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"Acceptable" racism

Brandon Goldner
The Commuter

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Brandon Goldner
Brandon Goldner

Republican Chip Saltsman wants to be the next chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), a position that may shape the tone and tenor of his entire party’s message and strategy. The main goal for the Republicans following the 2008 elections will be to use that message to bring back certain demographics who’ve felt alienated by the divisiveness and “do anything at any cost” attitude the GOP leadership has employed since the late 1960’s, and more aggressively the last eight years.

Knowing this, the 40-year old Saltsman thought it would be a good idea to send a CD full of parody songs, one of which entitled, “Barack the Magic Negro,” to members of the RNC.

He now finds himself on the defensive, as many are ruffled by the inference that our next President was called a “magic negro” by a man wanting to become the leader of the second-most influential political party in the country. “Liberal Democrats and their allies in the media didn’t utter a word about David Ehrenstein’s irresponsible column,”Chip Saltsman Saltsman said. “But now, of course, they’re shocked and appalled by its parody on the Rush Limbaugh Show.”

To discuss how much validity a Limbaugh broadcast merits would be a waste of time, but it is important to consider what Saltsman’s actions (and his claim of a double-standard) mean for America.

Ehrenstein works for the LA Times, and in 2007 he wrote an article which, for the first three quarters, ran through instances of the “magic negro” in pop culture, from Sydney Potier in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” to Michael Clarke Duncan in “The Green Mile.” According to Ehrenstein, who admits he gleaned his definition from Wikipedia, a “magic negro” is a figure that comes out of nowhere to either help a white protagonist, or to assuage that protagonist’s guilt. He concluded his article by saying that most of the attacks against Obama at the time were those of being too articulate, drawing too many people to his rallies, and receiving criticism with grace without resolving to mudslinging. The last sentences summed up his sentiment when he argued that he isn’t even “real,” for “If he were real, white America couldn’t project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him.”

What Ehrenstein meant by “real” wasn’t that Obama was somehow phony; it was to say that “real,” as we’ve come to believe it, means to be damaged. His argument was that if Obama were less gifted or somehow flawed, than he could not serve as a catalyst for changing the way this country views people with skin colors other than medium-pale beige. On one level, the article criticizes Obama for being inauthentic, but on another which resonates just as strongly, you’re left with the impression that to attack him in 2007 would have been to latch on to the only thing you had to work with – his strengths – because he simply hadn’t shown any viable weaknesses.

We’ve since seen that there were issues to attack, and his opponents took advantage. His resistance to the Iraq surge, his relationship with a racially inflammatory pastor, his marked inexperience – all of these issues worked against Obama’s favor.

But the initial discrepancy between what was an asset and what was a detriment to his character is not a bad thing. In fact it’s very good that, even on a national stage, a person would avoid criticism simply for lack of rhetorical cannon fodder. The article that Saltsman called “irresponsible” is actually praise for the man.

With respect to Saltsman’s decision to include the CD titled, “We Hate the USA” in the gift basket to RNC members, it’s clear that he didn’t do so to stoke the flames of racism and fear which licked at the heels of McCain/Palin rallies over the fall. It’s also clear that he didn’t think about the consequences, and that “Barack the Magic Negro,” along with the other right-wing parody songs, was only meant to be a joke between friends.

But that’s exactly what makes it so disturbing.

If Saltsman and others like him enjoy a laugh at the word “negro” and don’t believe that it’s anything to think twice about, it should serve as a warning sign to Republicans whose base has eroded in the midst of demographic shifts not seen since the christening of Ellis Island. Whites are slowly losing their majority. Good-ol-boy words and phrases, which went from being the norm, to being unashamedly flaunted, to being proudly protected in a little more than 100 years, are now on the verge of becoming unthinkable utterances for the average American.

This isn’t to mention the name of the CD (insinuating that if you aren’t a Republican, you hate the country), or the other songs like “The John Edwards Poverty Tour” and “The Star Spanglish Banner.” Making fun of poverty, an affliction inexplicable for a nation with as much wealth as ours, or the constituents who are, in large part, responsible for getting the food we eat to our table (and will one day become the racial majority in America), are very stupid moves. They show a Republican party in the waning phases of influence, whose fear-mongering and exclusion, which carried them for so long, will become the reason for their downfall.

But to them, it’s acceptable. The price for remaining relevant on the national stage is not one Republicans are prepared to pay, for to stay representative of the majority of voting Americans would mean to embrace qualities of their Democratic colleagues which have long been mocked: Sensitivity to social climates, being adaptable to changing trends, and becoming champions of causes for oppressed people.

As long as Republicans defend their Jim Crow-era punch lines as the standard for coaxing a cheap laugh from their base, they will find themselves further from the present, aimlessly drifting toward the past where they may become forgotten history.

Comment

What a wonderful, well written article. It is so pertinent to my interpersonal speech course that I will link the article to the course website. “Barack the Magic Negro” will be referenced by my classes when studying the semantics (meanings) and pragmatics (rules of usage) of ethnophaulisms, of which the N-word is chief. How long will this link be available?

Nancy Nichols
Performing Arts Dept.
Speech Communication Faculty

— nancy nichols · Jan 13, 08:40 AM · #

Potent,thought provoking and insightful…
Keep up the good work!

— Art Dog · Jan 13, 08:08 PM · #

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