Barack the Magic Negro

Ugh! How disgusting! Yes, that was my first thought while hearing about the controversy surrounding Republican National chair candidate Chip Saltsman including the song in a holiday disk…. “It’s satire! It’s a parody!” scream the handful on the right who are standing up for the garbage.

OK, so I try to be fair and understand source facts in arguments. Yes, I know that doesn’t make for exciting blogging. Still, if I’m going to have an opinion it should be based on reality not imagination, right? So in doing a little research about this, I found a few interesting things. Unless you look into the controversy, you may not realize that:

• “Magic Negro” is a literary term used to describe a non-threatening black character in a story who helps the white protagonist using special insight or magical powers, often related to his race.
• The parody “Barack the Magic Negro” is supposed to be sung from the point-of-view of Al Sharpton, who in the song says Barack isn’t really black like Snoop Dog or himself.
• The song’s point is taken from a David Ehrenstein Los Angeles Times article that accuses Obama of being a “Magic Negro” for America, to help whites overcome white guilt by electing a black man.

So let’s identify the outrage: A prominent Republican included the song in his holiday CD sent to fellow Republicans. The outrage is that someone of such stature would include an arguably racist message in his all-but-official holiday greetings.

This begs the question, is “Barack the Magic Negro” parody? If it is a parody, especially because it was inspired by an opinion article, does this mean it’s not racist? Well you cannot ask this without looking at the lyrics to the song that was originally written by Conservative satirist Paul Shanklin in 2007. I got these from Conservative Culture.

SHANKLIN (Sharpton impersonator): Barack the Magic Negro lives in D.C.

The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s not authentic like me.
Yeah, the guy from the L.A. paper
Said he makes guilty whites feel good
They’ll vote for him, and not for me
‘Cause he’s not from the hood.
See, real black men, like Snoop Dog,
Or me, or Farrakhan
Have talked the talk, and walked the walk.
Not come in late and won!

[refrain] Oh, Barack the Magic Negro, lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s black, but not authentically.
Oh, Barack the Magic Negro, lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s black, but not authentically.

Some say Barack’s “articulate”
And bright and new and “clean.”
The media sure loves this guy,
A white interloper’s dream!
But, when you vote for president,
Watch out, and don’t be fooled!
Don’t vote the Magic Negro in –
‘Cause — ’cause I won’t have nothing after all these years of sacrifice

And I won’t get justice. This is about justice. This isn’t about me, it’s about justice.
It’s about buffet. I don’t have no buffet and there won’t be any church contributions,
And there’ll be no cash in the collection plate.
There ain’t gonna be no cash money, no walkin’ around money, no phoning money.
Now, Barack going to come in here and –

Wow. That was bad. Horribly, horribly bad. I don’t mean racist. I just mean incredibly lame. But it is using source material to poke fun at a societal issue. So yes, it is a parody (not satire).

But does this excuse the message? Let’s take a look at it. First of all, the lyrics are more an attack on Al Sharpton than Barack Obama. The lameness of the lyrics makes it difficult to really level an articulate position on what they say. Is it really about Obama being a Magic Negro, or about Sharpton being a greedy politician? To me, it’s more about Sharpton. It’s a poorly structured song with a garbled message.

So let’s go back to the source material: the David Ehrenstein Los Angeles Times article that accuses Obama of being a “Magic Negro” for America. This has likely been beaten to death in the blogs since it was first published March 19, 2007, but I am only reading it for the first time.

It seems obvious to me that Ehrenstein wasn’t expecting Obama to win.

Obama’s fame right now has little to do with his political record or what he’s written in his two (count ‘em) books, or even what he’s actually said in those stem-winders. It’s the way he’s said it that counts the most. It’s his manner, which, as presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Biden ham-fistedly reminded us, is “articulate.” His tone is always genial, his voice warm and unthreatening, and he hasn’t called his opponents names (despite being baited by the media).

Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn’t project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him.

