Authentically Black

I dont know if this has anything to do with the course, but I found it online and thought it might be relevant to our discussions lately. After watching Whiteboyz I began to think about the ways in which a white Rush Limbaugh with this video understands blackness. Now that I am aware that Whiteboyz is a comedy serious film, this parody attacking Obama’s authenticity as a black man seems more problematic. Because Barack is not from the “hood” and does not associate himself with the typical negative story of rags to riches like Al Sharpton or Snoop, Rush Limbaugh thought it would be appropriate to pit Barack Obama and Al Sharpton against each other with these racially tinged verses. Not only does he make Sharpton seem like a bumbling fool but he paints Obama’s success as something undesired in the black community. Limbaugh thinks he has successfully parodied the opposing qualities of Barack and Sharpton, but he was unable to subvert any positive message about race through comedy. I would rather watch the white characters in Whiteboyz misappropriate blackness and hip hop culture than be subjected to Rush Limbaugh’s terrible and offensive attempt at humor.