Mellencamp song about Jena, La. gets mayor
upset; calls song's video inflammatory

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

A video in which rapper-actor Mos Def asked students around the country to walk out Oct. 1 to support the "Jena Six" escaped comment by this town's mayor. But when John Mellencamp sang, "Jena, take your nooses down," he took issue.

"The town of Jena has for months been mischaracterized in the media and portrayed as the epicenter of hatred, racism and a place where justice is denied," Jena Mayor Murphy R. McMillin wrote in a statement on town letterhead faxed on Friday to The Associated Press.

He said he had previously stayed quiet, hoping that the town's courtesy to people who have visited over the past year would speak for itself. "However, the Mellencamp video is so inflammatory, so defamatory, that a line has been crossed and enough is enough."

More here.

Well, no surprise here, especially considering that Jena's white mayor is definitely a racist. And it's no surprise that he let the Mos Def song go without protest, but freaks out on John Cougar's entry into the fray: if there's one thing white racists hate more than black people, it's the mythical "race traitor." I guess ol' Mayor Murph just can't understand why all the good white folk aren't coming to his defense on this.

Anyway, Cougar's song isn't half bad. I mean, it's not "Pink Houses" or anything, but it's kind of catchy, and definitely timely--kudos to him for getting it out while the story's still in the press, almost as cool as CSN&Y getting "Ohio" out within a few weeks of the Kent State shootings.

Here, check it out (careful, contains some intense historic footage of actual lynchings):



$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$