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| "Obama, the Magic Negro..... |
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| .....kicking ass and taking names!" |
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This is Dark Cloud on Wednesday, December 31, 2008. One of the longed for prospects of a Barack Obama administration is that the unnerving and guilt laden discourse of racism will be – not dissolved – but able to be elevated and perhaps ignored by everyone. At least, one hopes, blacks wouldn’t overprotect the least of their own in office because they needed the minimal representation offered, and whites wouldn’t be able to smugly insert racial prejudice and sexual fears into every election to get their candidates elected by their purse lipped and clenched thigh base. Well, let’s say we got off to a modest and hopeful start, but some things may take a while. Ironically, Obama’s Senate seat fell to the charms of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill. Blago, who is soon to be charged by the Feds and perhaps impeached by his state, was caught clearly trying to sell the seat. Exposed, he now hopes to quash all that by selecting a black, respected, and qualified former rival to the spot, and daring someone to criticize the choice because of race or politics. Last year, that actually might have worked even with the same legal issues looming. But this year, Barack Obama – the hyphen in the term African-American - is the President-elect, and he said that he regretted Blagojevich’s decision to exercise his authority under the current circumstances. The Illinois Secretary of State has announced he will not sign the Governor’s appointment form, required for former State Attorney General Bernard Burris to become a Senator. The US Senate has indicated it will not seat him under these circumstances. Others are saying that unless Blago steps down, he’ll be removed from office by Lincoln’s birthday, February 12. Everyone, from Obama on down, has gone out of their way to point out nobody is rejecting Burris, just the process. Well. Except one. Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush pointed out there were currently no African-Americans in the Senate. He then said at a news conference – a threat, actually – that he didn’t think any senator "wants to go on record to deny one African-American from being seated." He then slipped past hyperbole into dementia and asked lawmakers not to "lynch" Burris, because he’s certainly qualified. Nobody is complaining about Burris’ qualifications. Rush, by the way, is the Congressman an uppity Obama tried to unseat years in the past. He is the only politician to have defeated Obama, ever. He’s still a Congressman and Obama is president elect after being elected Senator. He’s two decades older than his former rival. Not that he’s petty or jealous or anything. Just concerned for his people. Mostly, I suspect, like Blago and others, he wants to make sure whoever has the Senate seat is devoted to Congressman Rush’s interests. Rush, a Black Panther in the day and a member of the Black Caucus, seems awfully welded into the past. Stupidly, he’s just annoyed his president to be and the party in general. As William Jerfferson discovered, black criminal politicians who hand out small portions of illegal gains to the poor can no longer expect a free ride. Adam Clayton Powell as an archetype is as dead as Mayor Curley and Huey Long. Obama’s election released a lot, hardly all, of the protectionist concerns in the black community. A significant plurality of whites will support a qualified black candidate over a white war hero in America. Not to make too much of it, but the gratitude and surprise in the voice of Andrew Young when he said after the election “I underestimated white America” is still finding its comfort zone, its angle of repose on the political mountain Obama begat, and long held political prejudices are melting. And, let’s not be hasty. Rush Limbaugh’s racist taunt from his radio show - “Obama the Magic Negro” - is now being widely distributed by a Republican Congressman from the South hoping for a leadership position within the party. It’s the sort of strained, unfunny joke that isn’t of itself bad except it’s bait for the fearsome prejudices that lie beneath, to serve as a rallying point. Still, Obama, the Magic Negro....kicking ass and taking names, is a workable image. We recognize it for what it is, now: the tantrum of the bitter loser. It is no more damning or likely to benefit the complaining parties than the GOP’s threat not to seat Al Franken as Senator if, as is widely expected, he is declared the winner next week, in 2009. But however this shakes out, a Happy New Year and bearable hangover to you all. I recommend breakfast Thursday of Shredded Wheat in stale beer for breakfast, chicken fat sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread for lunch. Kimchi, mustard, and jalapenos for supper. You’ll thank me someday. |
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