It seems hard to believe it's even being debated. Is "Barack the Magic Negro" racist? Well, duh! Fellow examiners Jim Cunningham and Jorge Luna have done great jobs at presenting the details of the story - Chip Saltsman, ex Huckabee presidential campaign manager and candidate for the Republican National Committee chairmanship, sent out a Christmas CD to members of the RNC containing 41 songs, including "Bank of Amigo", "The Star Spanglish Banner" and "Barack the Magic Negro".
There's news today the controversy may have actually helped Mr. Saltsman's RNC electoral chances.
Four days after news broke that the former Tennessee GOP chairman had sent a CD including a song titled “Barack the Magic Negro” to the RNC members he is courting, some of those officials are rallying around the embattled Saltsman, with a few questioning whether the national media and his opponents are piling on. (Link)
Josh Marshall observed, "I think I have this right. The Republican party has decided on the racial joke issue as the vehicle to reintroduce themselves to the American people after the 2008 blowout. Am I missing something?"
And the racial jokes are aimed at the very voting blocs the GOP will need to make inroads into if they expect future electoral success.
Mr. Saltsman is unrepentant - "Hey, it's just a joke. Lighten up". Now, this whole episode has caused some Republicans to question Chip Saltsman's "judgment". That seems like a little like weak tea here. It's not as if Mr. Saltsman ordered red wine with fish or didn't match his belt and shoes. He just insulted 85 million Americans after his party had their butts kicked.
So, how about this: it's not that Chip Saltsman doesn't have the judgment to head the RNC. Maybe Chip Saltsman is just too dumb to head the RNC.
For all the feigned offense out there, this song was one of the best pieces of political satire in the past year. What makes this song HUMOROUS, INSIGHTFUL, and POLITICALLY ASTUTE is that the singer is parroting and applying the comments of an LA Times article by David Ehrenstein, a black man. The singer is supposed to be a disgruntled/disenfranchised Al Sharpton who views Obama's prominence as undermining an industry that Sharpton has created around racial division. The "magic negro" concept is of a black man who, by his acceptance within the mainstream and his refusal to cry foul acquits the white man of racial prejudice. If you've ever considered its message, you'd understand that it is a criticism of Sharpton, not Obama, and the fall of racial politics. Saltsmann's inclusion of it on his recording likely indicates nothing more about him than his appreciation of satire. The feigned media offense likely indicates nothing more than that Sharpton's views are winning.
Posted by: Tim Daniels | December 30, 2008 at 01:38 PM
Yeah, and jokes about handicapped people are funny too. So are the ones about the mentally disabled. Those are groups just ripe for great pieces of political satire. Right?
You know when somethings offensive? When the offended group says so. Tell you what - ask a bunch of African Americans if they consider it "one of the best pieces of political satire in the past year". If most aren't offended, I will stand corrected.
Posted by: Jay McDonough | December 30, 2008 at 05:21 PM