Videos

“Accidental Racist” Brad Paisley ft LL Cool J

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This is the WORST song EVER. Seriously. Not only does the actual sound of the music and melody make me want to gouge my eyes out but the lyrics are messed up too. I mean okay, I get it Brad. You’re from the South and you’re looking for a way to say you’re proud of where you’re from while still acknowledging some of the shitty things that happened there. That’s legit, but it’s still rather naive and messed up. Like, the man you address in the very first lyric of the song, whom I assume is supposed to be black because you’re apologizing to him about your Lyrnrd Skynyrd shirt which probably has a confederate flag on it, is serving you at a Starbucks. I mean, if you’re trying to make a point, making the one fictional black man in your song serve you, probably not the best plan? Maybe?  The whole message of the song is “let’s forget the civil war and be friends.” Here’s the thing though,we should not forget “the iron chains” as LL Cool J suggests. Forgetting slavery is not helpful. We need to remember the trauma, the terror, the absolute wrong of slavery. It reminds us of where racism in our country began. It reminds us of the severe social and economic issues that persist today as a result from slavery and continued racism. The civil war is not the last time black people were mistreated; discriminated against, or victims of violence. Violence and discrimination against black people continued to be present after the Civil War up to present day. And not just in the South. So though I really believe that Brad Paisley sincerely wanted to make a song addressing problems of race, I don’t think he understands how or why his song is so problematic.  Paisley’s ignorance as to why the song is problematic is something that should be addressed. He and others need to see why people take issue with the song. They need to understand why the message and language he uses is problematic because that is the base of the song. He is singing about his Southern pride and how that might be perceived as racist and how he doesn’t always understand why. Well, people are trying to tell you why Brad, listen.

Here is a good blog post from NPR talking about it.

Kaplan: Change

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This is a commercial from Kaplan University. The voice-over talks about change and shit. My favorite part is where it says, “Change is a choice. We either stick to the status quo, or confront it.” Yeah that white heterosexual couple you’re showing there is really confronting the status quo Kaplan. Good job.