Limbaugh realizes Obama is black, warns nation
Right-wing blowhard Rush Limbaugh has been having a ball throwing the N-word at presidential candidate Barak Obama—that's N as in "Negro." Limbaugh, who calls Obama "Halfrican American," has been airing a song by Paul Franklin Shanklin* on his radio show called "Barak the Magic Negro," which is to be sung to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon."
The shock jock legitimizes his use of the phrase "magic negro" by noting he plucked it came from an Op-Ed by commentator David Ehrenstein that ran in the L.A. Times. Ehrenstein wrote, in a nuanced argument, that Obama fulfills the classic Hollywood role of a "noble, healing Negro" who assuages white guilt over slavery and segregation....
"while replacing stereotypes of a dangerous, highly sexualized black man with a benign figure for whom interracial sexual congress holds no interest. As might be expected, this figure is chiefly cinematic—embodied by such noted performers as Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Scatman Crothers, Michael Clarke Duncan, Will Smith and, most recently, Don Cheadle. And that's not to mention a certain basketball player whose very nickname is "Magic."
Demonstrating the principle that there's no aesthetic woolgathering so rarefied it can't be turned into a raspberry, Limbaugh uses the phrase mainly to emphasize that, in case you didn't notice, Obama is black. Oh, and Al Sharpton is black too. The song actually mocks Sharpton more than Obama, having the phony Sharpton sing that he has more street credibility and is therefore is more authentically black than the senator.
Actually, all questions about Obama's blackness should have been laid to rest last week when he was given secret service protection—the earliest ever for a presidential candidate—amid concerns raised by racist chatter on white supremacist Web sites.
Oh, and Obama simply calls the song "dumb."
* Thanks to reader Eric for the correction.
If you're going to write an opinion column at least do a little research on the subject.
The Limbaugh parody was castigating Ehrenstein for perpetuating the "Magic Negro" stereotype that dates back to Sidney Poitier's role in the THE DEFIANT ONE, circa 1958 and carried forward in THE SHINING IN 1977, the 1980 film adptation and the 1997 television mini-series of the novel.
Even Spike Lee satirized the stereotype in 2000 with the movie BAMBOOZLED.
Ehrenstein was foolish to use the stereotype, but not as foolish as was Sharpton for questioning Obama's blackness because he,"isn't down with the struggle."
The use of Sharpton in the parody was comic genius. Al wants a black man to be free of original ideas that might interfer with his hustle. Limbaugh simply popped the balloon of intra-racial racism that infects the radical side of my party.
Posted by: zevgoldman | May 10, 2007 at 12:32 PM
You said:
Limbaugh uses the phrase mainly to emphasize that, in case you didn't notice, Obama is black. Oh, and Al Sharpton is black too.
You got it wrong. As a regular listener to Rush I can assure you that is not his intent.
It's a parody poking fun of white liberals and their obsession with race.
If you go to Rush's website he makes that abundantly clear.
Posted by: k parfitt | May 10, 2007 at 12:25 PM
Are there any left-wing blowhards? Are there any left-wing opinion journalists? How about left-wing think tanks? Google any of these and notice how "right-wing" is everywhere, and left-wing doesn't exist. If I was a lefty, I would be upset that anything "left wing" is so hidden in America, it's the appelation that can't be spoken., an unmentionable persuasion.
Regards,
Steve-o
Proud Right-Wing American
Posted by: Steve-o | May 10, 2007 at 12:23 PM
Apparently your reporters don't care about facts.
They just care about misinforming their readers. We're onto you! Have fun.
Posted by: Judye | May 10, 2007 at 12:18 PM
Madam, you show your biases and are factually incorrect.
It's Paul Shanklin who did that parody.
Coming from the LA Times I know that you will put your foot in your mouth...the question is how you are going to get the other foot in there with it.
Posted by: Eric | May 10, 2007 at 12:14 PM
As usual, the L(eftist) A(ssociation) Times profers their politically-correct, socialist-bent, minority-focused opinion that minority status should be ignored in selected cases (but NOT in affirmative action plans, government minority-focused re-appropriation of handouts to buy the votes, sex-deviate focused government-sanctioned favoritism in legislation, etc.), and misses the point of the whole issue. I am no Rush follower, but to attack a white, heterosexual, male is the lowest form of bias. While the Sharpton's, Jackson's, Farrakhan's, and hip-hop/rappers freely use race at every opportunity to attack whites, they are not "blowhards"?????
The black lynching of Don Imus comes to mind, where calling a spade a spade is frowned upon as offensive.
Posted by: Thomas Solomon | May 10, 2007 at 12:08 PM
What Limbaugh did was hillarious and made your paper eat crow. By the way is the LA Times ever planning to cover the sudden retirement of Sen. Feinstein from the MILCOM subcommittee? You know the committee that approved no bid work from companies whose stock was owned by Feinstein's husband billionaire Richard Blum?
Posted by: American Yank | May 10, 2007 at 11:36 AM