Do you find that title offensive?
If so, how about this?
That IS the title of today's opinion piece by David Ehrenstein in the LA Times
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.
The 'magic negro' is there to assuage white man's burden of guilt built up by years of bigotry. And his name is Barack Obama.
He's there to assuage white "guilt" (i.e., the minimal discomfort they feel) over the role of slavery and racial segregation in American history, while replacing stereotypes of a dangerous, highly sexualized black man with a benign figure for whom interracial sexual congress holds no interest.
Oh, Mr. Ehrenstein did you mean a highly sexualized black man like Harold Ford? He likes girls you know. The racial undercurrent of this whole article is so offensive to me personally, but maybe that's because I just don't buy into the guilt trip. To suggest an intelligent black man can't possibly stand on his own merits. That 'white folk' are overlooking his glaring flaws to alleiviate a subconcious guilt for years celebrating segregation and confederate flags.
To those of you who think that it is just fine use the term 'magic negro' to describe Mr. Obama, well can we just say that the same applies to Condelezza Rice. She is such a 'magic negro', and as Secretary of State has served President Bush so well. Does she also display the teflon qualities you assign to the 'magic negro' syndrome? All the mistakes she has made in foreign policy just don't stick. Her foreign policy errors overlooked because of white man's guilt.
The white man's fear of an intelligent, articulate, clean 'Negro' is on full display in Mr. Ehrenstein's editorial. But this time it is not the sexual prowess that dear David finds threatening, it is that he has finally met a black whose intellectual prowess is greater than his own. Portraying Mr. Obama as the 'magic negro' the noble healing negro, it seems the only quality Mr. Ehrenstein IS interested in, has nothing to do with the mans merits or accomplishments, but is based soley on the color of Barack Obama's skin.
Mr. Ehrenstein, if you wanted to talk about the merit's of Barack Obama as a Presidential candidate why didn't you? You seem to be making the 'magic argument' that you think will derail his campaign, he's black.
__________________________
It is the economy, stupid.
Good lord,
that article sounds like something you'd read on the Onion. As in, last week
. I guess we know where Ehrenstein gets his entertainment news.
This is more in the "how black is too black?" category of racial politics in America. In some respect, I'll grant Ehrenstein this: there may be people who vote for Obama because they feel proud to cast their vote for a black man (but a not-too-threatening one, thank you very much). Heck, we've all met that kind of person. And the Onion covered that material because it is a very real (and lamentable) phenomenon in Hollywood.l
But what a stupid article to write:
America considers Obama a "less-than-real" black man? Do we have tests for this sort of thing, nowadays? What exactly is a "real" black man?
__________________________Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
apparently
"What exactly is a "real" black man?"
he's not very nice.
__________________________"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
It wouldn't bug
me so much if it weren't featured in the LA Times. Pretty skanky of them to print it if you ask me.
He has been around for a while as a snarky critic of everything. And is the author of the book "Open Secret: Gay Hollywood 1928-2000."
The timing of the article is interesting by the "liberal LA Times" (all media is liberal according to conservatives) since Obama just got done campaigning in Oakland drawing a crowd of 10,000.
__________________________It is the economy, stupid.
Oh and just in case
you are so inclined you can submit articles here to RCP Reader Articles, as I did with this one.
In an interview William Kristol says this is the first page he opens on his web browser every day, just to check in and see how things are going.
Who knows maybe you can have an influence! Is Condi his favorite 'magic negro'. I doubt it. But the title might catch his eye.
I have submitted several of my dairy posts from this site just to see if there was any reaction. Unfortunately when the SC changed my older ones open to a "page not found"
Anyway, Ender or GoRight might get some good votes to uprate the dairy posts on this more right side review of the tops news stories of the day, which tend to be unfriendly to democrats on the whole.
__________________________It is the economy, stupid.