Taylor Swift's New Song ‘I Hate It Here': Controversy
Taylor Swift's new song, ‘I Hate It Here,' has stirred quite the discussion, not for her usual tales of heartbreak, but for her take on American history, especially concerning racism and slavery. While some are vibing with her latest album, “The Tortured Poet's Department,” and dissecting potential references to Joe Alwyn, Matty Healy, and Kim Kardashian, others are side-eyeing the song “I Hate It Here” for its controversial lyrics.
In the song, Swift muses about a game she used to play with friends, imagining living in different decades. She mentions the 1830s but with a twist—wishing to avoid the racism and arranged marriages of the time. This has sparked a mixed bag of reactions, with some fans taken aback by her choice of words.
On social media, folks are expressing their discontent, with the hashtag “1830” trending on Twitter. Some are genuinely upset by Swift's apparent oversight regarding slavery, while others are poking fun at the odd sentiment.
One Twitter user remarked, “Pretty astonishing to stipulate that she wants to live in the 1830s, ‘except without the racists,' and not mention slavery, so slavery still exists but everyone’s chill about it.”
In a Reddit thread dedicated to the song, another person questioned, “Why would she pick the decade lol??? Like all the bigotry aside, there wasn't even proper plumbing back then, medical care was primitive, and little to no proper infrastructure.”
Critics are highlighting two main issues with Swift's reference to the 1830s. Firstly, racism wasn't the only form of intolerance rampant during that era—slavery was at its peak. Secondly, the signing of the Indian Removal Act in 1830 by Andrew Jackson led to the Trail of Tears, a tragic event displacing many Native Americans.
Despite Swift's attempts to clarify her perspective in later lines of the song, many listeners are fixated on the initial lyrics, reluctant to entertain her explanation. The fact remains that thirty years before the Civil War, slavery was still legally practiced throughout the American South.
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