, especially artists who are releasing new music this week, while these major labels are exploiting the moment as a marketing boon, stamping their branding on statements, while doing little of substance to address the underlying issues.
[It is an] ignorant and misguided way [to protest]. Everyone at their fucking offices should clear out anonymously, not as a promotional effort, not with your Sony logo at the bottom of it; get in the streets. I’m in the streets; most of my artists are in the streets. Anyone who can should anonymously be joining the movement. There’s a massive movement going on in the country right now. Why are they starting their own branded movement?
Joe Steinhardt, owner of Don Giovanni Records and a teacher at Drexel University
For this reason, Saving Country Music has chosen to not actively participate in the event. However with respect to the organizers of the event and the memory of George Floyd and all the individuals who have died needlessly in the past, this website will keep things light and only report on things deemed imperative or essential, which there is ample amounts of with so much unrest at the moment affecting the music industry, and independent artists and venues specifically.
Please don’t take this as a criticism of anyone who does choose to participate. If taking Tuesday off to reflect is what an individual or business feels is the best way for them to face the current crisis, then they should do so free of judgement, and with whatever latitude they feel they need to be afforded by the public or their superiors. However mandating this day off from an effort of peer pressure, and in a way where you risk being labeled racist if you don’t participate, is misguided. Music businesses that feel they need to be at partial or full operation on Tuesday to fulfill obligations should do so free of guilt.
I’m sorry to break ranks with the entire industry but this #TheShowMustBePaused thing tomorrow reeks of another token easy fix hashtag to feign support for a life or death issue. So, I won’t be silently reflecting “in solidarity”. I’ll be screaming. Tomorrow and every day.
American songwriter B.C. Camplight
Frankly, now feels like the time that the music industry, artists, media outlets, blogs, podcasters, DJs, labels, and behind-the-scenes personnel should be leaning on the accelerator, not tapping the brakes for any interval, utilizing music as a tool of healing, of unification, of escape, and a vehicle for broadening perspectives due to the unique role of music as a universal language.
For artists who are releasing new music the first week of June, every day will be a critical moment that could make or break their important project, and their career by proxy. That is why it has been more important than ever to focus on these releases during COVID-19. Now that the news cycle is even more tied up with riot news and political rancor, it’s even more imperative sleeves are rolled up, and action is taken. Don’t let artists and their expressions be yet another casualty of this unprecedented time. And no, this isn’t just about commerce and Capitalism. Of course lives are more important than money. But livelihoods are important too, and so is music to the sanity and well-being of the population.
I want to thank the organizers of the #The ShowMustBePaused campaign for giving individuals and entities in the music industry the opportunity to take a day if they feel it is needed to reflect on how they view race in America, and how that affects their daily actions. But ultimately, action is what is needed, not only to save America from the current strife we are experiencing, but to save the music industry, especially the small businesses and independent operations that after COVID-19 are often hanging on by a shoestring.
And as for the major labels who are calling themselves the “gatekeepers of the culture” with their Blackout Tuesday proclamations (as Bon Iver mentioned above), please don’t be so presumptuous, and arrogant. It’s not the number crunchers at major labels that “gatekeep” the culture. If it’s anybody, it’s the artists, the fans, the side players, the sound guys, and the folks in the trenches of grassroots festivals and local venues that are on the front line of a crisis situation in their industry working collectively that unfortunately can’t afford a day off. They’re working double time just to survive. But they do it with alacrity and love because they understand inherently that music can solve problems and be an agent for change where everything else fails.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Country/Roots Releases This Week (June 5th):
Sarah Jarosz – World on the Ground
John Baumann – Country Shade
Hellbound Glory – Pure Scum
Jerry Castle – Midnight Testaments
The Harmed Brothers – Across The Waves
Paisley Fields – Electric Park Ballroom
June 1, 2020 @ 7:10 pm
I think this thing only blew up the way it did because the only other thing that is being talked about for the last three months is Covid-19. People have been locked in their homes and were ready to break. The anger built up from coronavirus contributed to the big blow up and the protests. Others were eager for a new story. Coronavirus almost feels like old news at this point.
I guess social distancing is no longer a thing…
June 1, 2020 @ 7:34 pm
Interesting take. I think it’s police murdering another black man, unarmed and in custody. I’m pretty sure that it has to do with no just recourse, highlighting America’s institutional racism and the power structures that maintain it- including white folks telling Black folks that theyre protesting wrong, that the main story is property damage, effectively eliminating their voices again. Anyway-
Totally with you on the necessity of action vs ‘fb status’. Would be interesting to compile a list of country songs that speak to civil rights- I can’t think of any off the top. At some level, all those patriotic songs are about a country born of rioting.
June 1, 2020 @ 8:02 pm
1) Johnny Cash: Man In Black
June 1, 2020 @ 8:04 pm
Here’s 10 songs I compiled a few years back:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/10-country-songs-criticizing-the-police-state/
June 1, 2020 @ 8:36 pm
This isn’t the first time its happened. What made people “break” this time? I think people are bored. They want an excuse to go outside and protest. A lot of them will forget about the whole thing in a week. Right now a lot of the people posting about it on social media are only posting about it because its the “trendy” topic right now. It takes me back to when everybody put the French flag on their facebook profiles. Or the rainbow flag.
June 1, 2020 @ 8:39 pm
Country singers are suddenly bandwagoning also. Where were they a week ago when this first happened? Suddenly its a “thing” now that other people are posting about it. Its the copycat effect.
June 1, 2020 @ 10:03 pm
Perhaps they realized that the Dixie Chicks Effect wasn’t enough to stay silent during this historic event. (And if you think they are not getting blowback, just read the comments on their Twitter and Instagram posts, some of them are truly horrifying.) So thank you, Maren Morris, Lindsay Ell, Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown, Jimmie Allen, Kacey Musgraves, Kim Moore, Ashley McBryde, Shane McAnally, ACM, Warner Music Nashville and a lot more I can’t remember right now.
June 2, 2020 @ 9:39 am
Folks like Isbell, ESR, and Zach Bryan have been vocally pissed for the past week, and that’s just the people I follow on Twitter.
June 2, 2020 @ 5:55 am
You are correct it’s not the first time its happened… that’s the sad and very wrong part. Maybe its time to actually learn from it and not push it under a flag and pretend it’ll go away…maybe it’s time to make sure it doesnt happen again.
June 2, 2020 @ 11:53 am
“I’m pretty sure that it has to do with no just recourse…”
You mean, like, someone NOT being arrested for murder?
June 2, 2020 @ 12:57 pm
*manslaughter
June 2, 2020 @ 3:31 am
Yeah, THAT’S the only reason. It couldn’t possibly be the murder of yet another unarmed black person by the police.
June 1, 2020 @ 7:13 pm
Anyone – repeat: ANYONE – who DARES to join in any activity which furthers and encourages the violence that has occurred over the past several days should be boycotted from now on. They should be “Dixie-Chicked.”
Have a nice day.
June 1, 2020 @ 7:16 pm
Thousands of injustices happen every day. Criticising people for not ‘taking a stand’ about one injustice is stupid. Treating others as we would like to be treated in our small part of the world speaks far greater than words.
June 1, 2020 @ 7:24 pm
What happened to George was horrific, but yes, like you said thousands of just as horrific injustices happen every day. George Floyd’s own family are condemning the riots.
June 2, 2020 @ 7:53 am
It’s not about a single injustice though. Look up the deaths of Breonna Taylor and Ahmed Aubrey. Both of those deaths occurred early this year and neither were really investigated until the public became aware of them weeks/months after the fact. Take that against the backdrop of studies showing black people being disproportionately likely to contract and die of covid– not because of any inherent biological differences, but largely because of the discriminatory housing practices that placed them in locations where they are more likely to develop underlying health conditions– and you might get a clearer picture of why people feel compelled to take a stand against systemic racism in this moment.
https://www.wired.com/story/covid-19-coronavirus-racial-disparities/
June 2, 2020 @ 9:08 am
People are totally right to take a stand. I just don’t think people should be criticised for not being vocal on social media or not following the crowd on social media with Blackout Tuesday. Racism is real and horrible but I don’t think these social media actions achieve anything. In the future will we live in a society where we have to post our ‘sympathy’ for every wrong in the world? It just seems so hollow to me. I’m just not sure social media is the right platform to enact change as there always seems to be a lot of collateral damage i.e innocent people accused in #me too.
