Spoiler: Obvious Racism

It seems like everyone is writing about Brad Paisley's collaboration with LLCoolJ, "Accidental Racist" and I just have to weigh in.  My first thought is, poor Brad Paisley; he tries so hard! His understanding of country music seems to be lacking.  His music is a combination of comedy and tragedy but once in a while he goes for "deep," and misses the mark.  A while ago he was most commonly know for "Whiskey Lullaby" about an alcoholic, which was a collaboration with Allison Krauss and seemed to really move people.  I knew him from "Celebrity" which is a comedic song about reality stars so hearing the sad song confused me.  He's also got "Southern Comfort Zone," which is fun but seems completely insincere.  Up until that point my understanding of Brad was that he was a not-so-serious country singer who didn't really believe in his medium.  And then he brought out "Welcome to the Future," which I complained about over 3 years ago.
This brings us to "Accidental Racist."  What has me irked is all the people who are hating on this song but said nothing when Paisley sang "Wake up, Martin Luther, Welcome to the future."  It seems like the ONLY reason people even know about this one is because LL is in on it.  Of coure that's true.  So what's the problem?  Seems like the critics are saying, "go back where you came from, Brad.  Don't talk to our people, Brad."  But he's not the country king and he doesn't speak for the genre.  I don't want to defend his lyrics because they're not great, and the song is slow paced and boring, but the whole purpose is to explain how southern pride is not inherently racist.  Case in point: we all know Lynyrd Skynyrd was racist or at least "Sweet Home Alabama" is racist but how many of us aren't gonna belt that out when it's playing?  Why is it okay to sing it in public at a bar but when we see someone wearing a confederate flag t-shirt we dismiss the wearer?  I know I certainly do.  The reason is, to the educated person a confederate flag stands for slavery and fighting to the death for it.  If we see someone proudly sporting it, we think that person is either uneducated or racist, or both.
Here's why I don't think Paisley understands country music.  The genre is about country pride, love, and tragedy, but also romanticizing the south.  When we sing "Sweet Home Alabama" we're clearly not from there but thinking about how great it would be if People Like Us lived there.  When I sing his "Southern Comfort Zone" I'm thinking about my hometown (way up north) and how it's formed me but not conformed me.  Paisley is confusing his audience with actual people who sport confederate flags.  Those People are not his fans.  Those People listen to Eminem and Uncle Kracker and think country music is "gay."  Paisley can wear his "red flag" shirt because he's a known country star who needs to show off his southern pride for cred.  We know that he's not a bad dude because we know him.  But if a civilian did that he would be a bad dude.  Country music is not just for the southerner; it's for the romantic, the melodramatic, and the people who are proud of their hometown but acknowledge the flaws.
To bring it back to the problematic song, Paisley chose the wrong example of accidental racism for his audience.  The confederate flag shirt is racist.  A Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt on the other hand is not necessarily racist.  I didn't always know what that song was about and could have worn that shirt without knowing what I was doing - that's an accident.  LLCoolJ talking about his gold chains is racist. Black people are not the only ones who wear gold chains, and the wearer is going to be judged with good reason.  I'm mad at Brad Paisley for being such an easy target for country music haters and making the intended audience seem like a bunch of racist idiots.