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Jack’s Back: My Take On The New Yorker Joint w/ NPR Audio

Started by baratunde aka jack turner · 11 months ago

cross-posted to baratunde.com

My people, it has been a while. Apparently a brotha cannot take a vacation without major ish going down! Jesse Jackson is crazy. Tony Snow is dead. Phil Gramm let slip McCain’s true economic idiocy. And the New Yorker has generated more comments here than any other post.

The first media request I got ... Continue reading »

30 comments

  • CraigHickman

    11 months ago

    reply
  • rikyrah

    11 months ago

    It was hilarious
    reply
  • Slave Revolt

    11 months ago

    Jack, I listened to you on the radio program--well done!

    I love your blog and have a familiarity of your partner, Rikyah, from The Field.

    With respect to the cartoon, I feel as though I am the odd-man-out here: I thought it was damned funny from the get-go. To me it simply puts into relief the absurd delusions about Barack and Michelle that have been harbored and intensified by some of the far right..

    Yes, I can see that some slower folk here in the US will not be able to critically engage with this satire, and they might see this as a confirmation of the lies. But now is the time to face and rebuke these delusions. Better now than in October.

    I have every confidence that Obama will win in November, because of his natural skill as a politican, and because he has better ideas.

    Call me naive, but I think we have come to the point in US history when having better ideas and political instincts trumps having genetic roots to Africa. No, we are not 'post-racial'--but as a country the US people have made progress.

    However, I do understand the fears expressed by many folks that some of the US public would take this in a more literal, non-ironic fashion. But, again, to me this cartoon mocks these racist, xenophobic delusions.

    No, I don't think that this is a white, upper-class, educated, liberal thing--to me this is simply an urbane intelligence thing.

    Indeed, I think that this cartoon and its discussion will go far toward showing that the racialized stero-types and delusions harbored by the far right are totally ignorant and rooted in paranoid fear. This is an innoculation of sorts.

    However, I can relate to the fears of many folks commenting on this blog--because, hey, racism is still alive and well here in the US. The corporate media perpetuates it, and it serves the interests of divide and rule strategies.

    But, again, I think that this cartoon serves the function of discrediting some of the paranoid delusions that hold sway.
    reply
  • CraigHickman

    11 months ago

    reply
  • kenyaw

    11 months ago

    Craig,
    Thanks for the link. I think THAT cartoon made it's point perfectly.

    It would be one thing if the only people saying dumb and/or ignorant ish were a bunch of "bama's", that we only saw when the newscams hit the streets, but the people perpetuating these ideas are journalist, analyst, newscasters, congressmen and women, radio host with 20 million listeners(a lot of whom are professional people).
    So, it rather misses the mark. The average non-white person views most black people in a way that was portrayed on the cover.
    But I guess a group of white guys in Manhattan would not understand that part.
    reply
  • GreenLadyHere

    11 months ago

    kenyaw: Co-signing, especially on the second paragraph.
    reply
  • CraigHickman

    11 months ago

    "I don't suppose you've, by any chance, have seen the cover of the latest issue of The New Yorker magazine, which is, you know, a huge thing. It's got Obama in his Muslim dress with a turban, and he's there with his wife. His wife has a "mad at the world" afro, circa 1968, she -- she's got bandoliers and an assault weapon, and there in their fireplace is burning the American flag. The New Yorker finally got it right,"

    - G. Gordon Liddy.

    from Media Matters

    ::

    Like it, don't like it, defend it, bash it.

    The effect of the cover will not be a good one for Barack Obama.

    Meantime, it's sold out in most outlets in Maine already and it's for sale for up to $1,200 on ebay.

    The New Yorker owner is doing the happy dance.
    reply
  • msmartin

    11 months ago

    That was the point.
    reply
  • Jay

    11 months ago

    Any joke/satire that has to be explained is never good. People like what the like, most won't read the article, but if you're in agreement with that image, it will just be plastered on walls, dorm rooms, and personal studies everywhere.

    $1,200 on ebay? Really tho'? Its a freakin' collectors item? Damn.
    reply
  • pjamma

    11 months ago

    I had to check this out . It is going for about $15 - $19 an issue with the exception of the person that bought 50 copies for $4500 ($90 per issue).
    reply
  • Booky

    11 months ago

    Welcome back Jack! I agree with your defense of the New Yorker cover, what the media did was make the cover the issue so people wouldn't bother to read the content of the article. The lesson in this should be don't judge a book by it's cover and don't fall for the Rope a Dope.
    reply
  • CraigHickman

    11 months ago

    Good to see you, Jack.

    The "article", if that's what you want to call that half-truth, is one of the most popular reads in the issue.

    Hope you have a great vacation.
    reply
  • caligirl

    11 months ago

    "When Malia and Sasha get cornrows, this country will lose its ever-lovin mind and ask, “Are the Obama children gang bangers??”

    close to it. when that access hollywood interview aired, there was a lot of 'analysis' that the interview was in poor form...how the obamas shouldn't have allowed it. malia was wearing cornrows for that interview. hmmmm....
    reply
  • Nick Renkoski

    11 months ago

    So G. Gordon Liddy thinks the cartoon is accurate. Who wants a convicted felon connected with Watergate as a political ally? Anyone?

    Welcome back, Jack. More often than not, you're posts read my mind, and this one was almost scary. It will be interesting to see the dialogue the country has from this point forward.
    reply
  • -ck-

    11 months ago

    Pam Spaulding had a post at OpenLeft, that went after the Angela Davis fro in the cover.

    http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6947

    I think the whole thing is in bad taste, but is more offensive for the unconscious racism than anything else. My 2 cent comment:

    It occurred to me why The New Yorker failed to recognize the problems with this cover. Most of The New Yorker's cartoons satirize clueless affluent white folk -- they poke fun at themselves and their readership.

