The Michael Knowles Show - Michael REACTS To Tom MacDonald's "Remember Who You Are"

Starting point is 00:00:00 Today's song is called Remember Who You Are. It's by Tom McDonald's. We haven't done a Tom McDonald's song in a minute, huh? It's got 1.6 million views in three days. All right, take it away. Remember who you are, white boys start a fire with some gas in a match. Hanging out the window of a truck with a flag. Fishing off the world that's trying to tell you it's bad to be like you.

Starting point is 00:00:23 Just remember who you are, white boy, racing hell just like your old man. Little slice of heaven somewhere out on a ranch. Listen off the world is trying to tell you it's bad to be like you This is for my guys outside with a little bit of red on their necks Standing for the anthem with their hand on their chest Rattlesnakes on some yellow flags hanging from their window panes Buddy you should watch where you step step step step get to step in y'all get Get get gone get gone we just want to work go to church have a good time till we in the dirt

Starting point is 00:00:58 Remember who you are white boys start a fly with some gas and a match hanging out the window of a truck with a flag isn't off the world that's trying to tell you it's bad to be like you just remember who you are white boy breaks in hell just like your old man heaven somewhere out on the world is trying to tell you it's bad to be like you this is for the guys who're gonna fight to be free till the cops come around who never let the flag that they wave touch the ground metal sign on a fence post no trespassing allowed and this is

Starting point is 00:01:34 is for the ones who don't run reading bibles loading guns they know what they got to do and they know how to get it done all the ones who learn in lessons till the day they get to heavy if you ain't one of us and get to step in step step step in y'all get get get get gone get gone we just want to work go to church have a good time till we're in the dirt remember who you are white boys start a fire with some gas and a match hanging out the window of the truck with a flag Nothing off the world that's trying to tell you it's bad to be like you Just remember who you are white Trying to tell you it's bad to be like you

Starting point is 00:02:19 Had a race in your past told you it's bad Remember who you were white boy Before they put your kids in a mask to sit in a class Remember who you were white boy Or the only lives that matter were black You got a tag Remember who you were white boy I'm telling you you gotta go bad

Starting point is 00:02:41 More like that Remember who you're You are white boy, start a fire with some gas and a match. Hanging out the window of a truck with a flag. Isn't off the world that's trying to tell you it's bad to be like you. Just remember who you are white boy, bracing, hey, it's bad to be like. He released it on Juneteenth. You know, what's so charming about this song is, he says, you know, remember who you are white boy,

Starting point is 00:03:17 raise in hell just like your old man. But then what are the examples that he gives? They're actually pretty wholesome. You know, there's this metaphor of you're pouring out gasoline and lighting a fire. That's like Billy Joel. We didn't start the fire. You know, it's not a destructive fire. It's a vibrant fire.

Starting point is 00:03:46 It's this kind of fire of life. But then one of the discrete examples he gives is you don't let the flag touch the ground. And you realize, you know, raise in hell like your old man. One of the kind of funny things about like white boy culture is it's relatively innocent. it's actually pretty innocuous. White boy culture is not known for being particularly destructive at all. It's really quite the opposite. And it's very provocative to say that there is a white boy culture

Starting point is 00:04:18 because what we had been told basically for my entire life, of my education, is that there is no white culture. But then the very people who are making that argument say there is no white boy culture, they would come out and contradict themselves and say, we need to abolish white boy culture. We need to abolish whiteness. What does it mean to abolish whiteness? Assuming they're not talking about actual genocide, which maybe they are, it means you have to abolish a culture.

Starting point is 00:04:44 And it's not even whiteness generally. It's specifically white men. It's white boys. So, okay, now we acknowledge there is a white boy culture. And the left, I think if you pinned them on that contradiction, they would say, yeah, okay, well, yes, there is a white boy culture. And it's very bad. And it's racist and misogynistic and violent and oppressive and blah, blah, blah, blah. You say, okay, all right, there are all these terrible aspects of the white boy culture.

Starting point is 00:05:08 Is there anything good about it? Quick question. Let's just say, for argument's sake, the white culture, white boy culture is really, really bad in all these different ways. Is there anything? Is there even one single thing that's good about white boy culture? And the left would blanch, pun intended. The left would not have an answer to that. Because they can't allow themselves to say, yes, that there is, like I. I don't know, listening to rock music, making sure the American flag doesn't touch the ground, whatever, you know, whatever white boy stuff is, playing Fender Stratocasters and shotgunning beers, whatever, you know, whatever white boy culture is. They can't acknowledge that any of it's good.

Starting point is 00:05:50 And if you really get down into demographic breakdowns of good things like volunteering, like, I don't know, giving to charity, diligence, whatever, you know, they can't acknowledge that. You remember the Smithsonian put out that guide to whiteness, what whiteness is? And the Smithsonian, unwittingly, ironically, made it really, really racist against black people. Because they said, you know, things like showing up on time and going to work. Like, those are aspects of white culture that we cannot expect of other people. He's like, wait, what? Being like smart and diligent is just white culture.

Starting point is 00:06:23 That was the Smithsonian said that. And so there's this very confused conversation around what it is that constitutes white culture. or specifically even white boy culture. There is no culture, but there is a culture and it's bad and you have to get rid of it. Is there anything good about it? And you realize there's this preposterous double standard where when we're talking about any other kind of culture, in the overlapping identities of intersectionality, if you talk about any other culture, you're only allowed to focus on the good things and you have to ignore or deny all the bad things.

Starting point is 00:06:56 except for white boy culture where you have to ignore or deny all the good things and you can only focus on the bad things real or imagine. That is the context in which Tom's song is coming out, which is a healthy, I don't know, antidote to some of that. And it's the inevitable product of that fact of racial identity, that every other race in America has a higher than 50% racial identity. for black people it's over 70% for white people it's 15%. And that's just unsustainable if racial politics is going to come to the fore. No surprise that it got a million and a half views in three days.

Starting point is 00:07:35 Frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't gotten even more. I suspect it will. Okay, that's our show. I'm Michael Knowles. It's the Michael Nulls show. See you tomorrow.

The Michael Knowles Show - Michael REACTS To Tom MacDonald's "Remember Who You Are"

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