Barack Obama and the Jim Crow Media: The Return of the Nigger Breakers

by Ishmael Reed

Overview

Angry and hilarious, this collection of satirical essays about Barack Obama confronts the racial tensions that have dogged the president during his campaign and first year in office. Some of the pieces include "Ma and Pa Clinton Flog Uppity Black Man," "Crazy Rev. Wright," and "Obama Scolds Black Fathers, Gets Bounce in Polls." Previously unpublished material also addresses the controversies around Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Tiger Woods.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780981240572
Publisher:	Baraka Books
Publication date:	07/23/2010
Pages:	190
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Ishmael Reed is an important American poet, novelist, playwright, and song writer who has taught at Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and the University of California–Berkeley. He is author of Japanese by Spring, The Terrible Twos, and Writin' Is Fightin': Thirty-seven Years of Boxing on Paper. He lives in Oakland, California.

Table of Contents

Foreword 13

Introduction 29

Goin' Old South On Obama

Ma and Pa Clinton Flog Uppity Black Man 41

The Crazy Rev. Wright 61

Springtime for Benedict and Sarah 73

The Big Let Down

Obama Scolds Black Fathers, Gets Bounce In Polls 101

McCain Gurgles in the Slime 111

Boogiemen

How Lee Atwater Perfected the GOP's Appeal to Racism 117

The Promised Land?

Morning in Obamerica 127

A Tale of Two Callahans The Irish Black Thing 133

Finally Came The Inaugural

The Inaugural and My Coffee Pot Search 141

How Henry Louis Gates Got Ordained

As The Nation's "Leading Black Intellectual"

Post-Race Scholar Yells Racism 159

Why The Media And The "General Public" Bought Sgt. Crowley's Lie

Let's All Have a Beer 171

Obama Souljahs On, Africa This Time 185

From Jubilation at Election Night...

To Cries of Kill Him 193

Afterword: Obama, Tiger, Vick, MJ, etc. Is There Any Cure of Negro Mania? 219

Appendix: Poll shows the Jim Crow Media is Barack Obama's Chief Opponent 245

What People are Saying About This

Jill Nelson

Brilliant!--(Jill Nelson, award-winning novelist and journalist)

Werner Sollers

I hope his book will lead to more journalistic self-reflection and intellectual honesty.--(Werner Sollers, Harvard University)

From the Publisher

"There is brutal candour in Reed's argument, which often feels refreshing in light of the euphemisms and platitudes typically expressed in both polite discourse and the media's self-scrutiny .  .  . Whether or not one agrees with Reed, one can only be entertained by his gleeful barbs and edgy turns-of-phrase. He names names and shames with derision."  —Montreal Review of Books

“Among American writers, Ishmael Reed is probably the one whose sensibility is closest to jazz.” —New York Times

“The brightest contributor to American satire since Mark Twain.”  —Nation

"Reed’s prose style resembles the youthful Ali’s ring style.” —New York Times Book Review

"Brilliant!"  —Jill Nelson, award-winning novelist and journalist

"I hope his book will lead to more journalistic self-reflection and intellectual honesty."  —Werner Sollers, Harvard University

“Just when you think that Reed is exaggerating, or being one-dimensional in his analysis of racial issues, he’ll open another page of American history and show you something new.”  —David Homel, Rover Arts

"Reed's writing is incisive and astute; impassioned and amusing. He fully researches his topics and makes a decisive stand based on the facts, as he sees it. . . . An unabashed mixture of political polemic, scathing wit and cultural commentary — a jazz-like riff that is purely Ishmael Reed." —phati'tude Literary Magazine (June 1, 2011)

Editorial Reviews

"There is brutal candour in Reed's argument, which often feels refreshing in light of the euphemisms and platitudes typically expressed in both polite discourse and the media's self-scrutiny .  .  . Whether or not one agrees with Reed, one can only be entertained by his gleeful barbs and edgy turns-of-phrase. He names names and shames with derision."  —Montreal Review of Books

“Among American writers, Ishmael Reed is probably the one whose sensibility is closest to jazz.” —New York Times

“The brightest contributor to American satire since Mark Twain.”  —Nation

"Reed’s prose style resembles the youthful Ali’s ring style.” —New York Times Book Review

"Brilliant!"  —Jill Nelson, award-winning novelist and journalist

"I hope his book will lead to more journalistic self-reflection and intellectual honesty."  —Werner Sollers, Harvard University

“Just when you think that Reed is exaggerating, or being one-dimensional in his analysis of racial issues, he’ll open another page of American history and show you something new.”  —David Homel, Rover Arts

"Reed's writing is incisive and astute; impassioned and amusing. He fully researches his topics and makes a decisive stand based on the facts, as he sees it. . . . An unabashed mixture of political polemic, scathing wit and cultural commentary -- a jazz-like riff that is purely Ishmael Reed." —phati'tude Literary Magazine (June 1, 2011)

From the Publisher