Toby Keith Enlightens Us With His Thoughts On the Black Community

During a July 30th 2008 interview on Glenn Beck's radio show, country singer Toby Keith gave his thoughts on how he thinks the Black community views Barack Obama. Below is a transcript of that portion of the interview. You can also listen to it in the You Tube player below. For those who want to read the complete transcript, where Keith discusses a variety of other topics, click here.

TOBY: The racial issues just never ever seem to change. We can't get past them. And so I really don't know what the answer is.

GLENN: Wait a minute. Hang on a second. Haven't we gotten past it. Isn't Barack Obama possibly the next president of the United States and you don't see people, you know, saying, oh, he's black. I don't know any of those people. I'm sure they exist, but I don't know those people. Don't you think that shows that, I mean, look at the great distance we've come in just the last 20 years.

TOBY: Okay, but, also, I think that the black people would say, he don't talk, act, or carry himself as a black person.

GLENN: What does that even mean?

TOBY: I don't know what that means, I'm saying that's what I think that they would say. Even though the the black society would pull for him, I still think that they think in the back of their mind that the only reason that he is in is because he talks, acts and carries himself as a Caucasian.

Toby Keith, thank you for setting this wayward brother straight. All this time, I thought the primary reasons that Obama is the Democratic candidate for the President of the U.S. is because of his intelligence and leadership qualities. This weekend when I see some of the Blacks I know who support Obama, I'll be sure to share your incisive commentary with them.

Toby or should I say TAFKAK (The Artist Formerly Known As Kunta), until you actually talk to Black people and find out why they think Barack Obama is in the position to possibly be the next U.S. President, don't guess at what you "think" we would say. It shouldn't be too hard for you to get a feel of what we think now that I think about it. Considering that you have a Black fanbase that rivals Lil' Wayne's, I'm sure that quite a few of us attend your concerts. Just set up a backstage meeting after one of your shows and find out what's really on our minds. If that doesn't work out, call up Charlie Pride and/or Cowboy Troy to get their take on Sen. Obama's Presidential candidacy.

Thanks to Thembi (who writes the blog What Would Thembi Do?) for writing about the Toby Keith interview. You can read her thoughts on the matter by clicking on the title of her blog in the previous sentence.

Hey Natalie, where can I get one of those T-shirts?