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| quote: | Originally posted by The17sss
Let's be fair here... this is such a gay manufactured nothing of a controversey. The phrase was coined by L.A. times writer David Ehrenstein (a Democrat) as a joke to the music of Puff The Magic Dragon.... then a song parody was put together by Paul Shanklin singing as Al Sharpton. The person from the RNC gave out a CD with 22 parody songs, with that being one of them. And people are trying to make it bigger than it is. |
Um, I'm not giving a free pass on this one. It's a blatantly provocative song that is indeed racist - why defend it? Is the firestorm justified? Maybe not. But for someone who wants to represent your party to introduce himself to the American people with a racial joke is just plain stupidity at its finest.
As for the origin of the phrase, you're way off. Ehrenstein's op-ed in the LATimes was entitled "Obama the 'Magic Negro'" and was a critical expose about how Obama could potentially overcome the Bradley Effect by virtue of his "white" characteristics. As Ehrenstein wrote:
| quote: | | 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. |
In other words, Barack Obama redefines in White America what a black man really looks like. Magical Negro is indeed an established term in Sociology that is used to describe the post-segregation image of African-Americans who are no longer inferior to whites. The phrase "Magic Negro" didn't come from the Puff the Magic Dragon song (that was an invention of Rush Limbaugh's so there isn't much surprise that you bought it hook, line, and sinker).
I suggest you read the op-ed - it was really quite interesting when it appeared in March 2007.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion...-opinion-center
This is entirely on Saltsman, who if he isn't racist is just an idiot. If this is how you want to begin rebuilding your Republican Party - with CD's that include blatant racism, be my guest. Eight years of Obama sounds like a great present for the Holidays.
I mean, for God's sake, I can't believe I'm citing Jake Tapper (he should just get it over with and make out with McCain), but here you go:
| quote: | The outgoing chair of the RNC, Mike Duncan, said he's “shocked and appalled” by the lyrics, adding: "The 2008 election was a wake-up call for Republicans to reach out and bring more people into our party." The song, Duncan said, "clearly does not move us in the right direction."
Moreover, former House Speaker New Gingrich told the New York Times, “This is so inappropriate that it should disqualify any Republican National Committee candidate who would use it." |
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalp...-the-magic.html
So you're not even with your party establishment in defending this shit. Be careful or you really will join Rush in la-la land.
| quote: | | From Paul Shanklin who wrote the song: Lighten Up |
Um, he wrote the PARODY. From the author of the original Puff the Magic Dragon song:
| quote: |
"I and my co-writer of 'Puff,' Lenny Lipton, have been eagerly awaiting an end to the mean-spiritedness, outright disrespect and bigotry that was commonplace prior to this last presidential election. What might have been wearily accepted as 'the way it was' in the campaign, is now unacceptable. Obama is not a candidate. He is the President-Elect, and this song insults the office of the Presidency, the people who voted for him, as well as those who did not -- and taking a children's song and twisting it in such vulgar, mean-spirited way, is a slur to our entire country and our common agreement to move beyond racism.
"It is almost unimaginable to me that Chip Saltzman (sic) who sent the CD, would seriously be considered for the top post of the Republican National Committee," Yarrow concludes. "Puff, himself, if asked, would certainly agree." |
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter...s_b_153808.html
Manufactured by the media? It would seem not.
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