Ehrenstein joined the masses of pundits who believed that it wasn’t what Obama said, it was how he said it. Even Geraldine Ferraro all but called Obama a Magic Negro (she said he was only winning the Dem nomination because he was black). These pundits just didn’t get it, and they were wrong the whole way through the election. It’s not about Obama. It’s not about race. It’s about America. It’s about bringing in a new generation of leadership that will get past the arguing and old politics in order to tackle the problems we are facing – which seem to increase every day. To overlook that and assume anyone likes Obama for some magical reason based on race – and not because Obama has demonstrated knowledge, wisdom, temperament and leadership – shows an inability to get past race. This is itself racism.

So the leadership of the backward opposition political party demonstrates their narrow mindedness by sending a poorly crafted (and not humorous) parody of Al Sharpton accusing the first black president of being a tool elected by whites to magically save them from their own guilt. By sending the greeting only to Republican National Committee members, he further identifies his fellow Republicans as the party hung up on judging people by the color of their skin.

They can’t get past race. It’s got to be about race. Well this isn’t about race. It’s about the next generation of leadership, and the next phase in American progress. New generations are coming about – generations that don’t care about race or sexuality or old gripes. Obama is the first of many new leaders who aren’t your typical silver-haired white guy. When Republicans exhibit behavior that shows they are not ready to be a part of this new reality, they falter. That’s why this whole holiday CD thing is such a fiasco for them.

CNN’s Salzman Calls Obama a “Cusper,” Ignores the 13th Generation

CNN has it right, Boomers are out. (Finally!)  But Marian Salzman calls Barack Obama a “cusper,” as if a “cusper” is a whole new generation. “Cuspers” are those who are born when generations overlap and can provide a translation between the conflicting generations.

After strutting and tub-thumping and preening their way across the high ground of politics, media, culture and finance for 30 years, baby boomers have gone from top dogs to scapegoats in barely a year.

As baby boomers lose their authority and appeal, generational power is shifting one notch down: to cuspers (born roughly 1954-1965), who arrived in style in 2008 with their first truly major figure, Barack Obama (born 1961).

Commentary: Baby boomers out, ‘cuspers’ in – CNN.com.

But even calling Obama a  cusper is wrong. Wrong! Does CNN fear handing over the reins to Generation X? Fear not. Barack Obama’s attitude is very much Generation X: “Cut the crap. Let’s get this thing done.” Over 17 years ago, Strauss and Howe predicted Generation X’s leadership would be “nomadic”.

Nomadic leaders have been cunning, hard-to-fool realists, taciturn warriors who prefer to meet problems and adversaries one-on-one.

Barack Obama is part of the 13th Generation. He’s an Xer. Our time has come. Get over it.

Sony Home for Homos

Part of the experience of being gay is embracing an identity that is also used as an insult. Even as being gay is being seen more in society a normal part of life, the word “gay” has even taken on new meaning as “stupid” especially in youth vernacular. This poses a struggle for business and technology. Sony can’t seem to get “gay” right in it’s new virtual world, “Sony Home.” The San Francisco Chronicle’s Ryan Kim reports on a user trying to create a gay/straight alliance:

The problem was that the words he was using – “gay,” “lesbian” and “bisexual” – were being filtered from text chats and were not being allowed in the naming of clubs or in postings in club forums. Marsh, who is straight but supports gay rights, said he raised the issue with Home community managers during the private beta test, but the problems persisted after the public beta introduction of Home on Dec. 11.

“I can understand if they’re filtering out profanity, but if feel like it’s discrimination,” Marsh said. “By blocking a word like ‘gay,’ which is a preferred term by the gay community, you’re encouraging it as a bad word.”

Sony struggles with creation of its virtual world.

LOL @ DCist

More inauguration news from DCist.

You won’t be able to stand under an umbrella in the case of rain, either — those are banned from the Mall for the inauguration. If it’s rainy and windy, it’s up to President-elect Barack Obama to keep us warm.

Morning Roundup: Presidents Past, Present, and Pretend – DCist: Washington DC News, Food, Arts & Events.