Okay, so some Republican trash-mouth has decided to commit political suicide. His name is Chip Saltsman, the head of the Tennessee GOP and former head of Mike Huckabee’s campaign. Now he’s a candidate for president of the RNC. He sent out a Christmas CD to RNC committee members that featured a song titled “Barack the Magic Negro”, sung to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon”. It is ostensibly a parodgy of a Los Angeles Times article from March last year that tagged Obama as a “magical negro”, which is a phrase used by Spike Lee and others to describe black characters from Hollywood’s Blaxploitation period who served as devices by which Good Guy white characters could exercise high-minded morality principles like not beating up black people for wanting to end segregation.
Rush Limbaugh, of course, has given the tune airplay. And while the RNC leadership is frantically trying to put out the fire, Saltsman is defending the CD and his decision to distribute it by calling it “lighthearted”. Remarbably, the following quote is somehow the conclusion he draws: “I firmly believe that we must welcome all Americans into our party and that the road to Republican resurgence begins with unity, not division.”
M-kay…
I’m going to go out on a limb here, and predict that this won’t go over very well. It might even trump Sarah Palin’s newfound hobby of palling around with drug dealers. It could even dwarf John McCain’s cranky and panicky breakdown when he, um, suspended his campaign to swoop into Washington and fix the economy that he’d just said hours earlier was sound.
It wasn’t that long ago that I recommending to Democrats that they find new leadership. They did. And even though some of them still don’t get it, I believe that eventually they will. So now I give the Republicans the same advice. With friends like Limbaugh and Saltsman, you won’t need enemies. If you don’t do something about these people, you’re going to die. You might win a House seat in the heart of KKK country or something. But you’re going to go the way of the Know Nothings and the Dixiecrats.
For those who don’t have Google, here are a couple of links:
So if the same article were written by a White Guy, it would be okay? Or not okay? I don’t what point you are trying to make but I don’t think you made it.
My understanding of term “Magical Negro” is more in line with the Wikipedia definition and is current, as opposed to being from the blaxploitation era (early 70’s?)
I meant to add that a more recent example would Will Smith’s character in Bagger Vance or the old lady in The Stand.
Wait, I thought multi-racial citizens like Ehrenstein (Jewish, Polish, Irish, Black) weren’t allowed, as Obama critics in this area claimed, to simply claim being black anymore.
Did I miss the blowback moment?
Liberal, amazing that you’re the OP on this, since I almost posted this in the Rick Warren thread in response to you (but obstinately refrained), to point out who it is we’re actually supposed to be trying to make common cause with. I know this does not represent all Republicans but this event and its explanation are quite telling.
All it tells me is that some republicans are just plain stupid.
Look, I find this ditty just yearns to be created. Obama does have the aura of being a magic politician, especially a magic black politician. The country is holding its breath for a magical future. “Barack the magic black man” just doesn’t have the cache, and the use of “Negro” just happens to take off from previous black lingo and a well known news article.
I do feel a little guilty enjoying to hear the ditty though.
Isn’t there a “Magic Jew” character in some films, too? Someone who’s a little wiser/funnier/more grounded, and who takes the long view?
I can think of 2 examples: Saul in While You Were Sleeping, the only older person who’s not a buffoon, and Sam Weinberg in A Few Good Men, the scrawny Navy lawyer who brings ballast and sanity.
On another MB where I post, the right leaning folks claim the song is not in any way racist and claim they cannot understand why anyone would find it offensive. They just don’t understand, they say, and cite the LA Times article and the Spike Lee reference as why this is OK.
All I can say is that if that is the case, I hope Saltsman and the people who agree with with him keep declaring themselve so publicly.
Of course they could’ve done better, but these are Republicans we’re talking about.
I’m always surprised when something remotely creative comes out of the Republican party, considering that any creative person worth his salt is a Democrat (except maybe Country Western singers, but they don’t really count).
Democrats = people who work and create things for a living
Republicans = people who exploit them to make money
