Was Obama selected by TPTB to play the role of "the magical negro"?

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Just lol.

They would have done far better, with Wayne Brady.

He's both magical, and likeable... (ask Dave Chapelle... )

This is so 2004 welcome to the party

You will be all Facebook soon

Next it,s Fascism



With a slice of Communism

It was more than that... people were burned out on bush, wars, etc. obama was charismatic, articulate, and convinced people he’d move us away from that. I believed him until Libya and Syria
a reply to: DBCowboy

Like a Wizard?

originally posted by: Kurokage
a reply to: network dude

anyone else with 1990's terms

I think the term "negro" is a 1890's term along with a few other choice words that are not used, not the 1990's.

Be sure to inform UNCF of that.

www.uncf.org...

I'm sure they will do as you think is right.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Awwwww... did someone learn a new hate phrase? Hate to break it to you -- okay, not really -- but you're quite late to the party, eh?

Wikipedia has an entire page devoted to the Magical Negro, and within that page there is a section devoted to Obama as the Magical Negro:

In March 2007, American critic David Ehrenstein used the title "Obama the 'Magic Negro'" for an editorial he wrote for the Los Angeles Times, in which he described Barack Obama's image in white American culture: "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 ... The only mud that momentarily stuck was criticism (white and black alike) concerning Obama's alleged 'inauthenticity', as compared to such sterling examples of "genuine" blackness as Al Sharpton and Snoop Dogg. ... Obama's fame right now has little to do with his political record ... Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him."[14]

Discussing the Ehrenstein editorial at length, Rush Limbaugh at one point sang the words, "Barack the magic negro" to the tune of song "Puff, the Magic Dragon".[15][16] Shortly after that Paul Shanklin recorded a song about Barack the Magic Negro set to that same tune, which Limbaugh played numerous times throughout the 2008 presidential election season.[17]

In Christmas 2008, Chip Saltsman, a Republican politician and chair of the Tennessee Republican Party, sent a 41-track CD containing the song to members of the Republican National Committee during the Republican National Committee chairmanship election.[18][19] Saltsman's campaign imploded as a result of the controversy caused by the CD, and he withdrew from the race;[20][21] Michael Steele, an African American, was elected.[22]

In May 2015, theater and cultural critic Frank Rich, looking back at the coincidence of the 2015 Baltimore protests with the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, DC, wrote: "What made this particular instance poignant was the presence in the ballroom of our first African-American president, the Magic Negro who was somehow expected to relieve a nation founded and built on slavery from the toxic burdens of centuries of history."[23]

So, yes, apparently some people think Obama was the political equivalent Magical Negro. For the sake of this discussion (and kicks and giggles), let's take it a step further and state it as fact: Obama was the Magical Negro chosen by the PTB.

Now what? Why does it matter? What's the point? How will it help us today? (Beyond it being yet another opportunity for you to talk trash about people...)

Except, the magical negro was a bit of a racist thing. Only there to impart some wisdom into the white main character so that the white character can go on to be great.

Obama graduated from Harvard law, trump graduated with a bachelor's in economics and finance. Not sure how Obama is "unimpressive" compared to other candidates...

Anyone who is great at talking and giving speeches, is a good candidate for president. Wether he was a plant by TPTB , I don't know.

I think your "magical negro" is being misused here.. Obama didn't play the background magical negro only there to help the white man. He was the main character, and was a powerful speaker.

a reply to: Boadicea

Obama didn't break the economy, run for a third term, enact martial law, or start a race war as many alt-right people said he would. Therefore, they need to go back and find another way to demonize him...

originally posted by: blueman12
Except, the magical negro was a bit of a racist thing. Only there to impart some wisdom into the white main character so that the white character can go on to be great.

Obama graduated from Harvard law, trump graduated with a bachelor's in economics and finance. Not sure how Obama is "unimpressive" compared to other candidates...

Anyone who is great at talking and giving speeches, is a good candidate for president. Wether he was a plant by TPTB , I don't know.

I think your "magical negro" is being misused here.. Obama didn't play the background magical negro only there to help the white man. He was the main character, and was a powerful speaker.

Well I kind of consider every president to be a background character, background to the natilon as a whole. I think there are relatively few people who view the pres as the main character and those are the Pres, his close supporters and his "base" - kind of like a pyramid of sorts... I doubt there are many current democrats who would say Trump is the main character in their life or story.

When I look at all the racial issues that happened with Obama, especially him making comments in local matters which was basically unprecedented for a president. It seemed like there was one after another incident, and the creation of BLM and the over-hyped issue of white on black murders (especially police) all seemed to be contrived and created to allow Obama to step into the role I posted about, and enlighten the nation - with the intent of either bringing the nation together or ripping it apart - IDK. IMHO, instead of being the wise teacher, he was more like the guest who comes to a house with dog $hit on his shoe and tracks it all over the house and stomps it into the carpet and rugs then $hits himself while sitting on your couch.

Then there was his 180 on gay marriage, trans issues , pushing the misunderstanding of a women's wage gap (the reason for it where one does exist) and other "woke" issues. If ever there was a time where Reagan's comment of "I didn't leave the Democrat party, the Democrat party left me", it seems during Obama's presidency this was the case for a large portion of Democrats leaving them stuck in a very uncomfortable centrist position, not ready to accept conservationism - which is why I think Trump was selected - he was a middle ground for those alienated Dem's.

Before anyone responds about Bush or Trump not being any better than Obama (with my above comment about him), I never said they were, they are just "bad" in a different way. And whether the term was used for Obama before, I do vaguely remember hearing it, but I didn't pay much attention, I thought was more pandering to a certain group. Now looking back, I do see a correlation to that term and what happened during his presidency and the apparent agenda. It seemed to be forcing the agenda down an unready nation's throat, causing civil & social unrest - which is why I'm wondering if that was the plan, or if the plan to bring the nation together backfired.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Well, police brutality on blacks was something that existed long before Obama. So that's a big stretch.

Before anyone responds about Bush or Trump not being any better than Obama (with my above comment about him), I never said they were, they are just "bad" in a different way.

Fair enough. However, the trump era of political discourse has created more division than bush or Obama.

Playing into the notion that all president's are "plants of TPTB", then one could say Obama and Trump were a duo combo to create division in the country. Divide and conquer. Obama set's Trump up for the volleyball spike.