Woodson said that Aldean's song was really about 'traditional values,' not racism
Civil rights activist Bob Woodson released a video on Twitter Monday in defense of country singer Jason Aldean, in the wake of leftist media outlets accusing the singer of racism.
"I do not find Jason Aldean’s song, ‘Try That in a Small Town,’ offensive, nor do I find it racist," Woodson said. "What he’s really talking about is protecting traditional values. Some years ago, the Woodson Center also had a full day’s conference where we organized around the country grassroots leaders and the theme was, ‘Not Here You Don’t,’ where we talked about the need to protect our community from drug dealers and thugs."
"I don't see any difference in what Jason is talking about and what we at the Woodson Center talked about, that we must protect our community."
JASON ALDEAN THANKS FANS FOR SUPPORT AFTER ‘SMALL TOWN’ BACKLASH: ‘THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN’
Civil rights activist Bob Woodson released a video on Twitter Monday in defense of country singer Jason Aldean, after leftist media outlets have accused the singer of racism. (Courtesy: Bob Woodson)
Liberal media outlets have attempted to tie Aldean's recent music video for "Try That in a Small Town" to a lynching in 1927 that occurred outside the Maury County Courthouse in Tennessee.
The New York Times headlined Friday, "The History of the Lynching Site Where Jason Aldean Filmed a Music Video." NBC News put out a story also connecting the country singer's music video for his song to lynching. "Jason Aldean’s video accused of ‘pro-lynching’ stance sparks calls for CMT boycott."
And on Saturday, NPR argued that the song had a racist history in a story headlined, "Jason Aldean's 'Small Town' is part of a long legacy with a very dark side."
The production company for the music video, TackleBox, confirmed the music video was shot at Maury County Courthouse, adding that it is a "popular filming location outside of Nashville." Several music videos and movies have filmed there, including the Lifetime Original movie "Steppin’ into the Holiday" with Mario Lopez and Jana Kramer.
TackleBox also noted that the location was featured in a Runaway June music video for their 2019 song "We Were Rich," the 2022 Paramount holiday film "A Nashville Country Christmas" with Tanya Tucker, and Miley Cyrus' 2009 film "Hannah Montana: The Movie."
In its statement, the company said, "Any alternative narrative suggesting the music video’s location decision is false," and noted that Aldean did not pick the location.
Despite consistent media representation of Aldean's song as racist, the singer himself has rejected those accusations. (Jason Aldean)
Despite consistent media representation of Aldean's song as racist, the singer himself has rejected those accusations.
"There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far," Aldean wrote in posts shared on Instagram and Twitter.
He has also tweeted that the attacks on his song were not supported by evidence.
"In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests," Aldean shared with his nearly 8 million fans across social media.
He added, "These references are not only meritless, but dangerous."
Americans in Nashville sound off on criticism of Jason Aldean's song "Try That In A Small Town." (Teny Sahakian/Fox News Digital)
This week, Aldean again thanked his fans for their encouragement after the music video release of his song "Try That In A Small Town" sparked backlash.
On Monday he shared a video montage that included clips of some of his recent shows with the song playing in the background.
"Thank u guys. Ready to see u back out there this weekend!" Aldean wrote, adding an American flag and a rocker-hand emoji.
Fox News' Janelle Ash contributed to this report.
Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History.
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