GOP Reaction to 'Magic Negro' Gift Creeps Toward Appropriate, But Not on Blogs

On the first business day since RNC chair candidate Chip Saltsman was discovered to have given the gift of racism (a CD containing songs like Barack the Magic Negro and The Star Spanglish Banner) to his colleagues, there have been some Republican reactions that veer close to the right tenor. Initially, current RNC chair Mike Duncan issued a strong denunciation, but only from a strategic standpoint, and RNC chair candidate Ken Blackwell tried to just wave it off as "media hypersensitivity."

But decency seems to be gaining momentum. From CNN:

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer -- who has reportedly been weighing a run for the party's top spot, but has not officially announced a bid -- released a Monday morning statement praising candidates who have weighed in against the "racially insulting song."

"As the GOP Chairman in one of our nation's most ethnically and culturally diverse states, I am especially disappointed by the inappropriate words and actions we've seen over the past few days," he said. "I am proud of those party leaders who have stood up in firm opposition to this type of behavior."

That was probably the best one, and the closest anyone got to calling the racist song a racist song, one of many such songs on the CD that Saltsman sent out.

The reaction from the righty blogosphere has been more disappointing, typified by either an eyerolling, air-quoting antipathy for the "perception" problem this presents, or an outright defense of the racist song. Eric Erickson at RedState offers one such defense:

As CNN notes:

The song, set to the tune of the 1960s pop hit "Puff the Magic Dragon," was first played on Rush Limbaugh's radio show in 2007. Its title was drawn from a Los Angeles Times column that suggested Obama appealed to those who feel guilty about the nation's history of mistreatment of African-Americans.

The columnist, an African-American, came up with the term and Rush Limbaugh had Paul Shanklin sing it in Al Sharpton's voice. In the twenty years of Rush Limbaugh's show, I venture to say there has never been a funnier parody.

There is absolutely nothing racist about the song, but the race baiters of the world love to think there is.

He's only about 100% wrong. First of all, the columnist did not come up with the term, something he would know if he had read the column.

Second, and most damningly, the song is not sung in Al Sharpton's voice, or anything even close. Shanklin, a white "satirist," sings the inflammatory ditty in the voice of an offensive, stereotypical caricature that sounds nothing like Sharpton. It is a pure minstrel show. Media types and Democrats may have been cowed into allowing this kind of thinly fig-leaved thing to fly, but that doesn't make it any less foul.

Shanklin could sing "Ave Maria" in that voice and it would be offensive. Instead, he takes the observations of a member of a minority group as license to mock that minority group. You might think it's funny, that's subjective, but the song is most certainly racist, as is the other song I listened to from the disc, "The Star Spanglish Banner."

You don't have to be a racist to find this funny, just really insensitive. Our culture has progressed to a point where this kind of blatant stereotyping has been cleansed from the pop landscape, so perhaps some of these conservatives just don't recognize it because they haven't seen it before. To them, I say "Go, and sin no more."

Update: Mike Huckabee issued a disappointing statement, as well, ignoring the fact that Saltsman defended his gift. He thinks this is appropriate. I was sure Huck would do better.