Magical negro - Revision history

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	==The Magical Negro in Fiction==		==The Magical Negro in Fiction==
	[[File:THE-MAGIC-Negro.~~jpg~~\|right\|360px]]		[[File:THE-MAGIC-Negro.png\|right\|360px]]
	The magical negro is typically "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by [[discrimination]], disability or social constraint," often a janitor or prisoner.<ref name="Hicks">{{cite journal\|first=Heather J. \|last = Hicks \| journal = Camera Obscura \| title= Hoodoo Economics: White Men's Work and Black Men's Magic in Contemporary American Film \|publisher=Camera Obscura \|volume=18 \|issue=2 \|date=[[2003-09-01]] \|pages= 27-55 \|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-24435280_ITM \|accessdate=2007-02-03\|archiveurl=https://archive.is/1NmlE\|archivedate=2013-01-02}}</ref> He has no past; he simply appears one day to help the [[White people\|white]] protagonist.<ref name="ejumpcut">{{cite journal \| url= http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc45.2002/colombe/ \|title= White Hollywood’s new Black boogeyman \|first= Audrey \| last = Colombe \| issue = 45 \| work = Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media \| month = October \| year = 2002 \| accessdate = 2006-12-03 }}</ref> He is the black stereotype, "prone to criminality and laziness."<ref>{{cite book\|title=Contemporary Patterns of Politics, Praxis, and Culture \| first = Georgia Anne \| last = Persons \|pages= p. 137 \| location = [[New Brunswick, New Jersey\|New Brunswick, NJ]] \| publisher=Transaction Publishers \|year=2005 \|isbn = 141280468X \| oclc = 56510401 }}</ref> To counterbalance this, he has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not the sort of thing one typically encounters."<ref name="ejumpcut" /> He is patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and is "closer to the earth."<ref name="strangehorizons" />		The magical negro is typically "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by [[discrimination]], disability or social constraint," often a janitor or prisoner.<ref name="Hicks">{{cite journal\|first=Heather J. \|last = Hicks \| journal = Camera Obscura \| title= Hoodoo Economics: White Men's Work and Black Men's Magic in Contemporary American Film \|publisher=Camera Obscura \|volume=18 \|issue=2 \|date=[[2003-09-01]] \|pages= 27-55 \|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-24435280_ITM \|accessdate=2007-02-03\|archiveurl=https://archive.is/1NmlE\|archivedate=2013-01-02}}</ref> He has no past; he simply appears one day to help the [[White people\|white]] protagonist.<ref name="ejumpcut">{{cite journal \| url= http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc45.2002/colombe/ \|title= White Hollywood’s new Black boogeyman \|first= Audrey \| last = Colombe \| issue = 45 \| work = Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media \| month = October \| year = 2002 \| accessdate = 2006-12-03 }}</ref> He is the black stereotype, "prone to criminality and laziness."<ref>{{cite book\|title=Contemporary Patterns of Politics, Praxis, and Culture \| first = Georgia Anne \| last = Persons \|pages= p. 137 \| location = [[New Brunswick, New Jersey\|New Brunswick, NJ]] \| publisher=Transaction Publishers \|year=2005 \|isbn = 141280468X \| oclc = 56510401 }}</ref> To counterbalance this, he has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not the sort of thing one typically encounters."<ref name="ejumpcut" /> He is patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and is "closer to the earth."<ref name="strangehorizons" />

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	==Examples==		==Examples==
	[[File:Uncle Remus from the (now banned) Disney movie Song of the South (1946) is the model of the Magical Negro in the USA.~~jpg~~\|thumb\|350px\|Lovable [[negro]] freedman (former [[slave]]) ''Uncle Remus'' (James Baskett) from the (now banned) [[Disney]] movie "[[Song of the South]]" (1946) is the model of the magical negro in the [[USA]].]]		[[File:Uncle Remus from the (now banned) Disney movie Song of the South (1946) is the model of the Magical Negro in the USA.png\|thumb\|350px\|Lovable [[negro]] freedman (former [[slave]]) ''Uncle Remus'' (James Baskett) from the (now banned) [[Disney]] movie "[[Song of the South]]" (1946) is the model of the magical negro in the [[USA]].]]
	Examples of magical negroes as published by social commentators include:		Examples of magical negroes as published by social commentators include:

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	==Obama the Magic Negro-Gate==		==Obama the Magic Negro-Gate==

