Toby Keith calls Barack Obama an Oreo.
Remember when I defended Toby Keith last week? That's over:
I wonder how Keith truly feels that we Blacks "carry ourselves".
(Cross-posted on 1,369 lightbulbs.)
Now, Keith has trained his sights on Barack Obama, attacking him in racially tinged language that startled even the notoriously reactionary radio jock Glenn Beck. During Keith's appearance on the July 30 broadcast of Beck's show, he remarked, "I think the black people would say he [Obama] don't talk, act or carry himself as a black person."When you shock Glenn Beck with a racial statement, you've made history. And a White country singer calling a Black man an Oreo...I hope Guinness makes room in their next book.
"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."
I wonder how Keith truly feels that we Blacks "carry ourselves".
(Cross-posted on 1,369 lightbulbs.)
Advertisement
Link to cross-post is here.
August 5, 2008 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
He of Dixie Chicks fame (or infamy)? FUTK.
He sees himself as a patriot. He is a racist, apologist dickhead. He still loves Bush. No wonder he's on Beck's show. (Someone tell me why Beck still has a show!?)
And TK gives all southerners and country-western people a continued stigma of racist dumbass.
August 5, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Beat me to it.
August 6, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'd like to see Toby (I don't like you now to the same extent I didn't like you before) Keith shuffle off to the same retirement home as Michael (the Savage herbalist) Weiner and Mr. Robert I-can't-drive-55 Novak.
August 5, 2008 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama does seem to draw from both his white and black heritage, but I don't see why this would be a negative for American blacks.
August 5, 2008 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are dignifying Keith's remarks. "Acting white" isn't exactly the same as drawing from both sides of his heritage.
"Acting White" is being an uppity n***** and it is all Keith's pals have to hear. They want to vote for the 'merican who bombed all them gooks 40 years ago.
August 6, 2008 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
The only real question is why anyone with an IQ above 50 would care what Toby Keith 'thinks' - on any subject.
August 5, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly!
August 6, 2008 9:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
He's got a great lynching song too. Goes over big in the red states I hear.
August 5, 2008 8:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's an article in the New Yorker with a mention of how some of Obama's black supporters are privately critising him for not speaking out on behalf of AAs. I think it's ignorant to assume African Americans are one single group, unless you're only interested in them as a guaranteed voting block.
Your headline calls Obama an Oreo, but not your post or the quote you provided.
What's up with that?
August 6, 2008 9:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
I grew up being called an Oreo. Or "wanna-be-white", or whatever you may term it. I know the language when I see it. It all means the same thing - acting "White".
So I know what I'm talking about. From experience.
You?
You're acting like my blog post title is a sworn statement in court, either to deliberately annoy me, a person you frequently disagree with, or to simply be a contrarian (a role you seem to seek out repeatedly on these threads). Either way, it's rather pathetic, and if that's how you'll go about this, I'd rather you simply didn't comment in my threads.
As to the New Yorker piece that you mention, I've known about such sentiments for several months. Unlike you, I didn't need to read an article to find out. Speaking of the accuracy you hold so dear, where in my post do I assume Blacks are a "guaranteed voting block"? I said "we Blacks" because I meant all African-Americans - a group that Toby Keith, not I, was making assumptions about. I'm not interested in Blacks as a "guaranteed voting block" - I am Black, and as such, I have concern for all of our communities, to the individual. I hardly think I need to answer to someone like you in order to validate that.
August 6, 2008 10:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, let's see...
It's okay for you to call someone an Oreo. Is it Okay for me,too, or only if I'm also half-black?
The voting block remark was aimed at Glen Beck, not you, sorry to disappoint, but I thought the context would make it clear.
As for the New Yorker piece, I apologize. I now realize your post was meant to be a monologue and you already know everything.
Peace.
August 6, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's you:
Huh? I never said it was OK for ANYONE to use that term in a derogatory fashion. What post are you reading? Now if you happen to see an actual Nabisco product walking down the street and it has two chocolate cookies encasing white, creamy filling, then by all means.
That wasn't clear at all. Thanks for clearing that up.
I said I didn't need to read an article to know that because I'm Black and I've heard family, friends and fellow churchgoers talking about it for months. I thought I'd made that clear, but it seems you're in such a rush to deem me sanctimonious that you didn't bother to think about the fact that it may have actually been discussed somewhere, somehow before the New Yorker piece emerged.
And if I wanted monologue, why would I post a thread at all? It's completely antithetical to the aims you claim that I have. I disagree with you, and you'd rather make it personal than construct a logical, respectful rebuttal. That's on you, not me.
August 6, 2008 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, crap, he is an Oreo, sometimes.
And sometimes a chocolate-filled twinkie.
And sometimes a moon pie, and sometimes a coconut custard. And sometimes a nutty power bar.
But he's always delicious.
August 6, 2008 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
I prefer to think of him as blackberry cobbler ala mode(my favorite). Upper crust, stuffed full of goodness, topped with "cool".
Scientific, just trying to add a little levity to a serious situation. I don't want you to think I'm poking fun at your post.
As a matter of fact, as soon as someone can telling me what "acting white" is, I would like to make sure it is something I never do.
Wouldn't want my biracial son picking up bad habits and having to deal with this issue when he runs for president in 2048.
August 6, 2008 12:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
No worries. Good luck in 2048!
August 6, 2008 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
"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."
As a black guy myself, here's how I interpret it. As someone else above said "acting white" in the eyes of many blacks means being "uppity": you are cocky, you're trying to "fit in with the man", etc. In my generation (I'm 21), this attitude is certainly dwindling, but it's still there with older folks and those who are not very well-cultured because little is known to some other than their not-so-thriving environment. To many though, he is well-educated and a great success story, and I think many blacks are starting to realize this. Hell, last fall, Hillary had more support from blacks than Obama in many polls. Why? Because blacks assumed he had no chance to win because he is black (half-black, whatever)...so why bother supporting him when it is known he will fail?
I know how it is to be called an oreo, etc., too...and I've even been called that by white people to my face. I did not grow up in the best of environments (though it was still better than many). If Toby Keith goes on to say that about Obama, Lord knows what he really thinks about blacks.
We make our judgments based on the images we are bombarded with on a daily basis. If you've interacted with few (if any) black people, you will at least think in the back of your mind that an average black guy loves rap music, derrieres shaking everywhere, basketball, football, chicken, and watermelon. Admit it--we all have preconceived notions in the back of our minds. To share from my experience, I was teased much more by my peers in elementary and middle school because of my speech, mannerisms, and success in school. We become associated with images; even black kids have this idea of what a "black" person is supposed to be by watching TV or witnessing things that go on at home. Hence, I was perceived as an oddball. Now, when I go home and see some of these kids who teased me, they sure in hell don't tease me anymore. Instead of "Haha, look at you, you're in college"; they oftentimes ask me for advice regarding college and if going is still possible despite their life's circumstances.
If Keith thinks "the black people would say he [Obama] don't talk, act or carry himself as a black person.", then that must be what he thinks too since he's wrong for making such an assumption. He clearly has as image in his mind of a run-of-the-mill black guy: one who likes the things I mentioned earlier. Try getting your son into one of those hobbies, m4me, and hopefully that will get him on the right track :-)
Wow, that was really really long.
August 6, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink