"I love the South. . . . I'm a poor, White-trash redneck from the middle of nowhere in Tennessee. I am also a well-educated, well-traveled, godless liberal. If you can't reconcile those two things that's your problem. Not mine."
Trae Crowder, American comedian
Some of American tribalism isn't political. It is regional.
There is a lot of "the South" all over America.
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| Trae Crowder: Click, three minutes |
I recently stumbled across the comedian Trae Crowder. His humor plays off of a character: The southern redneck who describes the foibles of both blue and red America. His politics are blue. His culture is red. He can explore the quirks and self-delusions of both parts of America because he does it as an "insider" of them both.
Other comedians do a version of this. Larry the Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy have been around for decades.
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| Larry the Cable Guy |
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| Jeff Foxworthy |
Crowder's videos are about up-to-the-minute politics. Underlying it all is the premise that America has regional differences that should not be politically divisive, but are. Crowder's schtick demonstrates a point that this blog has made repeatedly for seven years. The presentation of the messenger is an inextricable part of the message itself and how it is accepted by the audience. The messenger--his accent, tone, biography, body language--are themselves most of the message. Yes, issues matter. Policy matters. But different messengers can get away with sending messages that others cannot. What registers as "all too true" when said by one person registers as offensive if said by someone else. Trae Crowder teases southern evangelical Christians for their support for Herschel Walker and it seems gentle and funny to my ear, even as he says they are fools and hypocrites. Amy Klobuchar, for example, saying it would come across as scolding the "other." It would be another instance of calling opponents "deplorable."
There is a lot of "the South" all over America. Rural America is "the South" even when it is in northern Idaho, Montana, central Pennsylvania, or Oregon. I have written here that I have men wearing Trump hats installing the irrigation system and trellises for the vineyard I am adding to my farm. I am paying serious money to men who support Trump. They also refused COVID vaccination and told me that since I have been vaccinated twice and boosted four times so far, I may be dangerous. People like me "shed" something. They aren't sure what I shed, but they heard the vaccinated shed. Why would I trust the competency of people who support a man who attempted a political coup d'état and who believe crazy conspiracy theories about COVID? Because that is who lives in rural American, especially among people who do outdoor work.
Democratic readers of this blog might take a few pleasant minutes to watch a Crowder video or two. They are short and funny. Take the time to sit back, relax, and laugh. If a reader thinks being amused for a few minutes is too great a time-wasting self indulgence, do it for a serious reason. Consider it work--research. Think of it as kale for the brain.
The videos are a profound political lesson on message and messenger. I think the most plausible Democratic nominee for president will be someone from a red state, or at least a purple one. An urban blue state Democrat, sensitive to the values and tones of educated elites in the professions, in academia, and among Democratic activists, speaks a different language. A Democrat who can unite America does not need to sound like Trae Crowder, but that candidate will need to sound OK to people who sound like Trae Crowder.
Want a little more? Here is his early warning about Trump:
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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsqKyv86pEY |
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21 comments:
On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s mother, Stanford Law Professor, Barbara Fried, arguing that a belief in personal responsibility is bad makes the FTX collapse the “epitome” of how while the problems on the right show up in more dangerous ways, “on the left, there is a rot, and it comes from academia and it filters down.”
Maher stated, “It turns out both his parents were professors at Stanford. … And the mother wrote an essay in 2013, ‘Beyond Blame.'”
After quoting from the essay, where Fried argues that “The philosophy of personal responsibility has ruined criminal justice and economic policy. It’s time to move past blame.” Maher reacted, “Is it really time? Personal responsibility is bad and blame, that’s a thing of the past? No wonder this guy’s a f*cking crook, you were raised wrong. You were raised wrong, asshole.”
He later added, “I brought it up because I really think — look, we are, I think, when historians look back at our time, they will not divide us into red and blue and Republican-Democrat. They [will be] like, the things that were wrong with us were wrong both sides in different ways. I do think they manifest in a more dangerous way on the right, but on the left, there is a rot, and it comes from academia and it filters down. … That’s where it’s all coming from. I just think this is an epitome of it.”
On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher reacted to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s donations to Democrats by stating that the FTX situation is a case where people thought, “as long as you’re on our team, we don’t care,” and the situation “has a very Epstein feel” where the thinking was “He’s one of us, he’s on our side, he donates to our causes, we don’t need to look too hard into the fact that he’s a con man.”
