Audacity of Truth
Rahmbo:
"Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil's spawn. He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive."
-Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) on Obama's COS, 3/7/10
Velvet Lair- Legends March 18, 2010
- Some things are just not cute March 18, 2010
- The adventures of the lady spider killer continue March 11, 2010
- Intermission February 19, 2010
- People who allow their dogs to poop in other people’s yards February 16, 2010
The “Barack the Magic Negro” controversy
The blogosphere and the punditocracy both have erupted with commentary in light of the controversy over reports that Chip Saltsman, who has thrown his hat into the ring to become the new RNC Chair, sent a parody CD to RNC members before the Christmas holiday that included conservative satirist Paul Shanklin’s “Barack the Magic Negro.” From The Hill:
Saltsman, in a Christmas greeting to RNC members, send a CD that included the song about the president-elect as well as other tracks lampooning liberals that were written by conservative satirist Paul Shanklin. “Barack the Magic Negro” was presented to a broad audience by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
When The Hill first reported about the CD, Saltsman noted that “Paul Shanklin is a long-time friend, and I think that RNC members have the good humor and good sense to recognize that his songs for the Rush Limbaugh show are light-hearted political parodies.”
Jim Geraghty hits the right note here, explaining that the song itself is not racist (nor is it “mean-spirited” for that matter) and that in fact the idea for it came from the liberally biased LA Times in an op/ed piece that first used the term about a year and a half ago to describe Obama. All the same, Geraghty notes why the selection of the CD by Saltsman was a bad idea in retrospect:
One can explain a joke, but one can’t save it. Yes, in the song, Shanklin is imitating a jealous Al Sharpton denouncing Obama as inauthentic, and the title is inspired by the Hollywood’s late-1990s obsession with depicting mystically or spiritually attuned African-American characters who suddenly appear on the horizon to nurture the moral development of white protagonists — Lawrence Fishburne in The Matrix, Will Smith in The Legend of Bagger Vance, Don Cheadle in The Family Man, Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile, almost any character played by Morgan Freeman. (Lyrics to the song can be found here.)
And yes, it’s strange to see the term “negro” suddenly almost as leaden with moral risk as the other n-word, and we need not be reminded that the United Negro College Fund retains its original name (although the term rarely appears on the web site of the organization, identified mostly as UNCF).
“Negro” is, if not offensive, archaic. The use of the term in the title and chorus detracts from the point of the song, which is Sharpton’s jealousy, and/or the perception that Obama is portrayed in the vein of all of those Hollywood characters — mysterious, appearing on the horizon, attuned to deep spiritual truths and offering a seemingly magical healing touch.
[...]
If you want to win over African-American voters to your party, perhaps the first step is to figure out why the title “Barack the Magic Negro” would offend them. Few would be offended by a song called “Barack the Magic Chicagoan” or “Barack the Magic Politician”; the use of the term “negro” specifically identifies him by his skin color, which makes it appear that his skin color is what’s being held up for ridicule, not the perception that he’s magical. It’s easy to see a song that appears to be mocking someone for his skin color as inconsistent with judging people by the content of their character.
If you’re going to send a gift to all RNC members, that gift is going to say a lot about you. I had said about Katon Dawson that the measure of a man is more than his country club membership; the measure of Chip Saltsman is a lot more than a song on a CD he sent as a Christmas gift. But this is an entirely unforced error, giving those who wish to portray the GOP as racially insensitive a cheap and easy example to add to their arsenal.
Paul Mirengoff adds:
Media double standards (if that’s what we’re witnessing here) are a reality the next RNC head (indeed, the next dozen) will have to deal with. Republicans need a chairman with the maturity and judgment to avoid subjecting himself, and by extension our party, to easy shots by our enemies. The RNC chair we need would have responded to Shanklin’s parody with, at most, a private chuckle.
There’s no question that there are going to be a number of controversial issues that will inevitably be discussed and debated over the coming years that are going to generate “outrage” amongst the usual suspects, topics that the GOP routinely get dumped all over for addressing (affirmative action, gay marriage, sex ed, etc) and in those areas we’ll need to stand our ground and not bow to the winds of political correctness. But on the issue of “Barack the Magic Negro” as it relates to a potential RNC Chair (rather than a columnist or talk radio host), it’s all about perception, and unfortunately for Saltsman, the parody – while not worthy of the “outrage” being displayed by those on the left and right – pushes the limits of “defensible.”
AllahPundit sums up:
There are perhaps principles so important that it’s worth risking the party’s viability to defend them — strong borders, an end to bailoutmania — but the use of an archaic term like “Negro” that’s disfavored by blacks doesn’t strike me as one of them. If you disagree and think the real principle here is resisting an ever-expanding Orwellian universe of “unacceptable” terms, fair enough. But be prepared to divert party resources from other business to try to convince blacks that they shouldn’t feel uneasy about words that cause them unease.
All while trying to expand the tent, of course.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the ideological spectrum, any updates on how Al Sharpton’s “Bury the N-Word” campaign is going? I didn’t think so. Mark that as another gone and forgotten “promise” made by one of the Democrats’ favorite race hustlers, another one he won’t be called on.