	David Ehrenstein, a liberal writer with a secular [[~~Jewish~~]] father with [[Polish]] ancestors and a half [[African-American]] mother was, wrote an opinion piece on 19 March 2007 in the ''Los Angeles Times'' called "Obama the 'Magic Negro.'" He argued that whites, according to sociologists, stereotype [[blacks]] as "dangerous." But whites consider [[Barack Obama]] accessible, likeable and "benign." This, according to Ehrenstein, explains Obama's "crossover" appeal. The article insults whites, by accusing them of voting for Obama merely to assuage their own guilt. The article produced virtually no outcry.		David Ehrenstein, a liberal writer with a secular [[jewish]] father with [[Polish]] ancestors and a half [[African-American]] mother was, wrote an opinion piece on 19 March 2007 in the ''Los Angeles Times'' called "Obama the 'Magic Negro.'" He argued that whites, according to sociologists, stereotype [[blacks]] as "dangerous." But whites consider [[Barack Obama]] accessible, likeable and "benign." This, according to Ehrenstein, explains Obama's "crossover" appeal. The article insults whites, by accusing them of voting for Obama merely to assuage their own guilt. The article produced virtually no outcry.

	: ''"But it's clear that Obama also is running for an equally important ''unelected'' office, in the province of the popular imagination—the 'Magic Negro.' [...] He's there to assuage [[white guilt]] over the role of slavery and [[racial segregation]] in American history [...] The senator's famously stem-winding stump speeches have been drawing huge crowds to hear him talk of uniting rather than dividing. A praiseworthy goal. Consequently, even the mild criticisms thrown his way have been waved away, "magically." He used to smoke, but now he doesn't; he racked up a bunch of delinquent parking tickets, but he paid them all back with an apology. And hey, is looking good in a bathing suit a bad thing? [...] Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him."''<ref>David Ehrenstein: [https://www.latimes.com/la-oe-ehrenstein19mar19-story.html "Obama the 'Magic Negro'"], Los Angeles Times, 2007</ref>		: ''"But it's clear that Obama also is running for an equally important ''unelected'' office, in the province of the popular imagination—the 'Magic Negro.' [...] He's there to assuage [[white guilt]] over the role of slavery and [[racial segregation]] in American history [...] The senator's famously stem-winding stump speeches have been drawing huge crowds to hear him talk of uniting rather than dividing. A praiseworthy goal. Consequently, even the mild criticisms thrown his way have been waved away, "magically." He used to smoke, but now he doesn't; he racked up a bunch of delinquent parking tickets, but he paid them all back with an apology. And hey, is looking good in a bathing suit a bad thing? [...] Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him."''<ref>David Ehrenstein: [https://www.latimes.com/la-oe-ehrenstein19mar19-story.html "Obama the 'Magic Negro'"], Los Angeles Times, 2007</ref>

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	==References==		==References==
	{{Reflist}}		{{Reflist\|2}}

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Examples

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[[File:Hillary Clinton and the Magical Negro.png|thumb|350px|[[Hillary Clinton]] and the ''magical negro'']]
The '''magical negro''' (sometimes called the '''mystical negro''', '''magic negro''', or '''our magical African-American friend''') is the label given to a supporting, often mystical [[negroid]] stock character in fiction who, by use of special insight or powers, helps the [[white]] protagonist get out of trouble. The word "[[negro]]", now wrongly considered by many as archaic and offensive, is used intentionally to suggest that the archetype is a racist throwback, an update of the "Sambo" and "savage other" stereotypes.<ref>{{cite book|title=Race, Sex, and Suspicion: The Myth of the Black Male |first= D. Marvin | last = Jones |pages= p. 35 |location = [[Westport, Connecticut|Westport, Conn.]]| publisher=Praeger Publishers |year=2005 |isbn = 0275974626 | oclc = 56095393}}</ref> The term "magical negro" was popularized by [[Spike Lee]], who derided the archetype of the "super-duper magical negro"<ref name="blackcommentator">{{cite news | title= Too Too Divine: Movies' 'Magic Negro' Saves the Day - but at the Cost of His Soul | url= http://www.blackcommentator.com/49/49_magic.html | first = Rita | last = Kempley | date= [[2003-06-07]] | work = [[The Washington Post]]| accessdate = 2006-12-03 }}</ref> in 2001 while discussing films with students at Washington State University<ref name="strangehorizons">{{cite news |url= http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20041025/kinga.shtml |title= Stephen King's Super-Duper Magical Negroes |first= Nnedi | last = Okorafor-Mbachu | authorlink = Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu| work = Strange Horizons |date= [[2004-10-25]] | accessdate = 2006-12-03 }}</ref> and at Yale University.<ref name="SpikeLee">{{cite news | url = http://www.yale.edu/opa/v29.n21/story3.html | title = Director Spike Lee slams 'same old' black stereotypes in today's films | first = Susan | last = Gonzalez | work = Yale Bulletin & Calendar | publisher =[[Yale University]] | date = [[2001-03-02]] | accessdate = 2006-12-03 }}</ref>