After quoting from new FTX CEO John Ray III, who was also Enron CEO after its collapse, that he had never seen “such a complete failure of corporate control[s]” Maher continued, “He said, this situation is unprecedented. … It was so disorganized, they were unable to prepare a complete list of who worked there. At least Elon knows who he’s firing. … And the plot thickens because this guy, SBF, this Sam Bankman-Fried, this millennial Madoff, was the second biggest donor to the Democratic Party after George Soros. They loved his ass. He was always with Clinton and those types. He was at Davos…it’s like everything now is as long as you’re on our team, we don’t care, we don’t look, it has a very Epstein feel — Jeffrey Epstein. This kind of smells of that. He’s one of us, he’s on our side, he donates to our causes, we don’t need to look too hard into the fact that he’s a con man.”
Dear anonymous: This is an important point of view. It will get more visibility as a Guest Post, not a comment.
Please write it up as a Guest Post.
Apropos of nothing special, Foxworth goes by Jeff. Interesting, and thought provoking, Peter. Thanks.
Jeff Foxworthy
Comedy is no joke. Even the Mayo Clinic confirms the healing benefits of humor and laughter. However, I have no confidence the issues that divide us are anything we can laugh off. The lack of personal responsibility is hardly limited to academia or the left. What we saw from the right after Jan. 6 was at least as egregious as the rot described by Bill Maher.
Our nation was founded on the concepts of liberty, equality and justice. The conflicts besetting us arise from a deficit of basic human values and a lack of understanding that with rights come responsibilities. Greed and lust for power have become virtues. We need leaders who practice and promote integrity, tolerance, duty and honor, and who aren’t afraid to tackle such serious issues as climate change and the national debt. I doubt if a comedian would fill the bill.
Regarding "the South," unfortunately there are many Americans (probably concentrated on the east and west coasts) who know very little about the South in the 21st century. My parents were from the Mid-west (my roots), I lived in the Northeast for 25 years and I lived in the South for almost 25 years.
Yes, Republicans currently dominate in the South. But there are many blue cities and college towns in the South. I don't have all of the data in front of me, but the following Southern cities are blue, to the best of my knowledge: Memphis, Nashville, Austin, Atlanta and the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle in NC. Maybe also Houston, San Antonio, New Orleans and Louisville and Lexington KY.
Bill Clinton is from Arkansas. He was elected twice. His behavior in office hurt the Democrats in the South, although former Vice President Al Gore did manage to win the popular vote overall in 2000.
Friendly reminder: Al Gore's father was a U.S. Senator from Tennessee for 18 years. He previously had served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although Al was born in Washington DC, his family's roots are in Virginia and Tennessee. The Gores owned a farm in Carthage, Tennessee, where they grew tobacco and hay and raised cattle.
Let's not forget that Southern culture is defined first, last and always by racism, more to the point, denial of racism.
Troy's humor is based on certain stereotypes and an excellent grasp of the irony inherent in the blatant hypocrisy they exhibit. I see it as a relief valve for the frustration and exhaustion we suffer from this seemingly endless struggle against privilege, discrimination, and all the attendant wickedness...and that's just the music.
Re Al Gore. Yes. This is a fertile place for a thoughtful post. Al Gore was two years ahead of me at Harvard. We never met. Gore did not project Tennessee-ness. He projected a different kind of person, one of the many well-groomed sons of senators, ambassadors, pre-school people who were there. Many of them were building "perfect resumes." Brett Kavanaugh comes to mind as a similar sort. They projected back then a slightly formal demeanor. They didn't want to do anything that would get them off track. There is nothing wrong with that, but it wasn't casually genuine, either. Al Gore was a stick up the butt person. Brett Kavanaugh might be a insensitive, entitled jerk, but at least he had or has an alcohol problem. Gore wasn't genuine, except as a genuine perfect-resume person. That isn't Tennessee. That is Washington, D.C. establishment.
Everyone realized that. Blue state Democrats may have thought that, at least, Gore wouldn't be embarrassing Democrats by misbehaving with interns. What a relief. Red state people tired of being thought flyover state rubes could not help but think that Al Gore was a phony southerner. He probably owned a shotgun used only for photo shoots. He probably only pretended to like country music. He probably ate ribs with a knife and fork.