June 1, 2020 @ 7:21 pm
When lawlessness and moral emptiness embraces a culture, you then have animals running the zoo.
June 2, 2020 @ 12:56 am
The animals are running wild. This has nothing to do with George Floyd, God rest his soul, and everything to do with stoking the flames of hate and division. The ones rioting, looting, burning cities and committing murder (how many innocent people have died at the hands of these thugs?) don’t give a flying fuck about Mr. Floyd or his family.
And this has nothing to do with people being locked up or bored. This shit has been going on for years. These domestic terrorists have hijacked a terrible tragedy to do what they do best, destroy and divide. And now every company and celebrity is falling all over themselves to prove they’re not racist, while promoting what great human beings they are.
June 2, 2020 @ 6:06 am
Jimmy,
Couldn’t agree more. George Soros is a big influencer in this. I know his shenanigans via the industry I work in.
June 2, 2020 @ 6:19 am
Yup, Ol’ George also helped fake the moon landings and has been putting LSD in your drinking water… C’mon, this is a country music site – if you’re a paranoid conspiracy theorist at least claim Soros is secretly propping up Sam Hunt or Florida-Georgia Line…
June 2, 2020 @ 9:40 am
George Soros is why wayne can’t get it up!
June 2, 2020 @ 6:59 am
George Sonos you mean?
June 1, 2020 @ 7:47 pm
Good. For one glorious day, my feeds are gonna be super tolerable. Please, by all means, take a week, a month, hell, a year. If you really care, that is
June 1, 2020 @ 8:11 pm
Unfortunately, I think the opposite might be the case. If you follow lots of bands and artists and labels, you’re unlikely to see them posting songs or updates. Instead, it will be everything else.
June 1, 2020 @ 8:49 pm
Like social justice? I hate what happened just as much as the next person and I pray justice is served, but I don’t want to be preached at or white shamed. How do I personally fight racism? I am kind and compassionate to everybody. I believe in actions speaking louder than words. I treat everybody the same regardless of race, religion, etc. I weep for my black friends. But I don’t want to hear from someone like Florida-Georgia line on how white people should feel guilty about being “privileged.” Ugh hopefully its not unbearable.
June 1, 2020 @ 10:46 pm
> white shamed
Who is white shaming you, in what shape or form? I don’t think Trig did. Neither did the topic Trig was discussing. On the off chance that you think any general call to end racism, an institutionalized social structure that benefits overwhelmingly people like you (and me) is white shaming you, that’s on you.
June 2, 2020 @ 2:53 am
I think the point is that being neutral is not really good enough. It’s great that you are doing no harm, but ultimately that just maintains the status quo that is pretty shitty for a lot of people. It’s going to take a proactive response to undo things that are structurally wrong and that’s what the protests are about, even if there are a few bad actors taking advantage of the situation.
June 2, 2020 @ 8:39 am
Why do we place this moral imperative on artists? Is it just because they’ve reached some level of celebrity? It seems strange to pressure and demand anything from a Country artist (who reached a certain level of fame by….creating music) beyond continuing to create art. If they feel compelled to speak out about a given social issue, great, but when they release a bland, clearly corporate label-approved statement just to get the pressure off…what purpose does that even serve at that point? I can’t imagine the angriest people in these artist’s Twitter mentions are fans of their actual music, for the most part..
June 2, 2020 @ 9:43 am
You’re right, ISMB – the moral imperative is on everybody, including you.
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.
June 2, 2020 @ 4:13 pm
Literally no one wants you to feel guilty for being born white. They want you to do what you can to make life better for people who were born black.
The whole point of talking about privilege is to recognize that life is different for people who aren’t white, based purely on the color of their skin. If it would make you feel better, you can flip it around and talk about the disadvantages people of color have in life.
After slavery, there was Jim Crow. And then there was redlining. And then there was the war on drugs. All to keep black people from enjoying equality and their full rights as citizens. You aren’t responsible for any of that. I’m not responsible for any of that. But it’s real, and black people in this country have to deal with it every day.
And in case you don’t want to think the war on drugs was racial, here’s an article with a quote directly from one of the men who started it.
https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/
“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
On its face, it sounds great to “not see color.” But that means you’re ignoring the very real differences in how black and white people are treated in this country.
June 3, 2020 @ 6:10 am
Thanks for this. FYI, you can add to the list “the systematic destruction of Black families by unnecessary placements into the foster care system.” Check out Dorothy Roberts’ book, Shattered Bonds.
June 2, 2020 @ 7:22 am
Trigger, check out LA Salami’s IG story when you get the chance. He said it better than anyone in my opinion
June 1, 2020 @ 8:08 pm
At least Grace Potter didn’t follow this tonight. She played a good hour long set at her house and sounded great. No, she’s not country, but she did sing with Kenny on a great song, You and Tequila, and she’s also a great talent.
June 1, 2020 @ 8:38 pm
If you read the reasoning behind the artists doing it, it’s so that “POC” can have the microphone and podium for lack of a better term for the day or some crap like that. They thing by not posting those peoples Instagram posts will be seen more or something.
June 2, 2020 @ 8:16 am
The exact opposite has happened. Multiple black organizers and celebrities are complaining that all the music artists and companies posting black squares with Black Lives Matter hashtags on Instagram are drowning out actual information about the movement. Multiple music outlets are now picking up the story and posting about it, defying the “blackout.” Though well-intentioned, this thing is a disaster.
June 1, 2020 @ 8:59 pm
Hi, I’m back. Read the whole article.
Thought better of this blog. Moderate protest hasn’t worked. It’s time for real change, not just talk. Was let down.
June 1, 2020 @ 9:11 pm
What do you mean?
Are you saying that this #TheShowMustBePaused is an escalation in protest? Because the assertion of the four individuals I quoted in the article is that it’s a toothless hashtag that’s been co-opted by corporations for branding and marketing purposes.
How much more do we need to escalate the protests? Is affluent, educated whites burning churches, defacing Civil Rights landmarks, fire-boming minority-owned independent businesses, and murdering security personnel not enough? Black America is calling for de-escalation. It’s Antifa and similar groups that don’t want the disorder to ratchet down or end.
June 1, 2020 @ 10:59 pm
I have zero doubt that there are anarchists with sinister motives in the mix of all of this looting/burning/riot ingredients. Individual actions of those specific type of people (generally young whites with ridiculous anarchy fetish): deserve a bullet. But the OVERALL cause is just. The OVERALL motive is that of justice, and of I’m-sick-and-tired-of-systematic-racism-let’s-finish-it-this-time. I don’t think you are a racist. I just think you are a preservationist, and don’t realize the necessity for change. Peaceful protests have happened, to no avail. The next understandable step is escalation. You have spoken out very respectfully and moderately over the years i have been reading. But now is not the time for moderation.
June 1, 2020 @ 11:46 pm
Of course, this is all my opinion, and to each his own. But this go round, I have a different feeling about all of this, and feel the need to share. Thank you
June 2, 2020 @ 8:20 am
Totally understand the logic. Nothing has worked previously, so ratcheting up the pressure might be the only way to bring about change. My only point is you don’t do that with a hashtag. You do that with action. To me, this whole idea is major labels trying to stay ahead of a problem in an industry where 90% of the top talent is black. The CEOs of Sony and Universal are afraid they’ll be next in the crosshairs. Meanwhile Black Lives Matter organizers are complaining all the blank black squares on Instagram today are drowning out black voices, and important information on the Black Lives Matter movement. This thing has backfired.
June 2, 2020 @ 5:02 pm
pausing their contributions to popular culture and attempting to pause the part of the economy that they control is an intriguing form of protest.
refusing to participate in a society they no longer believe represents them.
June 2, 2020 @ 2:58 am
Who is Antifa, trig? I think you need to tread carefully there. There isn’t any central Antifa organization, or member roll, or any clear way of distinguishing who is an Antifa person or not. We’re heading in a dangerous direction of labeling any protestor we don’t like as a terrorist undeserving of the basic rights afforded to citizens
June 2, 2020 @ 8:26 am
Okay first off, I didn’t label anyone a terrorist. But just because Antifa has a decentralized structure doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. In fact this structure is on purpose to evade detection and infiltration and is exactly what makes them so dangerous. Make no mistake about it, Antifa condones violence and a founding principle, and has attacked journalists, incited riots, condoned looting and the destruction of private property all as their modus operendi for social change. They are the agitators, and everyone should join the African American community in denouncing this organization that is infiltrating peaceful protests, and destroying property, including Civil Rights landmark and independently-owned minority businesses, and disrupting social programs like Meals on Wheels and food deliveries more important than every due to COVID-19.
