Toby Keith, perhaps best known to non-country audiences for his post-Sept. 11 song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," says he's a Democrat, and was impressed by the senator from Illinois.
Keith has said in the past that the 2002 song — which included lines aimed at the Taliban like "we lit up your world like the Fourth of July" — was more patriotic than pro-war.
Asked while promoting his new movie "Beer For My Horses" about the role of patriotism in the current presidential election, Keith replied: "There's a big part of America that really believes that there is a war on terrorism, and that we need to finish up.
"So I thought it was beautiful the other day when Obama went to Afghanistan and got educated about Afghanistan and Iraq. He came back and said some really nice things.
"So as far as leadership and patriotism goes, I think it's really important that those things have to take place. And I think he's the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton. And that's coming from a Democrat."
"I think the black people would say he [Obama] don't talk, act or carry himself as a black person.""What does that even mean?" the audibly shocked Beck replied."Well, I don't know what that means," Keith drawled, "but I think that that's what they would say. Even though the black society would pull for him I still think that they think in the back of their mind that the only reason he is in [the general election] is because he talks, acts and carries himself as a Caucasian."
Now, I don’t even want to comment on this nonsense. Besides, I’m sure you guys already know how I feel about this idiot (see: http://leaveyours.blogspot.com/2008/07/lynch-please.html). I want to hear from you. Tell me what you think about Keith’s comments. Is Barack Obama acting white? Is that the only reason he’s the Democratic Party nominee? Or is Toby Keith just a racist hillbilly who has no business engaging in intellectual discourse? Is Barack Obama’s appeal just way over Toby Keith’s head?Talk to me.Peace,J.W.
I don't see this as pro-lynching. I see this as a pro-capitalpunishment song. Before the electric chair, there was hanging, and it was done to punish criminals and the like many years back. Your interpretation of this reminds me of the egregiously erroneous accusations made against a Johns Hopkins fraternity by the BSU about a pirate skeleton Halloween prop being called a "lynched black man". Maybe a little less defensive jumps to conclusion might be beneficial. As for whether it hurts his campaign, I don't think so. It's a loose connection atbest.I think what hurts him more is the fact that YOU are classifying him as BLACK, and not just a presidential candidate. It takes the focus away from his political views, and his good ideas, and the importance of his candidacy, and turns it into a vendetta of sorts. By calling him "the great black hope" you make him out to be some sort of spearhead for black power, which, from what I've seen, is not the point he's trying to drive home at all. Yes it's historic, yes it's monumental, but by no means should he use that as a selling point because that's not a way to appeal to the lesser-educated, more opinion-driven voters. I don't view him as "the black candidate" and McCain as "the white candidate". Maybe you should do the same.
Dear Anonymous,First, thank you so much for reading and responding to my post. I truly appreciate you taking the time to read my thoughts and opinions, and hope that you will continue to do so in the future. Respectfully, I do, however, have to disagree with your comments on the basis of three points. They are:1st Point – Toby Keith’s song is more than a pro-capital punishment song. It’s racist. Come on, Anonymous, let’s be real. You said it yourself that hanging served as a means of capital punishment “MANY YEARS BACK.” So, why in the world would Toby Keith use the word “hanging” to advocate for capital punishment in 21st century America? Why didn’t he just say we should send all criminals to the electric chair? That would have been truly advocating for modern-day capital punishment. Instead, he chose to use the word “hanging,” an outdated method of capital punishment. That’s like me saying that in order to advance technology, we should all go back to using typewriters. Or that in order to improve sound quality, the musicindustry should go back to using records. It just doesn’t make any sense.The fact is that Toby Keith used the image of hanging, or lynching, and the image of a black man in the same context. And I refuse to believe that Toby Keith is so ignorant that he didn’t comprehend the effects of doing so. In fact, he proved he wasn’t as ignorant as you suggest by pulling his video from YouTube before anybody even raised the question of its racist connotation, which tells me that he and his record label understood the racial context of the song and video.2nd Point – To say that, somehow, I view Barack Obama as a “BLACK” candidate, and nothing more, is to mischaracterize me, what I stand for, and why I am a Barack Obama supporter.Anonymous, I have been a supporter of Barack Obama since 2004 and a member of his campaign for four months now. I’ve listened to his speeches, heard his interviews, volunteered for his campaign, and I’ve even been trained by his staff. I know exactly what Barack Obama stands for. In fact, the thing about his message that drew me in the most was his 2004speech at the Democratic National Convention when he made the declaration that “there's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.” So, to make the claim that I have made Senator Obama out to be “some sort of spearhead for black power” shows that you don’t know me very well.The fact is that I’ve never called Barack Obama “The Great Black Hope” (that was simply the caption in the picture) and I’ve never suggested that he should use his “blackness” as a selling point, as you suggest in your comments. In fact, I was one of the only people in the African American community to argue that I was not supporting Barack Obama simply because he’s black (see http://jnointed.blogspot.com/2008/06/say-it-loud.html), which leads me to my third point.3rd Point – Your comments don’t address the point of my post.Maybe you missed it. Maybe you just read what you wanted to read and didn’t fully understand the point I was trying to make, so let me break it down for you. There are simply some people in this country who will not vote for Barack Obama, no matter what he says or does, simply because of the way he looks. That has nothing to do with how I see him or how you see him, but specifically how some people in America will view him, no matter what his policies are or what issues he advocates for. Want proof? Check the following videos out, and tell me, would the same comments be made about Barack Obama if he wasn’t black? If his name wasn’t Barack Hussein Obama?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNbLQ6DC8mwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1x81XODP-ohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-q4MDQ0cDISo, you see, Anonymous, whether or not you or I view Barack Obama as a “Black” candidate, there are people in this country who do. And my post simply made the point that the same sentiment that was behind the creation of Toby Keith’s racist song and video is the same sentiment that these voters have towards Barack Obama’s candidacy. There’s racism in the world, whether we like it or not, and that’s all I was trying to say.Hope that clears up any confusion you might have had about my position. By no means was I suggesting that Toby Keith’s song would somehow hurt Barack Obama in the polls. I was simply suggesting that racism is alive and well in our country, and it continues to reflect itself throughout our society, whether in music or politics.God bless,J.W.P.S. Next time, don’t post anonymously. The world wants to know who you are : )
Dear Anonymous,First, thank you so much for reading and responding to my post. I truly appreciate you taking the time to read my thoughts and opinions, and hope that you will continue to do so in the future. Respectfully, I do, however, have to disagree with your comments on the basis of three points. They are:1st Point – Toby Keith’s song is more than a pro-capital punishment song. It’s racist.
