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
To CBPP
Democrats have been trying to help disadvantaged peoples improve their lot in life, but it’s (welfare) “help” not a way of life. It’s only “slavery” if one doesn’t help one’s self to improve. That is the difference between “welfare” and “slavery”-choice.
First, just because a black man wrote this song and gave Al Sharpeton the dubious honor of singing it does not mean that it is not racist. Racism within black culture does exist; dark blacks vs light-blacks. Obama is light-black, obviously and openly 1/2 white. I guess this is why the song labels him “not authentically black”. Get the word, it’s questionable whether “authentically black” Negroes exist in the USA unless they immigrated recently from Africa. By the same token, who, in “white America”, is “authentically white”? Most of us are “mutts”. I have some long ago forgotten Native American blood, I’m clearly not “authentically white”. And being “from the hood” is not a genetic indicator of race. At any rate, this label seems to be clear evidence of black on black racism.
Second, there is no “double standard” as the Republicans are whining to justify their bad behavior. Comments about their “token blacks” are accurate and motivated by the behaviors and attitudes of Republicans such as Saltsman. Saltsman’s recent behavior is just bold faced evidence as to why the Republicans lost this election in such a big way and why so many “Southern” states went Demo and non-white. The country is sick and tired of these divisive kinds of behaviors and attitudes. We are not a country of “Southern American states” and “Northern Americans states”. We are not a country of “black Americans” and “whte Americans”. We are the United States of America; you’ll recognize the paraphrase, I’m sure.
Until the Republicans can include all Americans in their agendas, the divide will continue to exist, because of their behavior, not because the Dems are name-calling. Not to say that Dems can’t be divisive, they can and are, but that’s another day, another post. Thanks for listening.
I don’t think Barack Obama is losing any sleep over this song.
Hey, have you seen the MOVIE “ White Men Can’t Jump”
Yes, all Repub’s are rich and all Dem’s are either poor or middle class. Like poor Ted Kennedy, homeless John Kerry, street beggar Clinton’s and folks like John Corzine, Sandy Weill and zillionz of other down and out Wall Streeters like Warren Buffet.
Ok. Ir would be racist if in fact it were racist.
The term “magic negro” came from a black guy at the LA Times.
What is racist is referring to all Republicans as white, which of course they are not.
What is racist is democrats keeping their black members in chains tied to welfare as if they were “slaves”.
Willi says “This is clearly racist.“ That is an interesting observation since the phrase “Barack the magic Negro” was coined by a black writer for the LA Times. A racist, no doubt.
Zerro says “when i watched the GOP conventions and followed the campaign all i saw in the crouds was fat, white, old,LIPSTICK rich people!!“
Now, this is clearly racist.
Jeff the Magic Bigot has this exactly right. Republicans have much more serious problems. They are like a homeowner who neglects routine maintenance for 40 years, then is shocked when the roof falls in.
,,i,m not surprised,,when i watched the GOP conventions and followed the campaign all i saw in the crouds was fat, white, old,LIPSTICK rich people!!
This is clearly racist. At a time the GOP seeks to expand, why would it accept someone so ignorant? Will southerners never learn? I actually hope he gets selected, the GOP stands for fiscal irresponsibilty, values outside the mainstream and apparently in this guy’s place, racism.
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