June 2, 2020 @ 10:10 am
I know you didn’t, but our president has made clear his intention to label Antifa a terrorist organization when it’s debatable that they are even an organization.
I’m not here in any way to make a defense of Antifa. I know a lot of bad things have been done in that name. I’m just weary of the word “Antifa” becoming a nebulous, vaguely defined boogeyman that’s used to persecute a wide swath of dissenters. Not every idiot who breaks a window or dresses in black is Antifa. We need to be clear about what the threat is and what it isn’t
June 2, 2020 @ 10:46 am
There’s a lot problematic with what you’re saying here. You’re saying Antifa are “the” agitators, when it’s a clear reality that there are all sorts of agitators, some with an ideological bent but many without. Most of the few documented organized attempts at inciting violence have been from far right groups at this point.
You’re saying everyone needs to join “the” African American community in denouncing Antifa, as if that community has a single spokesperson and you’ve been in contact with them.
We all oughta denounce violence, but it’s hard for me to see the constant harping on “Antifa” as much more than a right wing talking point/scare tactic
June 2, 2020 @ 12:26 pm
Zach,
You kind of selectively quoting me here. As I said in another comment below in reply to Cool Lester Smooth, “Have some right wing individuals also been caught doing this? Yes, they have. And there’s also just random people with no ideology who just want to throw rocks at people and get away with it.
I also made a similar point on the story of Lower Broadway being burned. Undoubtedly the agitators are more omnivorous than one group. But there is a general consensus from both law enforcement and media reports that the majority of the agitators appear to be aligned with Antifa-like ideology. That’s why 80% of the people arrested in Minneapolis were from out-of-state. Now that’s not everybody. Antifa is not taking part in looting, for example. They may smash the storefronts and let the looters in. But their main purpose is to create agitation between peaceful protestors and the police so the police retaliate and chaos ensues, with peaceful protestors becoming caught in the crossfire, and radicalized when they catch a baton or rubber bullet. This is how they hope their numbers grow. They also actively target public and private property.
I understand Trump called out Antifa, so that makes some suspicious if it’s not just some boogeyman. Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve been deep into the Antifa issue for a long time. I lived in Oregon where the epicenter of the movement is based, and have been investigating a former Western Swing artists named Davy Jay Sparrow who became radicalized by the group and is wanted by the Portland Police.
June 2, 2020 @ 12:56 pm
But it is a bit of a boogeyman, isn’t it? These aren’t the weathermen or even the militia movement of the 90s. We’re not talking about an organization with bank accounts, infrastructure and leadership heirarchy. We’re talking about a loosely defined set of radical ideas that seem to catch on with some people whenever there’s highly publicized instances of police violence.
I’m not saying it’s you specifically, but there are some very intentional efforts among media and political types to paint people legitimately protesting as far left terrorists. Antifa gives them a good label to do it, and that’s what we need to be careful of
June 2, 2020 @ 6:03 pm
No, these are EXACTLY like The Weathermen, with a structure that is similar to Anonymous. These are educated, often affluent whites, often with ties to academia, just like the Weathermen were. And there is definitely leadership, funding, founding principles, and the like. That doesn’t mean every offshoot of the organization has these things, but when you have hundreds of agitators flowing into Minneapolis on cue, someone is paying to get them there, and organizing the effort.
All that said, I agree in these instances it’s easy to paint with a broad brush and draw generalities. Certainly Antifa and Antifa-inspired groups are not behind all the agitation or violence, but they definitely are playing a role.
June 2, 2020 @ 6:17 pm
If you have concrete evidence of organized Antifa leadership paying to send people to protests I would be very interested to see it. As far as I know such evidence doesn’t exist.
We do have concrete evidence though of far right groups running fake Antifa accounts trying to incite violence. We have other far right people wanting to start the “boogaloo”. That’s why I think you should be more careful when linking things to “Antifa”.
And I think it’s a little absurd to say Antifa is EXACTLY like the weathermen, a highly organized group that actually bombed the pentagon.
June 2, 2020 @ 9:47 am
In fairness, there are some coordinated attempts to discredit the protests by inciting violence.
They’re just, y’know, by neo-Nazis and white supremacists…and he probably doesn’t want a chunk of this site’s reader base by calling those folks out.
June 2, 2020 @ 10:31 am
Cool Lester Smooth,
It is being well-documented by both mainstream and independent outlets on both sides of the political divide that Antifa and similar groups are infiltrating peaceful protest to purposely attempt to turn them violent, incite police to act and ultimately engage protestors at close range, and sow chaos. Have some right wing individuals also been caught doing this? Yes, they have. And there’s also just random people with no ideology who just want to throw rocks at people and get away with it.
But I don’t appreciate you calling a “chunk” of my readers neo-Nazis and White Supremacists. You are a reader of Saving Country Music. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be labeled as such. Just like the agitators in peaceful protests, yes, I’m sure there are some white supremacists that come to this site this site. But it’s not a majority, and that is not condoned or tolerated here.
June 2, 2020 @ 10:38 am
And “those similar groups” are neo-nazis and white supremacists.
The main difference is in coordination – “Antifa” are just random assholes who like to get into fights and burn shit, and want to cloak themselves in a label.
Anyway, I’m not calling your readership neo-Nazis and white supremacists (despite your tolerating Clint for years). I’m saying that a certain chunk of them would be offended by your calling neo-Nazis and white supremacists anything other than “very fine people” who just want “freedom of speech”…unlike those damn uppity folks at the SPLC.
June 4, 2020 @ 12:14 am
While I understand the point you’re trying to go for, if you’re talking about Andy Ngo, he’s 100% not a journalist. That’s one you’ve just got to let go.
June 1, 2020 @ 9:01 pm
Hey Bud- I think you should be clear about what people you’re talking about. When you say this isn’t the first time this has happened, you’re right. So how many black deaths are enough? You think people are bored and want to go outside- I think they’re fuckin terrified and deeply sad and deeply angry. A lot of people have been for a long long time, and the difference now seems to be that guys like you are aware of it now.
But maybe you’re just talking about how people behave on Facebook? It is easy to cynical about that stuff.
June 1, 2020 @ 9:04 pm
With respect, let me tell you why we decided to participate.
First of all, I share the skepticism about these kinds of gestures. They can be as empty as can be and reading some of the statements posted by labels reminded me of those companies running ads during the pandemic saying, “we’re all in this together, and that’s why we’re offering low APR financing on the (insert truck model here).”
I’ll spare everyone how I feel about what happened in Minneapolis, because I trust that we all feel the same way, no matter your political persuasion.
Why we decided to participate was that I think it’s a good to have a day of silence from the everyday routine. If the majority of the business shuts down for one day, it will send a signal, lord knows how strong of one, but at least a widespread signal of some kind, that we recognize what is going out there for our black citizens, and that THAT everyday routine needs to change. It’s powerful when a community affirms a value, and I would rather err on the side of having people know it’s more important to us than just tweeting something and feel like we’ve contributed.
We made a large donation to Fair Fight, an organization that fights voter suppression efforts aimed at minority communities. I have donated to them in the past personally, but never as a company, and never to the degree that we have in order to help foment the change discussed above. The main reason I did that was to feel like our shutting down tomorrow was not an empty gesture. So in that it gave me a reason to dig in more for a cause that will really help effect change, this is a good thing. I suspect that other labels are making significant donations to worthy causes in the same way that I did. Shame on us for not giving more before, but good on whoever thought of this idea, because it had the desired effect on me.
I will also say that the reaction of one of my employees who it really meant the world to that we participate made me know I had done the right thing for my company.
Everyone can make their own choices here. I won’t begrudge anyone working. There’s isn’t a right or wrong answer for everyone, but there are right or wrong answers for individuals and companies. I’m confident that this was the right call for Thirty Tigers.
June 1, 2020 @ 9:16 pm
Thanks as always for the insight David.
June 1, 2020 @ 10:06 pm
Some people (and brands) won’t waste a good opportunity to virtue signal by involving themselves in empty gestures easily shared on social media.
I fully support people’s right to protest in whatever way they chose (barring harm to human life or property) but I also won’t begrudge anybody for choosing not to be involved in seemingly arbitrary gestures that could further harm livelihoods during one of the worst economic downturns in the last hundred years.
