Barack the 'Magic Negro'

The Truth Clinic

By James W. Breedlove

As the final days of 2008 ebb away, even the wave of euphoria that swept over America following the election of Barack Obama as President could not purify the country of its embedded racism. Opinion polls taken after the Nov. 4 election seemed to imply that the collapsing economy had opened America’s collective eyes and hearts to put aside that which divided us.

It seemed that Obama’s campaign reminder to America had taken root. That America is not made up of blue states or red states, but must always be the U.S. United we could come together and tackle the great challenges that we face by summoning a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other.

We watched and waited—hopeful, anxious, tearfully—as a dream that had been decades in the making began to unfold before our eyes on election night. The state by state voting results started to come in beginning on the east coast and moving west.

The suspense was short lived. A McCain victory quickly became improbable as the hope of an Obama victory gradually turned into a certainty with Obama’s early wins in the Northeast, Iowa and the critical swing states of Pennsylvania and Ohio. He also won the victories in the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and neighboring Minnesota by double digits.

Every major American network called the election in favor of Barack Obama at 11 p.m. as the polls closed on the West Coast and Obama’s electoral count reached the magic 270 number. Then the reality sank in when the man himself stepped on the stage in Chicago’s historic Grant Park to the thundering cheers of 250,000 supporters; an African American who would soon be addressed as Mr. President.

Later that night Obama picked up additional swing states that had been too close to call. These included Florida, Indiana, Virginia, and the western states of New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada, all states that had been carried by George Bush in 2004. Obama carried 28 states and the District of Columbia with a projected electoral vote count of 365 to McCain’s 173.

The enormity of Obama’s victory needs to be put in perspective.

Other Democrats have captured the White House in the last 40 years since Johnson. None, however, has won both a majority of the votes and simultaneously a broad mandate from the states. Jimmy Carter won the popular vote impressively, but did not change the red and blue political map. Obama by contrast has unquestionably given the Democratic Party both the political legitimacy of an unchallengeable victory and the moral authority of red and blue states.

Obama, on the other hand, has won the presidency by crafting a majoritarian platform and boldly making that message acceptable in places that have rarely voted Democrat in any presidential election since Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 blowout victory.

But, reality dictates that the negativists throw buckets of cold water on the political fireworks of unity ignited by Obama’s amazing victory. After all, racism and bigotry are still the universal weapons of America’s dividers.

One such bucket is the song called “Barack the Magic Negro” recently distributed to RNC members by Chip Saltsman, who is seeking the RNC chairmanship. The ditty, sung to the music of the “Puff, the Magic Dragon” in the sound alike voice of the Rev. Al Sharpton, originated on conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh’s radio program (no surprise here).

When admonished by saner Republicans, Mr. Saltsman responded that members of the RNC committee have “the good humor and good sense” to see the tune as “lighthearted political parodies.”

While it is shocking, no one should be surprised by this childish act of bigotry. The mere fact that Rush Limbaugh was involved should say a lot about the entire affair. One thing is certain—the current extremists running the Republican Party like their predecessors find racism funny. To them, bigotry is not only fun but big business. And, Rush is one of the biggest. Remember the Don Imus controversial “nappy head” joke of 2007?

It’s a shame that this discussion on the boundaries between true satire and racism continues. America has bigger problems to confront.

America, like much of the world, faces a growing polarization of wealth that has made poverty the new and real racism. People of all colors are being left out of the opportunities for good educations, good jobs, good health and good housing.

As poverty has spread throughout our society, there has been a steady effort to put in place a system of laws to contain this growing mass of the dispossessed. This paradigm has already made America the world’s leading prison nation. This travesty supersedes the childish racism that enjoys so much media attention.

In his victory speech following the election, Barack Obama has drawn a line under the last eight dreadful years of the Bush administration that few will mourn. And, whether he is magical or just a special individual whose time has come it is evident that he has taken on his shoulders the great weight of leadership that the United States of America so desperately needs.

Happy New Year.

James W. Breedlove is a former executive director of the Fort Wayne Branch of the NAACP. Comments or opinions can be sent to him at jaydubub@swbell.net.

This is part of the January 7, 2009 online edition of Frost Illustrated.

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