    In that light, the editors saw this cover as a compliment -- they thought they were being ironic about one of their own. But as African-Americans, the Obamas will never be part of the affluent white tribe. The state of race relations in America preclude that from happening.

    That the editors of The New Yorker couldn't see the racism in this cover is evidence of their cluelessness, not of malice.


    Part of it's the whole cultural sensitivity thing -- humor and style that work within a group can come across as condescending and offensive when copied by someone outside the group.

    Short answer -- tread lightly and try not to offend, when visiting someone else's house. The New Yorker primary sin in this is insensitivity, and a lack of awareness of how they were being insensitive, and how people might be offended.
    reply
  • rikyrah

    11 months ago

    I pointed out in my post that the Obamas are NOT White. You can't do this 'smartass bullshit, oh aren't we so cute' mess with BLACK PEOPLE.

    America doesn't roll like that.
    reply
  • kenyaw

    11 months ago

    Jack,
    Welcome back. I really enjoyed the interview. Really.
    I thought that the most poignant statement was that there was no one there to inform the cartoonist or the editor that, um, hello this is not funny, because it is too real.
    The images depicted on the cover were not just stereotypes about the Mr. & Mrs. Obama. We all know that photo cuts deep into the stereotypes that black people have to fight against everyday.
    -Black women are angry, loud, aggressive, and will fight you
    -Black who speak out against bad govt policy are conniving, hustlers, anti-American,
    kill whitey Muslims…Just like
    Malcolm X
    -Professional black people are just pretending. They are not really that polished
    They are all really the same. Some just better a putting on a good impersonation of
    white people
    -And the fear… “Go check on the black people, because there is no telling what they
    are in the break-room plotting”
    The list goes on.
    My point is that even if you are a high minded “progressive”, you would have not believe any of the usual stereotypes about black people as a whole, in order to truly look at the cover and say, “Oh my how ridiculous.” We are not there yet as a country. Remember, Manhattan Democrat, Harriet Christian?
    reply
  • CraigHickman

    11 months ago

    The Spook Who Sat By the Door lives in the imagination of many, many people. Unfortunately, not all of them are non-Black. I just heard some Black man on MSNBC say that Barack was a Trojan Horse.
    reply
  • kenyaw

    11 months ago

    Craig,
    you have got to be kidding me.
    Like you said the other day...Lawd have mercy!
    What is supposed to be in the horse?
    The Nation of Islam or the Jihadist?
    Oh, or the fried chicken eating reverends wit a bunch of loud sangin big ole black womens?
    reply
  • RonnieB

    11 months ago

    Well said, Kenya.
    reply
  • kenyaw

    11 months ago

    RonnieB,
    Umm, thanks. My comment could have benefited from more proofing. I hope that most can still understand my point.
    reply
  • NO ID

    11 months ago

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/15/a-new-...

    equal time for the mccains....i'm sorry i cracked up immediately. since the point of satire is truth, i'd say this one worked.
    reply
  • GreenLadyHere

    11 months ago

    No ID: I believe that "mcancient's" second reference to Chec.[a non-existent country] is in the same article. However, in the interest of attempting to look like I know what I'm doing, I'm providing this link:
    www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/14/mccain-refere...
    The article is by Rachel Weiner in case my "link" doesn't work. :>)

    My point also is to make a caption:
    "What did you expect from me when I was 894th in a class of 899?"
    O.K. I know. I need to keep my "day job". :>) :>) :>)
    reply
  • Bob

    11 months ago

    It would be a good thing is 15% of the voting public did not already believe what the cover depicted, and, rather badly at that, to be true. The average voter is not going to be reading the New Yorker for information on who to vote for, so, bad taste, and, more harm than debunking any myths.

    Tony Snow? Good riddance, and, say hey to Helms and, maybe ya'll can both figure out a way to keep cool down there with Satan.
    reply
  • Glossolalia Black

    11 months ago

    Michael Richards is not Bill Hicks. Boy howdy to that.
    reply
  • Kat

    11 months ago

    The jibjab video was pretty funny, all right - but as a former black person (long story), I thought the cartoon was in terrible taste, if somewhat clever satire. I've recently read the first novel written by an African American - Clotel, the president's daughter - a fictionalized account of Thomas Jefferson's child by his slave and am now reading "Inheriting the Trade," a true story of a white family in Rhode Island that learned of and researched their family's horrid history as one of the largest slave traders of the 18th and 19th centuries. I remain despondent about the state of race relations in this country. Both are highly recommended but will REALLY make you angry and sad. How can we ever overcome this tragic legacy and all it still causes in human suffering today?
    This is my first post here but I'm sure glad I found you.
    reply
  • jelana

    11 months ago

    My view is that you cannot take the same image which one would expect to see on a Neo-Nazi or KKK magazine and slap it on a supposedly liberal magazine and call it satire. If it is considered racist on one, it is racist on all. I could understand , as has been stated before, if the image was in a bubble showing the thoughts or the dream of the right wing, gun totting,shot drinking white ethnic voter.
    reply
  • jelana

    11 months ago

    Sorry, I did not see the Tom Toles spoof before I made my comment.
    reply
  • TruthSeeker

    11 months ago

    Welcome back, Jack.

    I guess you don't subscribe to the Capitalist utopia spoken of in folklore, by people like Karmi and D.
    reply
  • TruthSeeker

    11 months ago

    deleted
    reply
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