June 2, 2020 @ 3:28 am
Especially minorities and African Americans.
This is a dividing a statement as any. There will only be peace when people stop separating themselves. The murder of George Floyd is a terrible, sad thing. But if you want racism to end, dont say the police killed another black man, say they killed your fellow citizen. We are all Americans and until people stop dividing whites and blacks and Hispanics and all other races there will never be a true end to racism
June 2, 2020 @ 5:35 am
Hi Rusty-
Do you think acknowledging that Floyd is an American murdered by a cop while other cops watch helps the situation in any way? Even ‘birther’ dumbasses wouldnt try to twist this shit. Whatever you think America is- the seperation you’re talking about is real and people of color live it daily, no fault of their own. Not only is ‘separating’ not a choice, but blaming people of color for it is the pinnacle of privilege- when your ‘fellow citizen’ is killed, it erases those differences which are very real.
On the other hand, if you’re referring to acknowledging and dismantling the systems of power that maintain seperation, which are firmly rooted in racism and class, then I’m totally with you. That would be a new America, one to be proud of.
June 2, 2020 @ 12:55 pm
Yes, it does help the situation. Separating yourself with a movement called black lives matter does more to divide the country than to bring it together.
June 2, 2020 @ 5:22 am
“Cutting off the nose to spite the face” is an expression to describe a needlessly self-destructive over-reaction to a problem: “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face” is a warning against acting out of pique, or against pursuing revenge in a way that would damage oneself more than the object of one’s anger. – wikipedia
June 2, 2020 @ 5:56 am
I pity Americans. You have to live in a country with a very low quality of life compared to every other first-world country in the world such as Canada, England, Japan, Germany, Australia, etc. I really believe this mass national protest is also about the lower and middle classes rising up against their bad living conditions. They know the quality of life in America should be much better when they look at other first-world countries.
June 2, 2020 @ 7:45 am
The majority of Americans have an undeniably high quality of life. Unfortunately we also have an increasing and prevalent culture of myopic and manipulative politics that distorts the perception of history and reality itself.
June 2, 2020 @ 8:30 am
Statistically and verifiably, the quality of life in the United States and the opportunity every citizen has is better than any other country in the world. That’s why it’s the #1 destination spot for immigrants. The problem is you have a political system that profits off of envy, and the division of American people to fill the coffers of the political industrial complex.
June 2, 2020 @ 9:34 am
Trigger, that is an objectively untrue statement. Several other countries have higher levels of educational attainment, lower infant mortality rates, lower mortality rates of women giving birth, higher avg lifetimes, more movement between classes etc, and score higher in terms of quality of life and happiness. Yes, the United States has higher quality of life then 3rd world countries, but not than many other first world countries.
It is of course subjective, but here’s one quality of life ranking (spoiler US is 15th): https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/quality-of-life-rankings
June 2, 2020 @ 3:23 pm
Sometimes you have to be careful with these measurements. My parents were not rich and both immigrants to the UK. I am apparently with a household income in the top 5%, it does not feel it with a modest house in the South East of the UK.
The level of government leaching ensures no matter how successful you are (unless you are extremely successfully criminally bent), all your hard work counts for little. It’s like a feudal system where the very top have few challengers because they tax the fuck out of you.
At least the welfare system keeps the poor…poor. relatively speaking of course as there is little absolute poverty in the UK. Let them vote for an extra bit of money/government handout every cycle whilst the extreme wealthy look after themselves in the disguise of progressive liberalism bollocks.
BTW socialised healthcare is amazing, just look at all the cover ups, obey the state! Shame most of the worlds healthcare breakthroughs do not happen in socialised healthcare systems..oh well..obey the state!
If the rankings were true, every single Latin American would marching all the way to progressive welcoming Canada.
You really cant measure freedom versus controlled tyranny.
June 2, 2020 @ 7:03 pm
The UK sucks too, haha – every other country in Europe learned from how shitty the NHS was, and designed better, cheaper healthcare systems…while the dole system of the postwar consensus essentially serves as an international cautionary tale on how NOT to handle de-industrialization.
None of that changes America’s issues.
June 3, 2020 @ 2:31 pm
@cool Lester Smooth
Is the UK on fire right now?
June 2, 2020 @ 6:31 am
how did i know that kyle would feel the need to address this topic and try write himself out of doing the bare minimum… drawing attention to it, complaining about it, and not doing it does much more damage than simply ignoring it for one day, but i think you know that and know the crowd you’re playing to.
June 2, 2020 @ 8:35 am
How did I know that The Gentile would make this all about me in a vacuum of any substantial argument against what I said? But if you’re going to criticize me, you need to criticize the four individuals I quoted in this article as well. Also make sure you criticize Rolling Stone, which has actually taken the lead on this issue. Not only is this where I got the quote from Joe Steinhardt above, they have posted another story this morning about how all the black squares being posted in Instagram are drowning out the real voices of the Black Lives Matter movement, quoting numerous black celebrities and organizers. Deadline has a story on this as well. This supposed “day of silence” is doing more harm than good, and I’m glad I spoke my peace on it, however unpopular it was.
June 2, 2020 @ 6:38 am
Where was the out rage last year, when a Black Cop engineered the murder of two innocent white people and their dog, in Houston (where George is from) who were in their own home minding their own business?
The “looters” (and no I’m not condoning theft) are simply following the example set by the Empty Suits who have infested/infected our governmental structure for far too long- this IS a monkey see monkey do world and when the head monkeys are criminals the follower monkeys will emulate. Nice clothes and costumes don’t make the man.
Pile on top of that, the clowns in costumes with badges and guns have,been taught that they have the authority to kill without recourse. It is SYSTEMIC for cops to be judge, jury and executioner and suffer maybe a slap on the wrist or tax payer funded defense- and the black robed idiots have stated cops are not to protect you! They are, allegedly, to find evidence AFTER THE FACT to prosecute criminal action. Except their own.
This is way deeper and goes back way farther than this latest shit show- (think; the only good Indian is a dead Indian, Manifest Destiny) bumper sticker bullshit to excuse abhorrent behavior so the most important Bumper Sticker slogans can be ignored- Liberty and Justice for ALL- there is NO caveat in that declaration. Innocent until proven guilty. The Rule of Law.
The costumed clowns and Empty Suited Thugs use *the color of law* to hide and excuse their piss poor behavior- because they can. How can they do this? Piss Poor Public Education. Period. It teaches compliance not freedom. The costumed clowns have taken it a step further- comply or die! Why? They were educated in the same centers for compliance under the same rules-
To legitimately protest accomplishes 0. The Empty Suits have to be hit where it costs them votes and money. ALL they care about is being re elected to retain their ill perceived power- it’s allowed, because, again, Piss Poor Public Education in the centers for Compliance “no child left behind bullshit”- indeed. No child not forced to adhere/comply to the totally UNconstitutional bureaucracy called The Department of Education.
Make no mistake, this has been a long time coming.
Another nail driven in the coffin of Liberty. Not ny protesters, or looters, but, by clowns in costumes operating under the color of law.
June 2, 2020 @ 7:42 am
Perhaps use the day to elevate Black voices in country music. Country has a long tradition of Black contribution, that to often goes largely ignored. It also has a number of fantastic Black songs, and singers.
June 2, 2020 @ 8:38 am
This would have been a much better idea than everyone going silent. For the last week all I’ve seen is signs saying things such as “Silence = Violence.” But now we’re all supposed to be silent for a day? Or a week, which is what many of the artists and entities I’ve seen posting about it are now saying? I get everyone wants to “do something,” but the only thing this has done is drown out actual black voices with all the black squares from musicians on Instagram.
Meanwhile multiple of the outlets that profess to be participating in this movement like All Access, Taste Of Country, The Boot, and others, are still posting articles. So are we going silent? Or do we just want credit for going silent, while still posting articles to generate traffic and revenue?
June 2, 2020 @ 8:50 am
It was the original idea. White people would go quiet and use it as a day to learn, listen and amplify Black voices. But then of course it got co-opted by corporations which saw it as a chance to “join in” and “show support” while making no real or meaningful changes.
June 2, 2020 @ 6:17 pm
There was one today. It was done by Beverly keel as a part of mtsu. 2-4 cst.
