Fear of a Black President
The Nation as a wonderful article about the Republicans trying to go after President Obama for being too cool, too black.
At some level, much of the GOP base still believes that Obama’s race is somehow disqualifying for the Oval Office, and they can barely keep themselves from overtly attacking him for it. But the demographics are daunting, and their professionals know it. To see a white guy like Jimmy Fallon acting black—doing a silly Barry White impression with Obama and Roots vocalist Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter behind him—reinforces the fear among some on the right that the hip youth culture is increasingly a black culture and that it’s inexorably taking over.
hip youth culture is increasingly a black culture and that it’s inexorably taking over.
This has been true for most of my life. Sometimes it is black culture that has been appropriated and sometimes it is black culture that has been assimilated. But the thing that really is astonishing to me is that we still have all of this Fear of a Black Culture. And it is from the generations who listened to Pat Boone (yikes) or Elvis or the Rolling Stones. I wish we could figure out a way to impose a pretty hefty White People Tax on those folks who demonstrate that they have no idea where their own culture comes from.
Yea, here’s what we are all scared of..
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/obama-owns-this-bust-346512