The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #59351 Message #946260
Posted By: McGrath of Harlow
05-May-03 - 12:09 PM
Thread Name: Toby Keith/Willie Nelson laud lynching??
Subject: RE: Toby Keith/Willie Nelson laud lynching??
Talking about racism seems a red herring in relation to this song. If you read it as extolling lynching, it seems to be extolling lynching regardless of race. If you read it as likening hyper-tough law enforcement to lynch law, once again that isn't particularly about race.
No doubt a disproprtionate number of lynch victims in the USA were black, just as a disproportionate number of people killed by the law are black. But would the song be that different if a line had been slipped in indicating that the guy being lynched was actually white?