After hearing from the Toledo branch of the NAACP and the Toledo Community Coalition, and reading letters to the editor in opposition to the Blade-sponsored appearance in Toledo of music star Ted Nugent, I decided to go online to find out more about this performer.

I did this because in fact I knew nothing about Mr. Nugent’s music, his political views, his history, or otherwise. What I learned did not, in my opinion, confirm him to be a racist — he seems to have animus for many different groups equally.

I am sorry The Blade invited him, but Mr. Nugent has appeared twice in Toledo in recent years without causing controversy. Although I will not support inviting him again, in my judgment the very high standard for uninviting him was not met in this case.

I also want to say that calling President Obama a “subhuman mongrel” does not make Ted Nugent a racist, as this kind of personal name-calling against a president of the United States is part of a long tradition of political slander that goes back to the founding of the Republic. Abraham Lincoln was called a baboon.

ALLAN BLOCK

Chairman Block Communications Inc. Toledo

First Published July 27, 2014, 4:00 a.m.