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13 Responses to “The “Barack the Magic Negro” controversy”
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The outrage on the Left is way overblown (Michelle Malkin exposes their hypocrisy), but what Saltsman did was appallingly stupid and tone-deaf politically for someone running to be RNC chairman, a political job per se. If the committee members have any sense, this torpedoes his chances.
edit: Ooops. Now I see you already provided that link…
If the ‘rats are upset with David Ehrenstein phrase, I suggest they take it up with him. Unless the ‘rats want to get Ehrenstein to somwhow walk back his commnets,they need to get on and get over it.
I could not disagree more. Now is the time to start making the Democrat party/government-run media axis pay for its race baiting, and this is an excellent opportunity.
The Messiah and His followers are ignorant, humorless, racist twits, which makes songs like “Barack the Magic Negro” both funny and insightful political commentary. If Tina Fey and SNL can get media awards and praise for claiming that Todd Palin has had sex with his daughters, surely this is just desserts.
Contrary to what AllahPundit wants us to do, conservatives cannot repeat cannot repeat one again cannot let the government-run media set the standards for humor in free speech without putting up a fight. Is there any question they will encourage more Todd Palin incest jokes while setting off-limits all humor directed at the Chosen One? There will be a noticeable “humor gap” in the next few years as SNL and late-night comics struggle to fill the void with re-re-re-re-recycled Bush and Sarah Palin jokes. And racial hypocrisy has always been a characteristic of liberal comics. Why not take this golden opportunity to rub their noses in it for a change?
AllahPundit says, “[B]e prepared to divert party resources from other business to try to convince blacks that they shouldn’t feel uneasy about words that cause them unease.” My response to that is those who advocate appeasement to the Democrat Party/government-run media axis (and that is exactly what AllahPundit is advocating) should be prepared for a lot worse than diverting resources. Plus it might be a good idea to stop treating blacks as fragile children – that is a Democrat sin, after all.
That the Left doesn’t get the joke is only evidence of how provincial and humorless they have become. And that is a worthy joke by itself.
Black America and the N-word:
LINK
Sorry, but there are some things you don’t get to joke about. How would we have reacted about a rape joke on the campaign trail when Sarah Palin was on it?
It ought to be an axiom: if you have to explain yourself, what you meant, or that something was just a joke, you’ve already lost. We can complain about double standards all we want, and it won’t make the least bit of difference; this was a huge foul-up, and it will stay a foul-up.
By the way, there’s a popular, very liberal blogger in Philadelphia who goes by The Field Negro. This is what he said about this issue:
It doesn’t matter if you think that there are double standards here, or that this is unfair; it is what it is, and this was a bad move on the RNC’s part.
But the point of the phrase is that Obama was elected because of his skin color, so perhaps those who are offended are proving the point.
I’ve been reading that Spike Lee, in comments predating the LA Times “Magic Negro” story, often talked of the use in Hollywood of “Magic Negroes” in motion pictures (think Bagger Vance).
It is so cool that black is perfectly OK while negro (which means black) is offensive and an outrage.
The shock troops of the Outrage Attack Force Services are like the airborne strategic deterrent: always launched, circling around overhead, monitoring all frequencies, all venues, from an inaugural address to a sick old man’s birthday party, just a-chompin’ at the bit, waiting, waiting, impatiently biding their time until, with a joyous whoop of unadulterated rapture, they can swoop down, point their fingers, utter a word ending in -ist, collect their fee, and resume patrolling.
In the meantime, my good friends on the Delaware Liberal are running an end of the year contest which includes Common Sense Political Thought for Blog of the Year! So head on over, and vote! Vote early and vote often.
[end threadjack]
Hi there! {waves}
I just noticed that you were nominated as a finalist for Best Large Blog for the 2008 Weblog Awards!
Link
{thumbs up}
All the best,
Lisa
Trish is right. The 2nd line of the song states “He makes guilty whites feel free”. This song is about how Barack got elected. Everyone I know who voted for Obama said in so many words it is due to his skin color. My Brother later on said he liked what he heard from Obama. When questioned further, he couldn’t defend what he liked that he heard, but that is not at all important in the mind of a lib. So we go right back to feelings. Barack Obama was elected President because he makes guilty whites feel free, and that is the only reason.
It is High Damn time that the Republicans got off their collective tushies and started to act with some leadership. This throwing our people under the bus no matter how tiny the slight is garbage and I am personally getting tired of it. This song is very funny, and to those on the left, who didn’t critize Bernhard for her joke about rape, need to shut the h*** up.
As far as this blogger in Philly, I am sorry, but when he can explain the garbage that was said about Sarah Palin, then maybe I will care what he has to say. Until then, I don’t have to explain any joke that is politically correct, and doesn’t talk about hurting someone. – Lorica
Sorry, I’ve always considered Obama “Barack the Magic Communist.”
Remember, only 22 days until he forces the waters to recede, the planet to heal, and for a unicorn with clean burning biodegradable farts to be put into every household.
The idea for the cd did come from the LA Times which is in fact a liberal newspaper. But that doesn’t mean that the intent behind the article wasn’t racist. The writer David Ehrenstein has written several articles attacking Obama. And the irony of it all is that Ehrenstein himself if bi-racial (half black half jewish).
I wrote a post on my blog responding to Ehrenstein’s attacks on Obama.
LINK