Rabid racist Ted Nugent going off on bigoted tirades may seem like a recent phenomenon. But according to a 24-year-old interview that is now posted online, the uncouth Nugent has been dangling off the racial cliff for a long time.
Excerpts from “Ted Nugent Grows Up? Older, Bolder, Cruder, Ruder — And More Unprintable Than Ever,” published in Detroit’s Free Press Magazine on July 15, 1990, the National Rifle Association board member and Outdoor Channel spokesperson defended apartheid in South Africa, said that he uses racial expletives because he “hang[s] around with a lot of n——.
Media Matters requested a copy of the interview from the Detroit Public Library, which archives the Free Press, to authenticate the statements.
Nugent has been in the news in recent years, all stemming from his proclivity for spewing inflammatory racial rhetoric, including the time when he recently referred to President Obama a “subhuman mongrel” during an appearance at a January gun industry trade show.
The Free Press Magazine article only demonstrate further what kind of man he is.
When the topic of South Africa’s now extinct violent segregation was broached, Nugent said that “apartheid isn’t that cut-and-dry. All men are not created equal.”
“The preponderance of South Africa is a different breed of man,” Nugent continues. “I mean that with no disrespect. I say that with great respect. I love them because I’m one of them. They are still people of the Earth, but they are different. They still put bones in their noses, they still walk around naked, they wipe their butts with their hands. These are different people. You give ‘em toothpaste, they f—ing eat it … I hope they don’t become civilized. They’re way ahead of the game.”
Nugent’s comments came a few months after Nelson Mandela was released following 27 years in prison.
Nugent also defended calling his music tour in Japan the “Jap Whack Tour” and his use of the N-word.
“I mean no disrespect. I’m sure the Japanese are wonderful folks. I use the word n—– a lot because I hang around with a lot of n—–, and they use the word n—–, and I tend to use words that communicate … I don’t mean to offend.
“I’m a fun guy, not a sexist or racist.”