==The Magical Negro in Fiction==
[[File:THE-MAGIC-Negro.jpg|right|360px]]
The magical negro is typically "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by [[discrimination]], disability or social constraint," often a janitor or prisoner.<ref name="Hicks">{{cite journal|first=Heather J. |last = Hicks | journal = Camera Obscura | title= Hoodoo Economics: White Men's Work and Black Men's Magic in Contemporary American Film |publisher=Camera Obscura |volume=18 |issue=2 |date=[[2003-09-01]] |pages= 27-55 |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-24435280_ITM |accessdate=2007-02-03|archiveurl=https://archive.is/1NmlE|archivedate=2013-01-02}}</ref> He has no past; he simply appears one day to help the [[White people|white]] protagonist.<ref name="ejumpcut">{{cite journal | url= http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc45.2002/colombe/ |title= White Hollywood’s new Black boogeyman |first= Audrey | last = Colombe | issue = 45 | work = Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media | month = October | year = 2002 | accessdate = 2006-12-03 }}</ref> He is the black stereotype, "prone to criminality and laziness."<ref>{{cite book|title=Contemporary Patterns of Politics, Praxis, and Culture | first = Georgia Anne | last = Persons |pages= p. 137 | location = [[New Brunswick, New Jersey|New Brunswick, NJ]] | publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2005 |isbn = 141280468X | oclc = 56510401 }}</ref> To counterbalance this, he has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not the sort of thing one typically encounters."<ref name="ejumpcut" /> He is patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and is "closer to the earth."<ref name="strangehorizons" />

The magical negro serves as a plot device to help the protagonist get out of trouble, typically through helping the white character recognize his own faults and overcome them.<ref name="strangehorizons" /> In this way, the magical negro is similar to the ''Deus ex machina'';<ref>A plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is generally to resolve an otherwise irresolvable plot situation, to surprise the audience, to bring the tale to a happy ending or act as a comedic device.</ref> a simple way for the protagonist to overcome an obstacle almost entirely through outside help. Although he has magical powers, his "magic is ostensibly directed toward helping and enlightening a white male character."<ref name="Hicks" /> It is this feature of the magical negro that some people find most troubling. Although the character seems to be showing African-Americans in a positive light, he is still ultimately subordinate to [[European-Americans]]. He is also regarded as an exception, allowing white America to "like individual black people but not black culture."<ref>{{cite book|title=Black Magic: White Hollywood and African American Culture | first = Krin | last = Gabbard |pages=p. 173 | location = [[New Brunswick, New Jersey|New Brunswick, NJ]] | publisher=Rutgers University Press |year= 2004|isbn = 081353383X | oclc = 53215708}}</ref>

To save the white protagonist, however, he would do anything, including sacrificing himself, as Sidney Poitier portrays in ''The Defiant Ones'', considered by some as the prototypical magical Negro movie.<ref name="strangehorizons" /> Note that Poitier's character is also saved by the white protagonist, played by Tony Curtis.

==Examples==
[[File:Uncle Remus from the (now banned) Disney movie Song of the South (1946) is the model of the Magical Negro in the USA.jpg|thumb|350px|Lovable [[negro]] freedman (former [[slave]]) ''Uncle Remus'' (James Baskett) from the (now banned) [[Disney]] movie "[[Song of the South]]" (1946) is the model of the magical negro in the [[USA]].]]
Examples of magical negroes as published by social commentators include:

* Uncle Remus (James Baskett) in the film ''[[Song of the South]]'' (1946)
* Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier) in the film ''The Defiant Ones'' (1958)
* The magical negro is a recurring archetype in novels by author Stephen King:
** Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) in ''The Shining'' (1977), and in both the 1980 film adaptation (Scatman Crothers) and the 1997 TV miniseries (Melvin Van Peebles)
** Mother Abagail in ''The Stand'' (1978), and the 1994 TV adaptation (Ruby Dee)
** John Coffey in ''The Green Mile'' (1996), and the 1999 film adaptation (Michael Clarke Duncan)
* Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) in the film ''Ghost'' (1990)
* Cash (Don Cheadle) in the film ''The Family Man'' (2000)
* Bagger Vance (Will Smith) in the film ''The Legend of Bagger Vance'' (2000)
* Gloria Dump (Cicely Tyson) in the film ''Because of Winn-Dixie'' (2005)

Note, however, that black characters with apparent supernatural powers who are portrayed as independent, who have a level of power roughly equivalent to that of other characters, and who are not subservient to whites — such as Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) in ''[[Star Wars]]'' and Storm (Halle Berry) in the ''X-Men'' — are not usually considered weakened magical negroes; nor are helpful non-white characters without some magical or fantastical element.<ref name="blackcommentator" />

However, the common repetitive trend remains — that all these non-white characters are still not the main protagonists (heroes) in their storylines. Hence, the definition of the magical negro may also include non-white protagonists who continue to be teamed up with a white hero as well. The concern is that the magical negro may still be covertly used as a subordinate character to white protagonists. Even though they may play a central figure in a storyline, they are portrayed as being unable to solve challenges without the involvement of a white associate.<ref name="blackcommentator" />

Several commentators perceive Morgan Freeman's portrayal of God in ''Bruce Almighty'' and ''Evan Almighty'' as an example of the magical negro archetype. However, since God is not a character created by the author and has neither race nor gender, a person of any [[race]] or [[gender]] could also be selected to perform the role, like Alanis Morissette in ''Dogma'' (although one commentator asserts that "Chris Rock’s Thirteenth Apostle in Dogma is one example.")

