February is Black History Month and in honor of the celebration of the contributions black Americans have made to our country, Rush Limbaugh is taking his whole staff out to a nice chicken dinner.
Racist?
Not anymore than his song, “Barack the Magic Negro.”
See, Rush is taking the opportunity to mock NBC, who offered the following meal in celebration of Black History Month:
It wasn’t too long ago that Denver Public Schools offereed Southern Fried Chicken to celebrate MLK’s birthday. It’s only racist if you ignore that fact that MLK was from the south and loved collard greens. But white guilt is a tough burden to bear and must find racism everywhere.
And about the “Magic Negro” song. It was a song inspired by an L.A. Times columnist:
The Magic Negro is a figure of postmodern folk culture, coined by snarky 20th century sociologists, to explain a cultural figure who emerged in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Education. “He has no past, he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist,” reads the description on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro .
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.
No doubt the media will use this to paint Limbaugh as a racist, while ignoring the whole point of his actions. His actions are inspired by the same people that judge him. NBC can offer this meal, but label Limbaugh a racist for offering it to his staff?
I think not. Well played, Sir. Well played.
