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Obama and Bush walk into a bar...
Satirizing a black president
Rick Soisson
The glow from Barack Obama’s Election Day victory had not yet faded when Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, stole the spotlight with his reference to Obama as “young, handsome and suntanned.” The Italian press in Italy apparently gave this remark almost as much coverage as Obama’s election itself. Left-wing publications jumped on Berlusconi with both feet, and according to Rachel Donadio in the New York Times, the PM has responded, interestingly, by indicating that such folks don’t understand “irony.”
About the same time, an open Internet site I visit featured an article called “Racist Obama jokes: Can jokes be told about a black president and not be racist?” I’ve also received e-mails from Republican friends that feature Obama on “50-cent” bills: On these counterfeits, the president-elect disappears into the background; only his teeth and eyes are visible.
Such shenanigans will likely persist as real and “false” satirists grapple with the unique problem of walking the tightrope of non-racist but pointed essays, stories, jokes and caricatures of the soon-to-be president. In the past, political cartoons have featured exaggerations of LBJ’s ears, Nixon’s five o’clock shadow, and Reagan’s wrinkles: Obama freely acknowledges that his ears are rather large, so it would seem they’re fair game. But does fair game extend to his lips or somewhat curly hair?
The Berlusconi flap must be an interesting development for an Italian-American observer for this reason: For the past 18 months I have personally heard dozens of people (usually, but not always, African-Americans or women) deliver themselves of one of the following two opinions:
• Americans will surely elect a female president before they elect a black, or…
• Americans will probably elect a black before they elect a woman.
Both of these statements are ipso facto prejudicial remarks, because they assume a widespread prejudice on the part of others. And since the election I’ve heard some Italian-Americans say: “Well, see, we’ll elect a black or a woman before we elect an Italian-American.”
The encouraging symbolism of the election of a partly African-American president hasn’t eliminated this sort of thinking. I would suggest that the coming, sometimes satirical treatment of Obama may well heat up the pot of bubbling prejudice. The satirists won’t (and shouldn’t) go away. So we all need some practice— not in recognizing satire, but in sorting it out from racism in satire’s clothing.
Thus I offer a challenge: Visit Dan Rottenberg’s “Editor’s Notebook,” read his “Obama limericks,” and ask yourself: Are they racist?
Does pointing out mixed parentage by itself amount to racism? There are white people in Kenya, as well as blacks in Kansas.
Everybody needs to send Tony Auth and Signe Wilkinson a good luck card. They’re going to need more than one.
About the same time, an open Internet site I visit featured an article called “Racist Obama jokes: Can jokes be told about a black president and not be racist?” I’ve also received e-mails from Republican friends that feature Obama on “50-cent” bills: On these counterfeits, the president-elect disappears into the background; only his teeth and eyes are visible.
Such shenanigans will likely persist as real and “false” satirists grapple with the unique problem of walking the tightrope of non-racist but pointed essays, stories, jokes and caricatures of the soon-to-be president. In the past, political cartoons have featured exaggerations of LBJ’s ears, Nixon’s five o’clock shadow, and Reagan’s wrinkles: Obama freely acknowledges that his ears are rather large, so it would seem they’re fair game. But does fair game extend to his lips or somewhat curly hair?
The Berlusconi flap must be an interesting development for an Italian-American observer for this reason: For the past 18 months I have personally heard dozens of people (usually, but not always, African-Americans or women) deliver themselves of one of the following two opinions:
• Americans will surely elect a female president before they elect a black, or…
• Americans will probably elect a black before they elect a woman.
Both of these statements are ipso facto prejudicial remarks, because they assume a widespread prejudice on the part of others. And since the election I’ve heard some Italian-Americans say: “Well, see, we’ll elect a black or a woman before we elect an Italian-American.”
The encouraging symbolism of the election of a partly African-American president hasn’t eliminated this sort of thinking. I would suggest that the coming, sometimes satirical treatment of Obama may well heat up the pot of bubbling prejudice. The satirists won’t (and shouldn’t) go away. So we all need some practice— not in recognizing satire, but in sorting it out from racism in satire’s clothing.
Thus I offer a challenge: Visit Dan Rottenberg’s “Editor’s Notebook,” read his “Obama limericks,” and ask yourself: Are they racist?
Does pointing out mixed parentage by itself amount to racism? There are white people in Kenya, as well as blacks in Kansas.
Everybody needs to send Tony Auth and Signe Wilkinson a good luck card. They’re going to need more than one.
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