Re: [Phys-l] Conservative/Liberal science?

[William Robertson <wrobert9@ix.netcom.com>]

In the interest of getting the facts straight on this:

David Ehrenstein, a liberal, black columnist for the LA Times used the  
term Magic Negro to describe Obama in a 2007 column. The essence of  
the column is that Barack epitomized the "magic" negro who could  
assuage white guilt by not being genuinely black, comparing him to  
Sidney Poiter, Magic Johnson, Scatman Crothers, and others. About the  
same time, a number of liberal spokespeople were claiming that Obama  
was not authentically black. This is a fairly racist position,  
claiming that all blacks should somehow act alike, similar to the  
unfortunate labeling of black students who get good grades in school  
as "acting white." Limbaugh aired a parody song, Barack the Magic  
Negro, sung by satirist Paul Shanklin in the voice of Al Sharpton (one  
of the people claiming Obama was not genuinely black).  One of the  
lines of the song says, "Barack the Magic Negro, the LA TImes they  
call him that because he's not authentic like me." Critics, both  
liberal and conservative, jumped on Limbaugh without understanding the  
circumstances of the parody. He was pointing out hypocrisy on the  
left, not making a racist statement.

Sharon Angle made a ridiculous, fairly racist statement to an audience  
of Latinos, talking about how she couldn't tell but what some of them  
were Asian. The people who pointed this out were not labeled racists,  
nor should they have been. When Limbaugh points out racism, he is  
labeled a racist.

Bill


William C. Robertson, Ph.D.


On Nov 14, 2010, at 2:00 PM, John Clement wrote:

> Did they also criticize Limbaugh when he aired the song?  They of  
> course
> want Republicans to avoid the racist label, but Limbaugh is not an
> "official" Republican spokesman.  Criticizing him is not politically  
> wise,
> even when he makes ridiculous false statements.