Come on, Anonymous, let’s be real. You said it yourself that hanging served as a means of capital punishment “MANY YEARS BACK.” So, why in the world would Toby Keith use the word “hanging” to advocate for capital punishment in 21st century America? Why didn’t he just say we should send all criminals to the electric chair? That would have been truly advocating for modern-day capital punishment. Instead, he chose to use the word “hanging,” an outdated method of capital punishment. That’s like me saying that in order to advance technology, we should all go back to using typewriters. Or that in order to improve sound quality, the musicindustry should go back to using records. It just doesn’t make any sense.The fact is that Toby Keith used the image of hanging, or lynching, and the image of a black man in the same context. And I refuse to believe that Toby Keith is so ignorant that he didn’t comprehend the effects of doing so. In fact, he proved he wasn’t as ignorant as you suggest by pulling his video from YouTube before anybody even raised the question of its racist connotation, which tells me that he and his record label understood the racial context of the song and video.2nd Point – To say that, somehow, I view Barack Obama as a “BLACK” candidate, and nothing more, is to mischaracterize me, what I stand for, and why I am a Barack Obama supporter.Anonymous, I have been a supporter of Barack Obama since 2004 and a member of his campaign for four months now. I’ve listened to his speeches, heard his interviews, volunteered for his campaign, and I’ve even been trained by his staff. I know exactly what Barack Obama stands for. In fact, the thing about his message that drew me in the most was his 2004speech at the Democratic National Convention when he made the declaration that “there's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.” So, to make the claim that I have made Senator Obama out to be “some sort of spearhead for black power” shows that you don’t know me very well.The fact is that I’ve never called Barack Obama “The Great Black Hope” (that was simply the caption in the picture) and I’ve never suggested that he should use his “blackness” as a selling point, as you suggest in your comments. In fact, I was one of the only people in the African American community to argue that I was not supporting Barack Obama simply because he’s black (see http://jnointed.blogspot.com/2008/06/say-it-loud.html), which leads me to my third point.3rd Point – Your comments don’t address the point of my post.Maybe you missed it. Maybe you just read what you wanted to read and didn’t fully understand the point I was trying to make, so let me break it down for you. There are simply some people in this country who will not vote for Barack Obama, no matter what he says or does, simply because of the way he looks. That has nothing to do with how I see him or how you see him, but specifically how some people in America will view him, no matter what his policies are or what issues he advocates for. Want proof? Check the following videos out, and tell me, would the same comments be made about Barack Obama if he wasn’t black? If his name wasn’t Barack Hussein Obama?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNbLQ6DC8mwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1x81XODP-ohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-q4MDQ0cDISo, you see, Anonymous, whether or not you or I view Barack Obama as a “Black” candidate, there are people in this country who do. And my post simply made the point that the same sentiment that was behind the creation of Toby Keith’s racist song and video is the same sentiment that these voters have towards Barack Obama’s candidacy. There’s racism in the world, whether we like it or not, and that’s all I was trying to say.Hope that clears up any confusion you might have had about my position. By no means was I suggesting that Toby Keith’s song would somehow hurt Barack Obama in the polls. I was simply suggesting that racism is alive and well in our country, and it continues to reflect itself throughout our society, whether in music or politics.God bless,J.W.P.S. Next time, don’t post anonymously. The world wants to know who you are : )
And this:
But what’s most hurtful, and more damaging, is this – Toby Keith’s new single entitled “Beer for My Horses.” In it, Keith talks about the troubling times we now live in and the need for peace, order, and justice. A pretty generic, non-controversial subject, right? Well, the problem is that not only does the song’s music video suggest that these troubling times are brought on by black people, but the song’s lyrics suggest that they be lynched in order to bring about the peace, order, and justice we all seek. (Read the Huffington Post article here: (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/toby-keiths-pro-lynching_b_115526.html)Now, whether Keith intended for the song to be racist, I don’t know. I do believe, however, that Keith and the record company behind him are smart and know what raising the idea of lynching means to black people (just like the South Carolina government knows what it means to fly the Confederate flag over top its state capitol). At best, it’s blatant disrespect. At worst, well, you know what it is.And so, it’s this type of ignorance that keeps Barack Obama from securing a majority of the American people’s support. Not any of his policies. Not his opposition to off-shore drilling. Not his desire to pull troops out of Iraq. Not his promise to eliminate the Bush tax cuts. But nonsense like this.Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not naïve enough to suggest that Toby Keith’s song has any bearings on the Presidential election. I am suggesting, however, that just like rappers claim to represent the harsh realities of what goes on in their neighborhoods in their songs, country singers like Keith do too. And it’s the same people who listen to garbage like this who won’t vote for Barack Obama no matter what he does or says, or what policies he promotes. Because their opposition to his candidacy is about something more – something more sinister, something more vile than whether he’s a Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal.It’s about this:
