They are at it again. Americans uncomfortable with President Barack Obama and disappointed in the popinjays seeking the Republican presidential nomination are digging into their bag of racial tricks.
This morning, one reader on National Review Online (NRO) commmented that reverse racism (i.e., Obama’s Magical Suit) protects President Obama from criticism. Huh? He must not actually read NRO articles or tune in to Fox News.
In reply to his comment, I wrote that I suspected that his comment reflected the sort of narcissistic, self-confessional that the article’s author deplored in his column. People like him blame the other guy for their shortcomings. And they project their racism onto the other guy.
“Magical Negro Suit.” Really? The myth of black invulnerability and super powers harkens back to the “Mandingo” myth and other falsehoods that old-fashioned racists would employ to frighten the white lower classes of their supposedly “inferior” black neighbor.
Inferior yet invulnerable? The disrespectful language and epithets (e.g., ‘failed president’, ‘in over his head’, ‘food stamp president’, etc.) used to describe President Obama is not unprecedented in presidential politics. African Americans and other Americans of good will are disturbed by these comments because we believe that our nation is finally living up to its ideals.
I believe that the promise of America is too great to be undermined by small, bigoted men. And I believe that the promise of America is, indeed, magical.