==Obama the Magic Negro-Gate==

David Ehrenstein, a liberal writer with a secular [[Jewish]] father with [[Polish]] ancestors and a half [[African-American]] mother was, wrote an opinion piece on 19 March 2007 in the ''Los Angeles Times'' called "Obama the 'Magic Negro.'" He argued that whites, according to sociologists, stereotype [[blacks]] as "dangerous." But whites consider [[Barack Obama]] accessible, likeable and "benign." This, according to Ehrenstein, explains Obama's "crossover" appeal. The article insults whites, by accusing them of voting for Obama merely to assuage their own guilt. The article produced virtually no outcry.

: ''"But it's clear that Obama also is running for an equally important ''unelected'' office, in the province of the popular imagination—the 'Magic Negro.' [...] He's there to assuage [[white guilt]] over the role of slavery and [[racial segregation]] in American history [...] The senator's famously stem-winding stump speeches have been drawing huge crowds to hear him talk of uniting rather than dividing. A praiseworthy goal. Consequently, even the mild criticisms thrown his way have been waved away, "magically." He used to smoke, but now he doesn't; he racked up a bunch of delinquent parking tickets, but he paid them all back with an apology. And hey, is looking good in a bathing suit a bad thing? [...] Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him."''<ref>David Ehrenstein: [https://www.latimes.com/la-oe-ehrenstein19mar19-story.html "Obama the 'Magic Negro'"], Los Angeles Times, 2007</ref>

The column received world-wide attention and discussion, especially in the news media and in talk radio. [[Rush Limbaugh]] aired a song parody called [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZyPaivOARM "Barack, the Magic Negro"], sung by Paul Shanklin impersonating [[Al Sharpton]] and based on the Peter, Paul, and Mary song "Puff, the Magic Dragon". Limbaugh also referred to the 2008 presidential candidate as the "magic negro" several times during his radio broadcast, each time prefacing the reference by explaining that the title came from Ehrenstein and/or the ''LA Times''.

: ''Chip Saltsman, a candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee, sent the song on a CD with 40 other songs, in a [[Christmas]] mailer to committee members. Doesn't the mailer, asked several cable news programs, expose the Republicans -- yet again -- for their tone deafness on the issue of race? CNN host Anderson Cooper asked about the term "[[Negro]]." Isn't it pejorative? Never mind the parody actually satirized [[Al Sharpton]]. The song implies that Sharpton hoped against an Obama victory, for it crushes Sharpton's argument about America's alleged institutional [[racism]], a force so potent in a country so racist that Obama could not win. An Obama win threatens to reduce the significance of Sharpton-like black leaders. And never mind a black liberal -- who started the whole thing -- called Obama a "Negro." When will the GOP -- on the issue of race -- go on the offense? After all, for 100 years, the Democratic Party showed its tone deafness to the rights of blacks. Democrats opposed the 13th Amendment (freeing the slaves), the 14th Amendment (making ex-slaves citizens) and the 15th Amendment (that, on paper at least, gave blacks the right to vote). Democrats founded the [[Ku Klux Klan]] -- some even call it the "terrorist wing of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]." And a greater percentage of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] than Democrats voted for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. Alabama Gov. George "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" Wallace was a Democrat. Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox, who as a restaurateur, left pick handles hanging on the walls to provide customers recourse in the event an uppity black tried to enter his restaurant. He was a Democrat. Arkansas Gov. Orville Faubus attempted, in 1957, to prevent the integration of Little Rock High School. He was a Democrat. Bull Connor, the commissioner of public safety for Birmingham, Ala., turned water hoses and dogs on [[civil rights]] activists. He was a Democrat.''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20231015210041/https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/obama_the_magic_negrogate.html Obama the Magic Negro-Gate]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Mark Twain]]
*[[Stereotypes]]
*[[Noble savage]]

==External link==
*{{cite web |url= http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/magic_negro/ |title= "magic Negro" definition from Double Tongued Dictionary |accessdate=2007-10-04}}
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfxVkLhlu5s Barack Obama The Magic Negro] song -- a parody of Puff, the Magic Dragon.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Negroids]]
[[Category:Black culture, history, and stereotypes]]
[[Category:Mass media]]
[[Category:Afro-american]]
[[Category:Barack Obama]]