June 2, 2020 @ 7:58 am
Here’s some fun, Ray Benson’s new song following his beating the covid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-RlNnmcXk0
June 2, 2020 @ 7:59 am
Please do not misunderstand what I am going to say. The people behind this are not going to achieve anything by this. Yes, there should be protests but those protests should be peaceful and properly organized. A one million person march on the White House should scare the shit of those in power. But it should be well organized and peaceful. Or every state in the Union should have a march on their respective state capitals. No rioting and no looting. And the heads of all religions in USA should tell Trump where to put his bible. What a sorry spectacle that was.
June 2, 2020 @ 9:57 am
Did you see the Episcopal (Anglican) Bishop of Washington’s response to that bullshit?
Yer man knows so little about religion that he thought posing at an Episcopal church for a photo op would make him look good – we’re half a step away from Unitarians, haha.
June 2, 2020 @ 10:05 am
You know what’s bullshit, “Cool” Lester?
https://www.nbc12.com/2020/05/31/its-unacceptable-richmond-police-chief-gets-emotional-while-talking-about-protests/
Skip to 3:35, listen carefully to his emotions on behalf of the innocent, and grow up. I’ve been following police dispatchers. Protests have turned into riots, and there is a long and detailed record of it. I hope and pray law enforcement in this country soon roll up these terror networks.
Take your propaganda and shove it.
June 2, 2020 @ 10:18 am
why don’t you address anything he said? trump doesn’t know shit about the bible. he doesn’t go to church. his actions are anything but christian.
June 2, 2020 @ 10:23 am
Spare me your crocodile tears, champ, and stop trying to change the subject.
Paddy and I were clearly referring to Trump’s ordering a peaceful protest to be gassed, half an hour ahead of curfew, so that he’d feel safe enough to stop cowering in his bunker and stage a photo op.
Regarding the incident you’re trying to shift the convo to:
Every time shit like that has been caught on camera, it’s not a protester.
It’s a couple white 20-somethings dressed in all black – probably the same guys putting skinhead tags on your monuments to white supremacist traitors.
Hell, the people stopping those thugs, while the cops are too busy playing soldier and assaulting unarmed folks, have tended to be black protesters.
June 2, 2020 @ 11:40 am
Hey Cool Lester, you and me agreeing. What is the world coming to.
June 2, 2020 @ 10:55 am
But hey – feel free to bend and spread for folks who teargas clergy for a photo op, rather than thinking for yourself.
https://religionnews.com/2020/06/02/ahead-of-trump-bible-photo-op-police-forcibly-expel-priest-from-st-johns-church-near-white-house/
June 3, 2020 @ 5:36 am
It’s you who parrotted a lie:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/uspp/6_2_20_statement_from_acting_chief_monahan.htm
No tear gas. You couldn’t wait a day or two for the facts? I guess you were too busy “thinking.”
June 3, 2020 @ 12:20 pm
Bahahaha.
I watched that shit live, kiddo…and I’m gonna go ahead and believe a priest who was on the ground over a suit who wasn’t.
But hey – if accepting lies uncritically, rather than trusting your own eyes, makes you feel warm and safe in your wool coat, who am I to judge???
Baaaaa baaaaa
June 3, 2020 @ 1:29 pm
“Technically” not tear gas. File this under distinction without a difference.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wusa9.com/amp/article/news/local/dc/tear-gas-washington-dc-protests-st-johns-church/65-7e9a67c7-e40b-47a2-8060-3f7d908139dd
June 2, 2020 @ 11:36 am
Corncaster, as I read your comments I see that 6 (SIX) police officers in Atlanta face arrest for their conduct during protest in Atlanta. Will President Trump, The AG, or the Atlanta Police Chief appear at their trials and explain to the judge & jury that these officers were only carrying out instructions to get tough. Any police officer reading this should keep in mind that those who shout loudest for the police to get tough will quickly disappear. Just like you.
June 2, 2020 @ 1:23 pm
I don’t think we tend to disagree that much on the basics – I’m just meaner than you are, haha.
But yeah, shit like that don’t really fly in Atlanta.
June 2, 2020 @ 12:06 pm
By the way. Is it legal to gatecrash police frequencies.
June 2, 2020 @ 8:18 am
“All cops are the same.”
“All black people are the same.”
“All white people are the same.”
Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.
June 2, 2020 @ 10:48 am
Finally a voice of reason. Kudos for posting what is mostly likely an unpopular opinion (I don’t bother with comments sections anymore).
June 2, 2020 @ 11:20 am
If anyone wants to know what they can do to actually help, I highly recommend starting with this book:
https://bookshop.org/books/how-to-be-an-antiracist/9780525509288
June 2, 2020 @ 11:26 am
So Joshua Hedley has posted ‘White silence is part of how we got here in the first place’ and ‘take your stupid black square down and be a fucking ally.’
I think Social Media just creates unnecessary conflict and is enormous waste of time!
June 2, 2020 @ 11:41 am
“Frankly, now feels like the time that the music industry, artists, media outlets, blogs, podcasters, DJs, labels, and behind-the-scenes personnel should be leaning on the accelerator, not tapping the brakes for any interval, utilizing music as a tool of healing, of unification, of escape, and a vehicle for broadening perspectives due to the unique role of music as a universal language.”
Very well stated.
Reminds me of something somebody else said.
“I don’t think you even recognize the sound of your voice
When it’s blasting through the speakers in the sky
And if your words add up to nothing, then you’re making a choice
To sing a cover when we need a battle cry”
June 2, 2020 @ 10:06 pm
Yeah, the difference is I left open the place of music as escapism, and didn’t judge anyone for not getting political in lock step with my ideology in their music.
June 2, 2020 @ 11:57 am
The comments on a bunch of different singer’s posts are genuinely shocking. I think some people on twitter and Instagram are more concerned about cancelling celebrities than they are canceling the problems plaguing our country. Even under tweets of singers speaking out against racism, posting links, doing the blackout, etc people are still saying crap like “open your purse” or “shut up and sing.” I think it’s interesting to see some people accusing country singers of simultaneously not doing enough but others also saying they should’ve stayed quiet. Regardless, they’re in a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. And also, a lot of labels are promoting the Blackout Tuesday today, so their artists are basically forced to adhere- reading Camplight’s comment made me think of that. They would most likely be attacked if they didn’t do it.
June 2, 2020 @ 12:02 pm
Paddy and Lester,
You big ‘ol badasses…
Can easily tell that you are all mouth & no action.
Shut up.
Go out & actually do something constructive and positive for your fellow man.
And Paddy, i’ll go a 1,000,000 to 1 odds that
Corncaster, is an actual proactive badass, whereas you, and Lester love to just run your mouth.
Come back at me all you want.
I am an ACTUAL badass.
Very proactive when i see injustice.
Calling it out in real time. Meaning in the moment.
With Love,
Compassion,
& switching to business firm when needed.
June 2, 2020 @ 12:13 pm
Hey Di. Imagine that 1,000,000 protest at the White House. Mike Pence turning round and saying “Hey Donald. Is that what 1,000,000 people look like”.
June 2, 2020 @ 12:32 pm
Paddy,
1,000,000 at the White House, exercising their right(s) to protest would be fine.
What’s the big deal
June 2, 2020 @ 12:38 pm
Do. Stay away from the gin. Go back and read what was said. Then ask me what you cannot understand . Badass my ass.
June 2, 2020 @ 2:47 pm
Hey now – don’t drag gin into this!
No finer liquor for a sunny day on the canal in Portobello.
June 2, 2020 @ 12:44 pm
Hey guys, let’s please try to refrain from the back and forths. A lot of good discussion in this thread. Let’s not junk it up with name calling and nonsense. Thanks.
June 2, 2020 @ 6:28 pm
Maybe the protesters and looters should come burn your house down and then see how much you agree with it
June 3, 2020 @ 2:35 am
Is that the best you can offer. Maybe you should put your money where your mouth is and come burn it down yourself. Mind you you will have to get a flight to Ireland and spend 14 days in quarantine. Above your budget, thought so.
June 3, 2020 @ 3:27 am
I’m not saying your house needs burned down but you seem to agree with all of the nonsense going on here while people’s personal property is being destroyed, stores and businesses are being burned down and innocent people are being attacked and beaten. No one should support any of it
June 3, 2020 @ 5:19 am
Rusty, I support none of that. Those looters and rioters are a disgrace to themselves. They do not further any chance of change. They are no better than the guys responsible for the death of this man.
June 2, 2020 @ 1:51 pm
lol.
