GOP boss: Racial song a distraction
Bob Brown / Times-Dispatch
Jeff Frederick, Virginia Republican Party chairman, makes a point during a December debate with his Democratic counterpart, C. Richard Cranwell.
Published: January 3, 2009
The distribution of a song titled "Barack the Magic Negro" by a candidate for chairman of the national Republican Party has created an unnecessary distraction as the party rebuilds, Virginia GOP chairman Jeff Frederick said yesterday.
"There's a lot of things we need to be fighting about, and this isn't one of them," Frederick said in an interview.
On another matter, Frederick complained that critics of the Republican Party use a double standard when judging political outreach to minorities.
Tennessee political operative Chip Saltsman, one of six candidates for the GOP's national chairmanship, mailed a CD last month to members of the Republican National Committee that included the song about President-elect Barack Obama that was featured on Rush Limbaugh's radio program.
Frederick is one of 168 committee members who will vote in the chairmanship race Jan. 30 in Washington. He has not endorsed any of the candidates.
Frederick said Saltsman didn't "mean any harm" in distributing the song by conservative comedian Paul Shanklin, which refers to a March 2007 opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times by David Ehrenstein headlined "Obama the 'Magic Negro.'"
In the article, Ehrenstein argued that voting for Obama helped white voters alleviate guilt over racial wrongs in the past.
Shanklin sings the parody to the tune of "Puff, the Magic Dragon" by impersonating the Rev. Al Sharpton. The lyrics include: "Barack the Magic Negro made guilty whites feel good/They'll vote for him and not for me/Cause he's not from the 'hood.'"
Other Republicans have blasted Saltsman, who was chairman of Republican Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign.
RNC Chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan, who is seeking re-election, said he was "shocked and appalled that anyone would think this is appropriate."
South Carolina Republican Party chair Katon Dawson, also in the race, said Saltsman made a mistake in mailing the CD. "That doesn't have any place in the public discourse," he said.
Frederick plans to watch the six candidates square off Monday in a debate in Washington sponsored by the conservative group Americans for Tax Reform.
Some Republicans fear the CD mailing will hurt the party's outreach to minority voters, a group it has struggled for years to attract.
But Frederick said the party's critics use a double standard when judging outreach to minorities.
When Democrats put black officials in prominent positions, they are applauded for being diverse, he said.
"When we do the same thing, it's, 'Oh, they got their token black guy. They got their Uncle Tom.' There's a double standard there," he said.
"We have to work extra hard to appear as we're not doing it just for the camera," Frederick said.
Saltsman, the candidate who mailed the CD, did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment. In a posting on his blog, he complained that his critics "didn't utter a word" about the 2007 column in the Los Angeles Times.
"I know that our party leaders should stand up against the media's double standards and refuse to pander to their desire for scandal," he wrote.
The two black candidates in the GOP chairmanship race, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, appeared supportive of Saltsman after the CD scandal broke.
Steele said Saltmsan's "attempt at humor was clearly misplaced," but it does not make him "indifferent to the important work of building the coalitions necessary to make our party stronger."
Michigan Republican Party chairman Saul Anuzis also is seeking the national GOP chairmanship.
Contact Neil H. Simon at (202) 662-7669 or
.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Reader Reactions
I’ve always gotten my haircut at primarily Republican barbershops (is there a choice?). I remember, a few years back, the owner passing around joke—but real looking—‘3-Dollar bills’ that had Bill Clinton’s picture in the center. Get it? The other guys in there used to slap their knees & laugh so hard I thought they were about to vomit.
My point is—this is what they do. Doesn’t matter who’s in office, white or black or woman or man.
Hi Guy, sorry you insist upon name-calling and “trashing” other people. Maybe you practice what you preach—racial, ethnic and cultural hatred.
BTW,FYI, the whole election was racist. Obama may turnout to be a good President, but he is certainly the first “affirmative action” one. Governor Palin, yes Governor, is far more qualified to run a country than Obama. If he had not been the “first black”, Hillary would have easily beaten him for the DEM nomination.
However now that you have him as your messiah, perhaps this will make you happy and productive. No more victimization and reasons not to do.
The Republicans proved with Sarah Palin that you could put lipstick on trailer trash but you’ll still end up with trailer trash. Rush Limbaugh and the Repub’s can rationalize all they want, but it’s still what it is, a racially motivated slur.
SCGuy “thinly veiled racism”? Who are you prejudice against? Which group do you not want to associate with? Is there a culture that irritates you? One you fear? Every person makes judgements about others—it is the normal and routine thing that every human being does.
Some cultures create a universal distain from others—behavior tells the story. If you consider the avoidance of these types a form of racism, so be it.
You might want to get a life! The parody is well done and funny to listen to.
SCGuy
So True, so true. Not that there aren’t frat boys amongst the Dems, too. See my post under the Terry MacAuliff story for my take on GOP attitudes.
The Republican racism is so thinly veiled they can’t keep it covered anymore. But this is not college, not high school, but worse than middle school humor, and to find that the Republicans find it amusing shows just what the mental age of the average conservative really is.
My initial thought was that these guys are spending too much time with frat boy-like jokes & silliness, when they ought to be concentrating on more serious business. But on the other hand…
...it could be reasoned that a sense of humour is a good thing to have & use, no matter the job.
That’s all I see in this. Nothing more nothing less. No major scandal; no genuine harm done to anyone.
This just a case of bad taste writ large.
Well, at least the writer of the song used the word “negro.“ It could have been worse!
Has anyone here actually heard the “Magic” song? NO! Just what I thought. I have heard it. The parody is hilarious and accurate. Most of you are prejudice against open-discussion, freedom of press, let alone have a sense of humor.
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