Why I'm listening to Oliver Anthony

White liberal and leftists shouldn't ignore "Rich Men North of Richmond"

Aug 15, 2023

I've been sellin' my soul, workin' all day

Overtime hours for bullshit pay

So I can sit out here and waste my life away

Drag back home and drown my troubles away

These are the opening lines of Oliver Anthony's "Rich Men North of Richmond." The West Virginian's song has earned more than 10 million views in six days (at the time I'm writing this). And I don't think it's hard to understand why. His short, catchy tune expresses a widely held belief that the United States political and economic system is rigged by and for the wealthy few. It doesn't hurt that Fox News and Marjorie Taylor Greene, and other members of the right-wing ecosystem shared his video. I myself was pretty excited when I heard the first verses of the song. But I was disappointed when the song took a right turn toward the end of the chorus and in its second verse. Here's the chorus and the beginning of the second verse:

Livin' in the new world

With an old soul

These rich men north of Richmond

Lord knows they all just wanna have total control

Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do

And they don't think you know, but I know that you do

'Cause your dollar ain't shit and it's taxed to no end

'Cause of rich men north of Richmond

I wish politicians would look out for miners

And not just minors on an island somewhere

Lord, we got folks in the street, ain't got nothin' to eat

And the obese milkin' welfare

Well, God, if you're 5-foot-3 and you're 300 pounds

Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds

So Anthony and I began on the same page: Too many people are struggling to make ends meet while rich men north of Richmond (politicians in Washington, D.C.) do nothing. But then Anthony channels his best Grover Norquist impression to close out the chorus by decrying high taxes. He follows this up with an Epstein reference and then an attack on obese people on welfare.

This is an unfortunate and dispiriting case of "punching down" right after he set us up to hope for something so much better. What happened to the rich men north of Richmond? I saw arguments online that claimed the welfare line was still directed toward the elites who "keep people trapped in a cycle of poverty" through welfare. This line of thinking is both generous and flawed because research shows that public benefits generally make people healthier (and less poor!). The serious flaws in his message are likely precisely why Fox News is excited to amplify his message.

With all this said, I think that Oliver Anthony's song is extremely important for white liberals (and leftists) to listen to. I don't think I ever thought I'd be writing my own version of the "we need to listen to white working-class people" essay. This genre of writing proliferated in the wake of Trump's 2016 election. It made J.D. Vance famous and gave him the platform to scam his way into the Senate. Around that time, we were inundated with profiles of avowed white supremacists and man in bar interviews. It seems like there's been plenty of space made for white working-class grievances, often at the expense of critical analysis of their racial politics. So why am I here to try to make the case once more?

White liberals should pay attention to "Rich Men North of Richmond" because I think many are insulated from the economic and social conditions plaguing poor and working-class whites. Anthony sings about wanting to "drown [his] troubles away." This isn't just a blues trope. Life expectancy for poor and working-class white people is declining. That's why I don't think the endorsement of right-wing media and provocateurs is the only thing driving engagement with Anthony's song. If Trump avoids prison and gets to go head-to-head with Biden again, I think the emotional resonance of Anthony's lyrics should catch white liberals' attention. I think Trump stands a very good chance of getting re-elected over Biden.

Yes, there are flaws in Anthony's message. But they should not be the reason for white liberals or leftists to discount it. Anthony believes a lie – that people taking advantage of welfare are to blame for his own economic situation. But Anthony didn't devise that lie, and while he's not absolved for regurgitating it, our rage should remain focused on the people in power who crafted and pushed that lie for decades.

Those of us who are white have a responsibility, on the other hand, to listen actively and patiently to folks like Anthony. Those of us who are from professional and managerial class backgrounds especially have work to do to leave our bubbles and engage with working-class white people. Given the structural barriers to forming those types of relationships in real life, listening to music like Anthony's might be the next best option.

There is a lot of work to be done on this front. Not long after coming across Anthony's song, I saw an interview with John Russell, who writes The Holler and works for More Perfect Union. Russell went to a Trump rally, and rather than creating a montage of the most outrageous, offensive responses he could cull from interviews, he spoke to people in a way that surfaced important commonalities between them and the labor-left. These kinds of conversations are important and long overdue.

But let me follow that up with a couple of caveats. First of all, I want to reiterate that these conversations are vital for white people to have among themselves. One reason for that is that I wouldn't advocate for Black people, Indigenous people, or other people of color to try to have compassionate conversations with people who may espouse hateful ideologies.

The other thing that is vital to remember is that while Anthony is working class, Anthony is not the working class. I've been intentional about naming him as a member of the white working class this whole time. It's a distinction that was sometimes left out in all the coverage of "economic angst" that supposedly powered Trump's victory in 2016.

There are a lot of working-class musicians of color who make music about trying to survive in a broken economic system. There are also white working-class musicians who create music on this theme while punching up instead of down. While we embark on listening to folks like Anthony, we do not need to endorse or lionize them. To believe that racism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc., are endemic to white working-class culture is a common misconception held by white liberals. But even when these -isms do show up in certain spaces or works of art, I think they are deserving of white liberals' and leftists' attention. We cannot retreat from these uncomfortable encounters.

White people have to do the work that Showing Up for Racial Justice once described as “calling in our cousins.” For white liberals, this art can offer a chance to understand the appeal of an ideologue like Trump, who otherwise makes no sense. For white leftists, art like this offers a chance to seek points of convergence. There is a significant gap between my politics and Oliver Anthony's. But we both agree that the current system is broken. If there's any hope for bridging the divide between our politics and building power that can fight the "rich men north of Richmond," I have to be willing to listen.

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