As a musician, Horace Trahan has never been known for pulling his punches.
The Cajun accordionist, lawn care business owner, family man and lifelong resident of Ossun, Louisiana, doesn’t have a lot of time for subtlety. His band, Horace Trahan & the Ossun Express, plays somewhere almost every weekend sharing the rollicking rhythms and direct emotions of Cajun and zydeco music — and Trahan embodies that same openness off the stage.
His Facebook profile is a daily diary of shows, updates, music and news. Trahan, who’s been playing for crowds in French and English since he was a teenager, is more than comfortable expressing himself to the public, even when the topic is an emotional one. So it was on-brand this week when the artist turned on his camera and published a reel that spoke directly to events currently embroiling the American public.
“I guess just seeing everything going on in the world today, I thought, we can do better. We can do better as human beings,” said Trahan, explaining the inspiration behind the video, which was posted on Jan. 25 and features Trahan at home in his kitchen. The reel opens with a memory from school days at Ossun Elementary, where he was taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America.
“As a little kid, I remember thinking, ‘how could they say he discovered this land, when they already had people living here for thousands of years?'” posed the artist.
The reel, which garnered 187 shares and 36,000 views, went on to discuss current debates around use of force by government agencies, stemming from ICE and border patrol actions in cities like Los Angeles and Minneapolis. Thousands have taken to the streets of Minneapolis in recent weeks to protest immigration raids in the city, and on Jan. 7 and Jan. 24, Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti were respectively shot and killed by federal agents after joining the protests.
In the 6-minute video, Trahan links the violence in Minneapolis to historic violence against Black people by the U.S. government, saying, “This fascism is only making waves right now because it’s white people getting killed by the government in the streets, and the government getting away with it scot-free. That’s been going on for centuries for Black people in this country. It ain’t nothing new.”
“The main problem in this country is not immigrants. It’s white supremacy. That mindset,” said Trahan, ending the recording on a somber note.
Outspokenness is nothing new for this artist, who also shared his songs “Guilty Till Proven Innocent” and “Government’s Been Dirty Since Day One” on social media this week. In discussing the response to the video, the artist said that his Cajun background is a major influence behind his views, and that his French-speaking grandfather gave him insight into the modern immigrant experience.
“The Cajun people never originated here,” he said. “We were kicked out of Canada, and we ended up over here. My grandfather was born in 1908, and until the day he died in 2000, he could only say very few words in English. Just spoke French.
“So I have a soft spot in my heart for people that might not know the language, but work very hard to provide for their families. In no way do I support dangerous people, murderers, rapists, being in the streets. I don’t believe anybody in their right mind does. If somebody is committing violent crimes, by all means, lock them up. But that’s not limited to citizens. That’s also not limited to illegal immigrants. I put that on the backs of the government also — government assets, government entities committing murder and violence against us in the streets.”
Trahan said that his goal in speaking out is to foster peace and understanding over division, stating that while he and others hold deeply held views, it’s more important than ever to express them without resorting to violence.
He said, “You have a right to your opinion. I have my right to my opinion. We should be able to discuss it and not go to war with each other over it. This controlling mentality, like, ‘I’m going to put fear into you and you’re gonna do what I tell you to do’ — people are waking up to that. It’s time for a change.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.theadvocate.com ’
