# Rush Limbaugh plays "Barack the Magic Negro" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642 "2007-04-25T20:39:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/21 "2007-04-25T22:31:33Z")
When will folks like \*\*BG \*\*learn not to get their “news” from agenda driven, left-wing blogs? It’s no different from getting your “news” from Rush or Hannity or any of the characters on the right. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/22 "2007-04-25T22:41:46Z")
When they no longer turn out to be both right and incisive far more often than the righty blogs or even the lapdog MSM. Duh. The uber-MN was in “The Green Mile”, though. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/23 "2007-04-25T22:49:00Z")
Rush can fling songs at Obama all he wants; Obama’s a public figure and a big boy. Nobody likes to admit how class and privilege plays into this. Imus lost his job because he made the egregious error of flinging intraracial lower class black American invective at black college student-athletes. He incurred the wrath of the black middle class. Had these “nappy ho’s” been the strippers in the Duke Lacrosse case-- also college students but in a shameful career-- Imus would still have his job. When you have black poor people complaining, this corporate nation won’t do squat unless they’re also highly organized and have access to the larger media. When you have highly organized well-paid professional blacks grinding axes and using their media access, too–? Well, that’s your ass. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/24 "2007-04-25T23:06:19Z")
I have to admit, ever since this character archetype has been pointed out to me, I find it shows up everywhere. And the defining characteristic of the mystic negro is not that they’re mystic, not that they’re negro…but that they exist to help clueless white people learn to laugh, love, and live. Because you’d never see a black man with magical powers helping out other black people. That would be ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/25 "2007-04-25T23:08:01Z")
[QUOTE=Raygun99] It’s also a Chris Rock routine. [/QUOTE] The term is originally Spike Lee’s, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kneepants_Erasmus_the_Humanist)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/26 "2007-04-25T23:26:33Z")
whoa. I am offended by how NOT offensive that was. I (being exactly as black as Obama) was ready to get upset cuz…it is Rush after all. I just expect more from him, I guess. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/27 "2007-04-25T23:57:25Z")
You know, Rush is an asshole and all of that, but Ehrenstein has a point. Relying on Wikipedia in an op-ed is really weak, though. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/28 "2007-04-26T00:02:40Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Agreed. And it makes me wonder why the LA Times wasn’t pitted instead. Worst of all, this pitting plays right into Rush’s stupid hands. From the OP’s article: Limbaugh later asserted: “I’m going to keep referring to him as that because I want to make a bet that by the end of this week I will own that term,” adding, “If I refer to Obama the rest of the day as the ‘Magic Negro,’ there will be a number of people in the drive-by media and on left-wing blogs who will credit me for coming up with it and ignore the L.A. Times did it, simply because they can’t be critical of the L.A. Times, but they can, obviously, be critical of talk radio.” [/QUOTE] And look how many of them have posted in this thread… ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/29 "2007-04-26T00:19:06Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] And look how many of them have posted in this thread… [/QUOTE] I counted three. How many did you get? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/30 "2007-04-26T01:19:43Z")
[QUOTE=Askia] He incurred the wrath of the black middle class. Had these “nappy ho’s” been the strippers in the Duke Lacrosse case-- also college students but in a shameful career-- Imus would still have his job. [/QUOTE] One of them was allegedly a college student, not both. And her matriculation has not been confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/31 "2007-04-26T02:42:28Z")
That song has been playing on Rush for at least a month. It’s just getting attention now? Btw- Stephen King’s used “the Magic Negro” character in _The Stand_ and _The Green Mile_, along with “the Magic Child” and “the Magic Mentally-Challenged Person” in his other works. If he ever writes a book in which a character is a mentally-challenged black child, chances are that character will turn out to be God. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/32 "2007-04-26T03:00:39Z")
Wow! I have to admit that I’m impressed. Doesn’t look anybody here is going for cheap shots or simple ad hominem. The actual contexts and issues are being discussed and for the most part are being fairly represented. I wouln’t have thought Rush Limbaugh would get a fair shake here.\ Glad to be wrong. I’m impressed. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/33 "2007-04-26T03:15:00Z")
> [@](#): > > the egregious error of flinging intraracial lower class black American invective at black college student-athletes [QUOTE=Contrapuntal] One of them was allegedly a college student, not both. And her matriculation has not been confirmed. [/QUOTE] No shit. who gives a fuck whether one was in school? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/34 "2007-04-26T04:08:07Z")
Somewhere in a manger the baby Peter Yarrow is crying. However, Rush has been doing everything in his power to propagate the meme that Barack Obama is not a real negro. The point is to build up resentment within the black community that an inauthentic negro is one of the top Democratic candidates. Speaking of which, the N\*GGER episode of South Park is on right now. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/35 "2007-04-26T04:37:00Z")
I found the song faintly funny, actually. Nothing about it seemed offensive, either - if anything, I think its mockery of the irritating commentary about Barack’s “authenticity” (and the long history of similar such nonsense) is actually pretty on target. Are most people really not familiar with the term “magic negro” and what it refers to? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/36 "2007-04-26T06:33:30Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] Are most people really not familiar with the term “magic negro” and what it refers to? [/QUOTE] Shoot, some people don’t even know the difference between its and it’s. The concept of sorcerous African-Americans isn’t nearly as widely taught as that. 😃 Actually, while I have run across the concept before, I hadn’t linked it to the term “Magic Negro” before I read this thread. It definitely wasn’t the first thing I thought of when I saw the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/37 "2007-04-26T07:00:10Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] Are most people really not familiar with the term “magic negro” and what it refers to? [/QUOTE] I’ve heard jokes about all the mystical, wise black men helping out clueless white folk in movies, but I’ve never heard the specific term “magic negro” before. Although I got it immediately. I think the whole thing is pretty funny, actually, although I don’t think that Obama resembles the archetype very much, aside from, you know, being black. ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/38 "2007-04-26T07:11:16Z")
[QUOTE=Scylla] Wow! I have to admit that I’m impressed. Doesn’t look anybody here is going for cheap shots or simple ad hominem. [/QUOTE] Fuck you. Just kidding. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/39 "2007-04-26T07:41:53Z")
[QUOTE=BayleDomon] Shoot, some people don’t even know the difference between its and it’s. The concept of sorcerous African-Americans isn’t nearly as widely taught as that. 😃 Actually, while I have run across the concept before, I hadn’t linked it to the term “Magic Negro” before I read this thread. It definitely wasn’t the first thing I thought of when I saw the thread title. [/QUOTE] Same here. I’m familar with the concept, I just didn’t realize that its (it’s? :D) title was “the Magic Negro”. Shoot, didn’t Mammy in GWTW fill that role? And the black man that rescues and befriends whatsisface, Huckleberry Finn, in Tom Sawyer? This is a pretty old concept, goes back before that idiot Chris Rock or Spike Lee (not an idiot). ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642/40 "2007-04-26T10:00:10Z")
The Magical Negro has been raised a couple of times in Cafe Society. There’s also a Wiki page on [it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_negro). I would imagine that Rush just thought that the idea was humorous. It isn’t new though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-limbaugh-plays-barack-the-magic-negro/401642.md?page=3)