Is this impressionistic and unfair. Yes. But it doesn't surprise me one bit that Gore lost Tennessee.
I suppose I can flesh this out into a blog post.
Peter Sage
Apparently Al Gore spent the pandemic on his farm in Carthage, Tennessee, and he is still farming (Google it). Good for him.
I wouldn't be too hard on Al Gore. He may have felt caught between two worlds and very high family expectations. I suspect he tried hard not to be perceived as a hick from rural Tennessee up in the Northeast. He may also be on the more introverted side and a naturally serious person.
He won the Nobel prize, if I am not mistaken. And he brought climate change to everyone's attention.
The states with the highest percentage of African-Americans are primarily in the South. Black voters tend to vote overwhelmingly for Democrats. Also, most (but not all) historically black colleges and universities are located in the South.
The problem, I fear, is inauthenticity. Yes, there are people who sound like Trae Crowder, including people who grew up or live where Crowder's from. But Trae Crowder himself almost certainly doesn't sound like "Trae Crowder", if he ever did. Nor does anyone else from there who earned an M.B.A. The accent is deliberately exaggerated to the point of bowdlerization. Does he talk that way offstage, or when not in character? Do his children speak that way, except as a joke? He's lived in Los Angeles for many years now.
The key is to determine Crowder's intended audience, and it's progressives. The Beverly Hillbillies shtick imagined them with unlimited money and influence; here, it's still to deride rednecks, but to imagine amusingly WHAT they'd say after eating smart pills. Surprise, they'd become liberals! Dave Chappelle gave up his original sketch show after he realized a large portion of his massive audience was whites laughing at, not with, his unflinching caricatures of black culture. If he becomes successful enough, Crowder too will retool.
meme comment
"Nor does anyone else from there who earned an M.B.A." Oh my goodness, where is the evidence for this claim? Too funny.
Have you ever been to Tennessee or anywhere in the South? Individuals don't just lose their regional accents, especially in a short period of time, unless they are intentionally trying to do so.
For the record, Trae Crowder moved to LA in 2017, which is not long ago at all. Regardless, he probably will retain his home-grown Southern accent for his entire life. Obviously he is proud of who he is and has no apparent reason to hide or disguise it. Hopefully he will not start talking like a Valley Girl.
Also for the record, Crowder grew up near the TN- KY border. He attended university at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, TN. He also lived in Knoxville, TN.
I would like to invite the commenter to visit Celina, Cookeville and Knoxville, Tennessee to conduct research on Southern accents.
This is simply a baseless personal attack by someone who feels threatened. Bless your heart.
Remember John Edwards from North Carolina? (Born in SC)
Anon @ 7:11--
As much as I feel threatened by liberal rednecks, and by spiders too, I must urge you to consider nuance and careful reading. The proposed inauthenticity is not in the presence of an accent but in its degree, for comic effect as described.
Google "The Bitter Southerner" and "We Ain't Unicorns" together to reach a profile/origin story of Trae Crowder plus the two other original "Liberal Rednecks" from their concept's initial "WellRed" comedy tour, before Crowder hit the big time.
"It wasn't really a character, because Crowder is truly a redneck and a liberal, but he exaggerated it. He took off his glasses, put on a t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off and a ragged ballcap on his head. He cranked up his accent to full Tennessee twang...."
Physician, heal thyself, on the matter of conducting research.
I see that your next blog is about J.D. Vance. The next senator from Ohio. I read his book Hillbilly Elegy and enjoyed it. I read it to try to learn about the south and to try to understand why the people vote against their economic interests. It seemed at the time that the author projected some liberal views, but now he has turned. He wants some "tough Love". Oh my.
PS - Don't use the words "white trash" on facebook, or they will put you in "facebook jail".
Correction: should read, "cranked up his accent to full East Tennessee twang..."
People “vote against their economic interests” because their cultural interests are more important to them.
"Voting against their economic interests" is a matter of opinion. It is also condescending, judgmental and a passive aggressive way of calling people who don't share your views and opinions stupid.
Perhaps they think the same of you and other like minded individuals.
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