From the Requests #1: Run, RNC

In my Breadcrumbs post, I'd asked for readers to request topics. The first one was on a political note - Dan wonders if I could weigh in on the CD sent out by the RNC chair, and in particular on the song "Barack the Magic Negro," first featured on Rush Limbaugh's show back in 2007.

I think the initial response is best expressed by my friend Elizabeth on her blog.

In his request, Dan wonders how I think people view "this":

Humor? A puppet who when his string is pulled says "yes massa"? A pipe toking tongue and cheek poke at puff the magic dragon? Or commentary on how Barack will run the country...

The problem is figuring out A) who is "people" and B) what is "this".

Let's start with the latter. The most immediate "this" is the outcry over the release of the CD and particular songs. A step back from that is the song in the context of this post-election time period. A step back from that is the release of the CD itself. A step back from that is the song in its original context.

People could mean way too much, so let's break this down into three potential groups. On the one end, there's the folks who released the CD. In the middle are people to whom the CD was given. On the other end is everybody else.

Here's problem number one. I disagree with Rush Limbaugh on just about everything, but the tack he took in his original broadcast was at least an attempt at logic. Him singing "Barack the Magic Negro" was a small part of a larger...I can't call it a conversation...diatribe on the term "Magic Negro" as it had been used in an L.A. Times article. There's a lot of good stuff here - good as in worthy of debate - but it's not what people are getting in a huff about.

Here's problem number two. People are reacting to the term "Negro" which in popular, nonironic usage, is offensive. There are some great examples of reclaiming the term (related to reclamations of "nigger") like Saul Williams's invented etymology: "Negro: after necro, meaning death. I overcame it, so they named me after it." I might be off on a word or two there, but you get the general idea. It's also slightly beside the point. This was not put out there as a positive "negro." Were the song sung to the tune of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," we might actually have something. A president-elect who hadn't been allowed to play with the other reindeer before but now guides the sleigh? Everything changes. But again, not really the point.

The point is that somewhere between problem one and two, the nuances got stripped out. The RNC released the CD as a cheap joke, NOT as part of an effort to spark discussion on the concept of "magic negroes." The CD intentionally cashes in on the words "magic negro" out of context. So yes, I think the CD was put out there for all three reasons Dan suggests. When Rush originally sang it? Not so much. But this release of the same song, stripped of its original context? That's the mistake (in all senses of the word).