Sorry if I offended you with my bold stance against…teargassing clergy.
I’m not going to provide a long list of bona fides, but don’t you worry – I’ll be marching as soon as I finish my post-flight quarantine.
June 2, 2020 @ 6:31 pm
Post flight quarantine, wow you’re a hard core protester. What a joke
June 2, 2020 @ 6:48 pm
lol.
A) Who said I was a “hardcore protester,” haha?
I’m definitely more about tutoring DACA kids to get them into need-blind colleges than eating ice cream (if you know, you know).
B) How is it “hardcore” to go out into a massive crowd of people, while potentially infected?
A mask only helps so much…and the virus has so far disproportionately impacted the groups I’d be marching to ostensibly support.
That shit would be the definition of virtue signaling.
The fight for human rights isn’t actually about the personal validation of white dudes like myself, sport.
June 2, 2020 @ 1:44 pm
Fucking Sturgill and Isbell ugh
June 2, 2020 @ 2:12 pm
Man. What a thought. President Isbell and VP Simpson.
June 2, 2020 @ 6:33 pm
The country would be completely destroyed in less than a month. But that’s what leftist folks want though isn’t it
June 3, 2020 @ 2:40 am
I agree Rusty. But it is too late. Right leaning folks have already fucked it up.
June 3, 2020 @ 3:30 am
Maybe if you learned the facts instead of believing whatever news station you have in Ireland you would see things differently
June 3, 2020 @ 5:14 am
We are very advanced in Ireland. We have several news stations. All say the same. And history is not on your side either.
June 4, 2020 @ 9:22 am
Fact #1- Black people in america are 13% of the population.
#2- Blacks in America commit 53% of homicides and 60% of robberies. Only 25% of police shootings were black people in 2019
#3- Over 10,000,000 arrests in the US last year and only 1004 police killings. (Pretty brutal huh)
#4- More whites are killed by police than blacks despite the majority of crime being committed by blacks
Everything the media is saying is lies and nobody uses facts or statistics. Thate on my side
June 3, 2020 @ 11:04 am
Wow my comments were deleted. I was being light hearted yet these hateful comments are left up. Fucking Antifa Nazis.
June 3, 2020 @ 11:11 am
What comments of yours were deleted, Blockman? You’re responding to one of your own comments here. The only one I deleted was on the Jaime Wyatt review where you said she hoped she’d get “hooked on dope again” which is a really shitty thing to say to a sober person in jest or otherwise.
June 2, 2020 @ 2:10 pm
I get what they’re going for, but I’m against the current political and social environment where if you don’t agree with EVERYTHING, you will be shunned and attacked personally. Imagine any country artist that does not participate today with a black square? Keyboard warriors will watch them all day and attack them if they even take too long. Seems to directly contradict the “equality for everyone” movement
June 2, 2020 @ 3:27 pm
You should have seen Carrie Underwood’s post. She posted with the hashtag Black Lives Matter in addition to the Blackout Tuesday hashtag. There’s no way you would have known you weren’t supposed to do that unless you dug through a bunch of random tweets, which I doubt celebrities who are taking heat for literally everything are doing (at least I was unaware of this until tonight). But she got crucified and shut her comments off, probably to have all of the keyboard warriors fight elsewhere. It’s sad that people in general who are making an effort to be an ally are still getting so much hate.
June 2, 2020 @ 3:45 pm
See? You try and do a nice thing to help and they attack you anyway. My family is mixed and I live in a diverse area, 99% of us all get along. I’m sure 99% of the country believes George Floyd was wrongfully murdered. Poor Ward Davis also got it too on facebook
June 2, 2020 @ 4:25 pm
I’ve seen the “Guys, don’t use #blm or #blacklivesmatter” posts everywhere, including on actual sites.
The appropriate response to that shit is definitely “Hey dude – delete this, and repost with a different hashtag,” though, rather than unhinged screaming.
June 2, 2020 @ 4:38 pm
I saw 4 different people from my high school post using BLM get screamed out and they said they didn’t know not to use it because they didn’t have a twitter account. Not trying to defend, just saying.
June 2, 2020 @ 4:40 pm
That shit’s just counterproductive, haha.
June 2, 2020 @ 4:48 pm
This is totally on the organizers of this day, and not on the artists. People need to understand they were just trying to do the right thing, and lay off them. This whole thing has been so half cooked and misguided, big time artists just in our little world like Jason Isbell are not observing it at all. I have been observing it, but I didn’t post a black square and use hashtags, which was never part of the plan. It was simply to be silent. I did make an exception for the death of Jimmy Capps, which I said I would if there was major breaking news, and that was major. Meanwhile big corporate country sites said they were participating, then proceeded to post multiple articles about white artists. Overall, this day has arguably done more harm than good, which is unfortunate. This was easily foreseen by many heading into today.
June 2, 2020 @ 4:17 pm
Why is the brutal murder of George Floyd any more an abomination than any of the white people that police brutally murder?
Is it because white victims don’t give us an opportunity to virtue signal on Instagram and steal flat screens?
June 4, 2020 @ 9:23 am
Preach it Honky.
June 2, 2020 @ 4:48 pm
Not offended at all that SCM is respectfully sitting this one out with a thoughtful dissent to the tactic and not the overall movement.
I personally think that the only thing some of these people in charge understand is money and a show of force where it hurts, their wallets, is something that could grab their attention in a way that the riots haven’t, so i’ll be participating.
June 2, 2020 @ 6:45 pm
The guy who died was a victim of injustice. The cop was arrested and charged with homicide. What else do we need to know? We shouldn’t shut down the nation because of it, and we DAMNED SURE should not tolerate violence by the people who claim to be “protesting” the death of the felon when all they are really looking for is an excuse to steal some fancy tennis shoes, expensive whiskey and Iphones.
Lets get the people off the street, and then, let’s MOVE ON! What’s done is done!
Got it?
June 2, 2020 @ 7:54 pm
Seen your reply to my last comment. It’s fair, I I disagree with the sentiment, but don’t have enough of a concrete reply to post confidently right now.
June 2, 2020 @ 7:59 pm
I must say though, that for supposedly being a moderate, you sure do argue at a high rate with people who post left-leaning stuff vs. people who post right leaning stuff.
There are often moderately “liberal” comments which get your angry paragraph replies… vs hardcore intolerant crap that you hardly argue with, if at all.
June 2, 2020 @ 8:30 pm
Oh, trust me: He censored several of my comments . That is certainly his right. I have no problem whatsoever with that. It’s his website and he is free to do as he pleases. But it is disappointing that he doesn’t seem to realize that the vast majority of artists responsible for creating authentic country music never licked the boots of liberal scum.
June 3, 2020 @ 6:25 am
Your last sentence is very interesting, but I don’t completely understand it. What do you mean by “licked the boots of liberal scum”? I honestly don’t understand what that means (or who you’re referring to as the artists responsible for creating authentic country music or who you’re referring to as liberal scum).
Yes, in full disclosure, I consider myself to be a liberal, but I’m not asking these questions to look for an argument. I just want to understand what you mean.
Thanks.
June 2, 2020 @ 11:51 pm
Pretending to be nonpartisan these days is a farce. It’s just broadcasting the fact that the administration’s actions haven’t hurt you or anyone you care about. Apolitical people may not support everything The Orange Man does, but they also don’t care enough about the people he hurts to speak up. Gotta get the judges and tax cuts, right?
June 3, 2020 @ 7:37 am
this is definitely a trend. he’s labelled many of the left leaners as troublemakers but let’s comments about george soros, conservative conspiracies, and other quack pseudoscience covid cures go unchecked.
June 3, 2020 @ 9:04 am
BigDog,
First off, as Big Tex alluded to, I have been moderating comments in these last two articles about the riots and protests more so than normal. I only delete or edit comments as an absolute last result, and hate doing it every time because I have a general disgust for censorship. But I am not the government, and to keep these comments sections healthy and constructive, I will do it if I have to. And though there have been some comments moderated from folks on the left (mostly for the promoting of killing police officers or other violence), the vast majority have been from the right. That’s one of the problems with moderating comments. Nobody can see what’s getting deleted or edited, unless it’s their own comment.
As for why I address comments on the left more than on the right, it’s often because comments from people on the left specifically question my motives or opinions and I feel the need to address and respond, while many of the comments coming from people on the right are commenting on the topic itself, not on my take on it. Generally speaking, of course.
