Chip Saltsman, former Tennessee GOP chairman and candidate for the Republican National Committee chairmanship, thought it would be a good idea to send a copy of “Barack the Magic Negro” out with his Christmas cards.
Republicans are lining up behind him, despite the overtly racist tone of the song, saying that it is not racist; it is creative satire. It’s just a little joke.
I will post the lyrics so you can decide for yourself:
Barack the Magic Negro lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s not authentic like me.
Yeah, the guy from the L.A. paper
Said he makes guilty whites feel good
They’ll vote for him, and not for me
‘Cause he’s not from the ’hood.
See, real black men, like Snoop Dog,
Or me, or Farrakhan
Have talked the talk, and walked the walk,
Not come in late and won!
[refrain] Oh, Barack the Magic Negro, lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s black, but not authentically.
Oh, Barack the Magic Negro, lives in D.C.
The L.A. Times, they called him that
‘Cause he’s black, but not authentically.
Some say Barack’s “articulate”
And bright and new and “clean.”
The media sure loves this guy,
A white interloper’s dream!
But when you vote for president,
Watch out, and don’t be fooled!
Don’t vote the Magic Negro in —
‘Cause —
[spoken word] ‘Cause I won’t have nothing after all these years of sacrifice, and I won’t get justice. This is about justice. This isn’t about me, it’s about justice.
It’s about buffet. I don’t have no buffet and there won’t be any church contributions, and there’ll be no cash in the collection plate.
There ain’t gonna be no cash money, no walkin’-around money, no phoning money.
Now, Barack going to come in here and —
This song is racist. Just because you are pretending to be Al Sharpton doesn’t turn your bigotry into witty satire. It’s basically saying that there are “real” and “fake” black people, that the real ones are inner-city and poor, are radicals or rappers. That black leaders only care about ripping off their flock. Come on — the term “white interloper” is in there.
When George Bush was president, Republicans would always get all offended when Bush was criticized or made fun of. They would say, “This is offensive. You can disagree with the president, but you still have to respect the office of the president of the United States.”
Where are these guys now? Republicans are standing up behind Saltsman. Repeating that it’s only a joke. Where are all these classy guys who get offended when the office of the POTUS isn’t respected? Oh yeah, that’s right, they never really cared about that — they just didn’t like it when their guy was the butt of a joke.
On the conservative blogs, I read that people really think Obama was elected because white people voted for him so they would no longer feel guilty about historical racism. Really? It’s weird that I have never heard that from a white person who voted for Obama, only from racist whites who voted for McCain. These people are so out of touch.
This is probably the last thing that the Republican Party needs. Their party is becoming smaller and smaller. They are old, white and Southern. A cohort that is becoming a smaller and smaller percentage of the U.S. With this sense of humor, who besides these folks would want to join the Republican Party?
Will the Republican Party shrivel up and die? Probably not, but a good way to help the GOP commit slow suicide would be to defend Chip Saltsman and this awful song.