Music | August 01, 2008 | 20 comments

Country star Toby Keith promotes "pro-lynching" song

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GrandKnow2
With all the controversy regarding rappers lyrics going on right now, from Nas' protest of Fox News to the Ludacris misguided pro-Obama song, Politics as Usual, the media has been neglecting the negative lyrics of country music’s most popular star.

Singer Toby Keith is promoting a movie called Beer for my Horses, based on a song of the same name. The song promotes lynching criminals and vigilantism. In the song, Keith says

Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
Take all the rope in Texas
Find a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boys
Hang them high in the street for all the people to see that

During Keith’s grandpappy’s day, 3,437 black people were lynched. Most of the ‘bad boys’ who were lynched by vigilante white mobs were in fact blacks who weren’t given a chance to defend themselves from the charges brought against them. Charges could include anything from theft, rape and whistling at a white woman and the punishment was always death. Most lynchings involved some kind of interaction with a white woman whether it was consensual or forced sex or ‘inappropriate’ actions. While white people charged with a crime would have the right to trial by jury, black people had to face the white mob as judge, jury and executioner through lynching.

While Keith does not explicitly call for the lynching of black people, he talks about ‘gangsters’ and ‘crime in the streets’ which are phrases often connected to urban African Americans. In the trailer for his movie, Beer for my Horses, the enemies are all dark skinned stereotypical Mexicans. Images and symbolism of lynchings are very disturbing and offensive to African Americans as it brings back a dark part of their history.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity, who has been extremely critical of negative rap lyrics, has been a big supporter of Toby Keith. Hannity often used Keith’s song, ‘Courtesy of the Red White and Blue,’ a song that glorified bombing Afghanistan, as a theme song for his radio program and many other right-wingers had adopted it as a theme song on talk radio. Keith has also been very active performing overseas for military troops.

Will the right wing republicans at Fox News and conservative talk radio and the military be as quick to denounce Toby Keith, as Obama was to denounce Ludacris? Calls to Sean Hannity’s office at Fox were not returned.
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  3. credits:
    GrandKnow2 Blogger, Casey Gane-McCalla Blogger
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20 comments // Country star Toby Keith promotes "pro-lynching" song

  • mads901
    • 0
      mads901  

    • I know this article was put on here almost two years ago, but I saw it when I was trying to do a class assignment, so I read it. I can understand the paragraph after the lyrics, but I think the second paragraph was wrong. The song said nothing about promoting lynching. The lyrics were telling a story that there used to be lynching in his "grandpappy's days". Whoever wrote this was an idiot. Just because some things are "associated" with other stereotypes does not mean you can go in a circle to make Toby look racist. My class assignment was to find a song that is about a protest or pro-something. I chose Beer for My Horses because it's about JUSTICE. It has nothing to do with race or promoting anything other than justice. BTW, Toby Keith's song was released about SIX YEARS before the movie was released.

    • 2 years ago
  • AzianGabar
    • 0
      AzianGabar  

    • Toby...?

      Lynching...?

      Kunta Kente...?

      This sounds alot like some
      sort of Roots Spin-Off.

      Maybe its just me...

      Again I reiterate

      Fuck Toby Keith

    • 3 years ago
  • AzianGabar
  • unicorn77
    • 0
      unicorn77  

    • then again maybe it doesnt mean what you think it means...maybe because of all the crap you put on us whites ..your own guilty feelng wont llet you think otherwise...we all should be able to get along..and no dont aprove of hurting anyone because of race.. but we are so fed up with being blamed for things we have not done..I have a lot f mixed feelings on all this but enough is enough..pride doesnt only belong to the black race it belongs to us all..dont disrespect us and we wont you..

    • 3 years ago
  • unicorn77
  • unicorn77
  • GrandKnow2
    • 0
      GrandKnow2  
    • unicorn77:

      What does this have to do with the story I posted?
      Just because one person decided to spew racist views toward white people doesn't mean that Toby was right, If that were so then it means that horrible post was credible in some way. Racism of any kind is wrong. We shouldn't be attacking each other when we could be doing great things for humanity together.

    • 3 years ago
  • unicorn77
    • 0
      unicorn77  

    • Kill all white people added April 27, 2008 582 views17 responses
      there was a videi with this and this also is disgusting..but was repoted..
      ..................................................................................
      ((((((((THIS WAS POSTED ON CURRENT)))) so quit your whining....whites are also attacked because of thier race,,,, and thats ok with YOU but not with us this is an example of YOU causing racial divide and this is only HALF OF IT.. SO i have no pitty for you

      --------------------------------------------------------------------

      Racism (389)
      Prejudice (37)
      Racial Discrimination (3)
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMOkDOX... A disturbing speech made by a racist on national television. I hope that this dose not end up like Hitler's first speeches in the future. ..

    • 3 years ago
  • kennymotown
  • unicorn77
  • unicorn77
    • 0
      unicorn77  

    • i like Toby Keith...its funny how ya all cry about this ..yet say nothing about the filthy rap songs that are racist and demean not only white women but your own too..all i can say is tough...maybe you are taking it out of context hmmm???geee that sounds like Obamas remartk ...LOL

    • 3 years ago
  • Kati_kat
    • 0
      Kati_kat  

    • If you really hate Toby Keith, check out the interview he did on The Colbert Report...

      I lived in Oregon for a month working for a horse trainer, and when I told him my liberal political views he said I probably should move because if the locals heard me talking like that they'd "take you out and shoot you, wait no, I take that back, they'd probably string you up in a tree."

      Someone didn't read Harper Lee in school, that's for damn sure....

    • 3 years ago
  • unicorn77
  • Betico
  • JohnA
    • 0
      JohnA  

    • "‘gangsters’ and ‘crime in the streets’ which are phrases often connected to urban African Americans."

      Well, who's fault is that?

    • 3 years ago
  • b00g13_p0p
    • 0
      b00g13_p0p  
    • JohnA:

      > Well, who's fault is that?

      The racist right wing in this country, that's spent the last several decades carefully perpetuating the sort of racist stereotypes that you apparently subscribe to.

      - b_p

    • 3 years ago
  • JohnA
    • 0
      JohnA  
    • JohnA:

      Hey, he said crime in the street is associated with urban African Americans, not me. I'm sure there is plenty of crime in the street commited by white people. I don't think that way.

    • 3 years ago
  • ocanada
    • ocanada  
    • This comment was removed by its owner.
  • unicorn77
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