Also, there are some comments that are so outlandish, why address them at all? Why give them that attention? One of the reasons I take the very unusual stance of responding to comments is because I want everyone to know I respect and value THEIR opinion as well, and that I’m listening, ESPECIALLY the people that disagree with me. I crave dissent and criticism, and believe it’s healthy. Now I may state my case in response and stick up for myself. But by doing so, I’m also highlighting someone else’s opinion. That’s also why NOT responding to certain comments is the smartest thing to do.
June 2, 2020 @ 8:28 pm
Trig, sometimes the best words is to say nothing, this would of been one of those times. Instead you come off as an “old man yelling at clouds.” Its not your place nor mine if people in the industry independent or not want to participate. Let’s say artists took off one day, is that going to kill them? no. A week even? Again no. You could of approached this way better than you did.
June 3, 2020 @ 6:24 am
Question for Trigger: It is a fact that blacks in this nation commit over five times the number of violent crimes against white people, when compared to the number of violent crimes whites commit against blacks, a statistic that is all the more astonishing when one considers that blacks make up only about 13% of the population of the USA. I am considering organizing a “blackout” in a couple of weeks as a nationwide protest against black-on-white crime in this nation. Can I count on you and this website to join me in that effort?
June 3, 2020 @ 7:34 am
question for trigger: why are there so many racists that frequent this site?
June 3, 2020 @ 8:46 am
I don’t think there are “so many racists” that frequent this site. I think the few racists that frequent this site happen to be the most outspoken, which is the same exact thing you see on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and pretty much anywhere else. Also, people tend to focus on these individuals as opposed to seeing them for the outliers they are.
That said, country music is a predominately white art form, and having a site called “Saving Country Music” is probably going to attract certain individuals who want it to be “saved” from certain elements they deem unsavory. But I don’t see that as a burden. I see that as an opportunity to speak to these people specifically, present them with ideas different than their own, present them with diversity through artistry—whether that’s Charley Crockett, Yola, Gabe Lee, Sarah Shook—and prove to them that they can identify and commiserate with people of color or diversity. Repelling these people doesn’t solve racism. It’s just going to make them go be racist somewhere else. Granted, when very clearly racist words or language is used, I will and have deleted it, because I don’t want to be serving these ideas. But I also don’t believe excluding people solves anything. I truly believe that music can solve many of the problems of society. And that is why I find it so offensive when someone like Jason Isbell becomes exclusionary with his rhetoric when it comes to conservatives, for example. Let’s invite everyone in, share ideas and perspectives, and hope this makes for a better world.
June 3, 2020 @ 8:21 am
Big Tex,
First off, no. I will not be participating or organizing any more “blackouts.” This poorly thought-out and executed idea arguably did more harm than good as was my fear, but I understand the intentions behind it, and it’s in the past.
As for your statement about blacks committing more violent crimes than whites, there is no doubt that statistically, African Americans are convicted and incarcerated for crimes at much higher frequencies than whites. It’s probably also true that African Americans commit more crimes than whites. But there are a number of reasons behind that. There are systemic and socioeconomic reasons specifically. African Americans disproportionately suffer from poorer schools, less economic prosperity in their communities, home and family environments that don’t offer proper structure and upward mobility for youth, as well as cultural influences that condone materialism, sexism, and violence. You combine all of these things together—along with the fact that the average black person does not have the same ability to defend themselves in the legal system that favors the rich—and you end up with disproportionate numbers of them convicted and incarcerated for crimes, especially when they’re being profiled at disproportionate numbers by police as criminals due to the self-fulfilling prophesy of the statistics.
So the next question is, what can we do about this? Do we simply label all African American as hedonist, and continue to attempt to incarcerate ourselves out of this problem that is plaguing the African American community? Or do we try to address some of these systemic issues, and make sure everyone is judged equally under the law? There is no doubt that there are many young African American males committing crime. But if we’re ever going to end or significantly reduce the cycle that leads to this disparity, it’s going to take a more holistic approach. And no, you can’t just spend your way out of it. Part of this I believe is born through cultural influences in music, for example. But there are systemic biases that keep this cycle going that I believe should be addressed.
Let me give you a musical example: Cody Jinks and Tyler Childers are almost never played on country radio. Is that their fault? Is their music bad and that’s the reasons they never receive those opportunities? Or is it the system that systemically excludes independent artists from the same opportunities as their mainstream counterparts? In an ideal world, every song, and every artist would be judged on their own merit, and given equal opportunity. But as it is on country radio, so it is in life. That just doesn’t happen.
There will never be true equality, because humans are inherently flawed and bias. But it should be something we all insist upon, that everyone is given equal opportunity. In some cases, blacks are given greater opportunities than white counterparts, in college admissions, for example. But only until you can assure me that African Americans are given the same opportunities as whites, which I think we can all agree they are not, then you can quote me your crime statistics, and they will mean more than just a bunch of numbers that if anything validate the inherent injustices in American society as opposed to refute them.
June 3, 2020 @ 11:51 am
Trigger:
Thanks for agreeing that the “blackout” was poorly thought out and executed. I have another way of describing it, but that description would make a drill sergeant blush.
As for the rest of your post, I had to wipe the blood from my monitor; blood which obviously came from your heart as you were writing it. Please get to a hospital as soon as possible in order that they might stanch the flow.
You travel down the well-worn liberal path of blaming “us” for the plight of the blacks in this nation, which, to a certain extent is true, if one recognizes the destruction of the black family as a result of the numerous 1960s-era so-called “civil rights” legislation. But the plight of the blacks in the USA is not unique. In England and Wales, whose crime statistics are combined, blacks make up only 2.7% of the population but account for 8% of all arrests and a whopping 13.7% of all persons in prison. Obviously, according to your line of thinking, those English and Welsh are racist SOBs who just won’t give the black man a chance.
Next, let us skip back across the pond to Canada, where blacks make up only 2.5% of the population, but, again, comprise a whopping 8.4% of the prison population. Funny, but I don’t recall Canada as ever being described as a “racist” nation.
Now, lets skip across the really big pond and zero in on Australia. In Victoria, the Australian subdivision that includes the cosmopolitan city of Melbourne, blacks (specifically, Sudanese) commit crimes at a whopping 6.66 times their percentage of the population.
I could go on and on with respect to the Netherlands, Belgium, and many other places, but the results are always the same. Regardless of the locale, blacks commit crimes at shocking multiples of their percentage of the population.
Conclusion: It’s not “racism” that is responsible for these statistics. Do you wish me to provide you with the outrageously high crime rates of any black African nation, where there isn’t a white man to be found anywhere?
No, it’s not “racism” that’s to blame. It’s the fact that there are profound differences among the various races of mankind, and not all those differences are good. Check back with me 100 years from now, and you will find that the statistics have not changed by any significant measure.
June 3, 2020 @ 1:35 pm
Big Tex, you are one mighty stupid person. Go learn the difference between stanch and staunch. As for your facts and figures, man you are beyond belief. Yes provide us with the figures for these black African nations especially for those with not a white man in sight. If there are no whites in sight would it not be easy to guess that 100 per cent of all crime must be carried out by the non whites. And whilst you are at it would you kindly tell me of non black African nations.
June 3, 2020 @ 2:23 pm
“Stanch” is the correct word for stopping the flow of blood. It is NOT “staunch.” Got it?
As for the black African nations (sub-Saharan), the point was that their crime rates are astronomical when compared with white societies; ergo, there is no white man to blame for the lamentable state of the populations of those nations.
What do you wish to learn about non-black African nations? Please be specific.
Oh . . . yes. If you are a bleeding-heart liberal, then find someone to help you STANCH the flow of the blood.
Got it?
June 4, 2020 @ 1:30 am
Big Tex. I apologise for Stanch/Staunch. My stupidity. As for the rest I disagree. It was white mis-rule that has led to most problems on the continent of Africa. The 2 most glaring examples being South Africa and Zimbabwe. Most of the continent has been raped, pillaged and its inhabitants STOLEN and SOLD into slavery. Granted the African nations have not fared very well since they got freedom but they have only copied their white masters.
June 4, 2020 @ 8:48 am
Paddy, you also add murder to the list of crimes committed by the colonizers in Africa (e.g. Belgium, King Leopold and the Congo Free State). And then there’s the problematic national boundaries set up by the colonial powers, with not much thought given to whether they made sense from an ethnic standpoint. Similar issues in the Middle East and South Asia.
June 3, 2020 @ 8:17 pm
Even so, is being as good as canada or australia all you want? Is that good enough for you?
Personally, i think higher of this country. I want us to be the best. That means we push harder to be better than other countries, not tolerate racist police just because other countries might
June 4, 2020 @ 5:33 am
100 years from now? hey at least you’ll be gone, one less racist. progress!
June 6, 2020 @ 11:26 am
Here we have it, from the man who has also said “you can take the primitives out of the third-world, but you can’t take the third-world out of the primitives”.
You right that this isn’t racism. You’ve gone beyond the casual racism that is all to common in internet comments to outright white supremacy. When you say “there are profound differences among the various races of mankind, and not all those differences are good”, you are making explicit the argument that some races are superior to others. You are making implicit the argument that the violence, discrimination, and disproportionate harm done to the supposedly inferior races is justified. This is the same argument used to wage genocides, plain to see, here on a country music blog.
I make an effort to be respectful and avoid getting personal in these types of debates. I also generally respect Trigger’s aversion to censorship. But I think publishing a comment like this, and worse letting it stand unrebutted, does us all a disservice. Let’s call a spade a spade: Big Tex is a bad person, with bad intentions, and giving him a forum harms this blog, country music, and our national discourse in general. Much of the mainstream music press is already predisposed to label country music fans as racist and backwards, and they couldn’t hope to make a better argument than Big Tex.
I really hope we don’t have to read this guy’s comments in the future.
June 6, 2020 @ 11:43 am
Zach,
I appreciate your concern. And I want to assure you that multiple comments that I deemed racist were deleted from this comments section, and I shut the entire comments section down for 24 hours due to the amount of comments I was having to moderate or delete. However, I made the choice in this particular instance to leave the comment up as an example, and to answer it, which I did initially. I also meant to leave an answer to Big Tex’s response, but then life got in the way, and I didn’t get back to it yet. If you see something you feel is objectionable, by all means, call it out. But please don’t allow the opinions of one commenter to reflect on this website. I feel this thread specifically illustrates how I try to challenge bad viewpoints when I see them, and simply deleting them is not always the best solution, but challenging them.
June 6, 2020 @ 11:57 am
I don’t think Big Tex reflects the website as a whole, and I genuinely do appreciate this blog. In addition to being my main source of new music, I also appreciate the thoughtful responses from you personally when we do disagree.
I just find this comment and some others from Big Tex particularly horrific, and wonder what we really gain from having a back in forth with his ideas. There are plenty examples of right wing comments here that are articulate and thoughtful, and of left wing comments that are rude, but the type of comment above in my mind really stands apart beyond the pale.
Anyways, my 2c, and appreciate the response as always.
June 3, 2020 @ 9:49 am
The longer legitimate citizens of this country are cut off from climbing the ladder of success the more the rage bubbles up and strains to be released.
The government needs to clear the path to the American Dream. For everybody.
Unequal treatment under the law is a huge barrier to liberty and justice for all. If the government won’t take it down, then don’t complain when somebody starts tearing it down.
June 3, 2020 @ 2:47 pm
Here’s a real hero, David Dorn: https://tinyurl.com/y9nxhh6o.
A retired police captain, Dorn was shot to death on the sidewalk by peaceful protestors while he tried to defend someone’s small running dog bourgeois capitalist business livelihood.
Abstractions and propaganda will lead us all to hell.
Facts. George Floyd died of a heart attack when, high on fentanyl and with old methamphetamine in his system, he panicked in drugged-out haze and claustrophobia in a squad car that frightened him after which he was taken out of the car and, short of breath in cardiac arrest, was immobilized on the ground by a policeman and his team who acted with depraved indifference as Floyd died right under them. They will be justly prosecuted and punished.
Meanwhile, no one makes a peep while city-dwelling American black men aged 15-35 (not “all blacks” for Chrissakes) kill each other because their family and moral environments are in the shitter, which then produces no (or negative) support for their educational success (too “white” I guess), which then condemns those young men to unemployment and unemployability. Their unemployability leads them straight into drugs, crime, prison, and death. Crime of course completes the circle, destroying their neighborhoods, removing fathers from their households, which further crushes their family environments (and probably causes many of those young men to have raging Oedipal complexes).
Some of this was by design because Democrats have a plantation mentality (psst, kid, want some candy? stay where you are and vote for me!) and Republicans tend to wash their hands like Pilate and let certain neighborhoods crash and burn.
We are a better nation than this, but progress will be made only when people stop the “identity politics” on both sides. It has to stop now.
Or we will lose all the harmony and music of life.
June 3, 2020 @ 8:24 pm
Excellent!
June 4, 2020 @ 5:37 am
jesus christ trigger, you don’t allow me to make a post about someone showing their true colors and this gets a pass. what a fucking joke. moderate my ass.
June 4, 2020 @ 7:34 am
Oh get bent. I was sleeping. Can I go to sleep some time, or do I need to be up 24/7 babysitting your comments?
June 4, 2020 @ 7:51 am
it’s up to you if you want to babysit my comments. i guess pointing out something you wrote that can be read as racist gets you moderated around here but if you just post racist comments like corncaster and big tex here, it’s carte blanche. never mind i posted it yesterday in the early afternoon and it still isn’t up. so are you still asleep?
June 4, 2020 @ 9:27 am
The Gentile,
Corncaster and Big Tex are not allowed to post carte blanche. As I have explained previously, you don’t see what is deleted. If you want to be taken out of moderation, then perhaps quit swaying entire comments sections that have nothing to do with politics at all (this comments section notwithstanding) into a political melee. That’s the reason your comments are moderated. You have been doing better with that lately, and that’s appreciated.
June 4, 2020 @ 8:12 am
So George Floyd “was no choirboy,” then?
Some of this was by design because Democrats have a plantation mentality (psst, kid, want some candy? stay where you are and vote for me!) and Republicans tend to wash their hands like Pilate and let certain neighborhoods crash and burn.
Unlike Big Tex (who has made some stone racist comments advocating violence that Trigger deleted and who seems to like your post), I think you mean well, but I think this passage shows some bias (and yes, most of us have our biases, including me). The left gets the hyberbole treatment, whereas the right gets the euphemism treatment.
African Americans across the economic and political spectrum (liberal, moderate, conservative in the true sense of the word) tend to vote Democratic in very large numbers (I think it’s reliably around or over 90%, Obama or no Obama). And if it was all about “getting free stuff,” they wouldn’t have effectively rescued Biden’s very bland and clunky candidacy. I would guess that more than anything, they vote against the Republican party, and I think they see it as the party of white resentment.
June 3, 2020 @ 3:31 pm
To me this blackout feels is just the same (if not worse) as “thoughts and prayers”. Worse, because those doing it actually believe their helping out whatever cause they think they are helping out by doing so.
June 3, 2020 @ 8:26 pm
Bear:
Virtue signalling.
Nothing more.
June 3, 2020 @ 9:28 pm
They are acting like they are stuck at a yellow light signal and don’t know if they should speed up or stop. LOL!
June 4, 2020 @ 9:04 am
Bear:
I don’t know about them being stuck at a yellow signal, but they are definitely stuck on stupid.
June 4, 2020 @ 3:32 am
It seems Trigger has resorted to deleting my comments.
June 4, 2020 @ 7:11 am
Shit. Here it is, Thursday, and I’m just hearing about this. I must have blacked out.
June 4, 2020 @ 7:29 am
Got stoned and you missed it? 😉
June 4, 2020 @ 8:21 am
Here’s Karen Attiah of WaPo on the subject:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/blackouttuesday-was-a-case-study-in-how-performative-solidarity-goes-awry/2020/06/03/0b9c42b8-a5e4-11ea-b473-04905b1af82b_story.html
June 4, 2020 @ 9:29 am
I have chosen to close this comments section for the moment. Though I thought the discussion here was very healthy at the beginning, it is now devolving, and this issue is in the past.
June 6, 2020 @ 8:12 am
As I said in an earlier post all those calling for tough police responses have disappeared into the ether. Police are now being left to fend for themselves as they face a barrage of criticism. Even their own police chiefs are abandoning their officers in an attempt to save their own careers. Are we supposed to forget that police are only implementing the trading they have been given. I do not condone the actions that led to George Floyd’s death. But I do have some sympathy for the police. In fact I have more sympathy for the police than for the rioters and looters.