It seems the Baracka Flocka Flames controversy has heated up since the October 26 publication of Prez N the Hood: A Hip-Hop Parody Stirs Up Issues in the New York Times (video below; article requires log-in).

America’s foremost old cranky black man, Stanley Crouch, had nothing nice to say about Baracka Flocka Flames in his recent column for TheRoot.com. He dismissed the video as ‘minstrelsy.’

That shouldn’t surprise you, of course. According to Crouch, anything hip-hop — even if it’s satirical or in parody form — is What’s Wrong With Negroes. Rather than rebut Crouch myself, I will point you to Bomani Jones’ post Stanley Crouch, I think I’m on to you….

Now I am one who thinks Baracka Flocka Flames’ “Head of the State,” is f#cking hilarious, bordering on brilliant. Part of the humor for me is that I imagine the Obamas are Grade-A sh#t-talkers behind closed doors. You see glimpses of this sense of humor when President Obama speaks. You saw it when Michelle Obama was cracking on her husband’s dirty sock habits. So I can totally see Barack Obama making off color jokes along these lines for sheer sh#ts and giggles.* Plus, James Davis does a killer job of imitating Obama’s diction, making every utterance of “nigga,” downright funny. But that’s not the only humor I see inreason I love this piece.

“Head of the State,” for those who don’t closely follow hip-hop, is based on Waka Flocka Flame‘s “Hard in the Paint.”

Yeah.

Let’s just say that if Stanley Crouch titled his next column “Waka Flocka Flame is What’s Wrong With Negroes,” I will heartily co-sign. Waka Flocka Flame not only has a stupid-a## name, but he has also said he’s in it for the money, not the craft. And if we’re talking about topical content, <ebonics>this n*gga just stay ig’nant</ebonics>. This video, as Jones points out, fits much more closely with Crouch’s idea of minstrelsy, or the performance of stereotype for commercial gain.

“Head of the State” plays off the imagery and lyrics of “Hard in the Paint,” and by doing so, I think it becomes a multi-layered, satirical critique of class and race stereotypes and hip-hop video tropes.

Let’s think about this: Barack Obama was largely raised in Kansas. He not only attended college, but has degrees from Columbia University and Harvard Law — two Ivy League universities. Michelle Obama is similarly educated. So the idea of BHO unironically thug posing and rapping about his “main bitch,” and having his “own SK” is absurd. It is completely, utterly, and absolutely absurd.

And that absurdity makes “Head of the State” uncomfortable for the thinking viewer.

My second and third reactions were “Wow, this is rife with stereotypes, innit?” and “Sh*t, the tea baggers will have a field day with this.” And I suspect much of the criticism of “Head of the State,” from Crouch and others is related to W.W.W.P.T. — “What Will White People Think?” As Jones wrote, the truth is that, for better or worse, the mass media is America’s only introduction to black people.

But if you believe it’s plausible that a middle-class raised, currently upper-class, highly-educated black man, particularly the president of the United States would be chilling on the front steps of an abandoned house in a dangerous neighborhood, smoking Newports and dancing with a bottle of Smirnoff while surrounded by persons of questionable repute, I must ask who clings more tightly to the black-man-as-thug stereotype — you or Baracka Flocka?

And that’s why I love this “Head of the State,” video. It sticks a finger square in the eye of fake thug rappers who pimp gangster imagery for profit. And it sticks a finger in the eye of those who see Ivy League educated black people in the White House and manage to reduce them — and by extension all of us — to a narrow, negative stereotype.

Related:

Jay Smooth’s Raw Footage “I Forgot He Was Black.”

*Okay, raise your hand if an inappropriate HNIC joke has crossed your mind January 20, 2009.

It’s absurd to expect every piece of black art to reflect everyone’s black experience, but that’s exactly what many black artists are expected to do. This discourages black artists from taking the kind of risks that make what they’re creating worth consuming, because unless you want to draw someone’s ire for “making black people look bad” or “reinforcing stereotypes” you have to make something, well, boring. The paradox is that if we had more commercially successful black art, there would be less of a crisis of representation and more opportunity to make books and movies that would offer more insight into the diversity of the black experience in America. It would also mean more and better art.

From The Problem With Black Movies Is That There Aren’t Enough Of Them. (Via @negrophile)

Also see: On black folks and the movie “Precious”

I did not watch it then. I tend to get very pissed off and physically affected when folks make broad, offensive generalizations about me and mine and my netfam confirmed that it would probably piss me off. But I did watch when Lynne played a portion of the clip to give us some context for the panel.

And you know what? It was kind of funny. And then I remembered that it was called “Black Tech Blogger.” It became a lot less funny then. I took some time to think about why. I discussed it with other members of South by Southwest Black Student Union. And I wanted to explain to y’all and to Loren Feldman why he became the target of a whole lot of angry black folks.

You see, he didn’t call it the:

• “Hood Tech Blogger,”
• “Pimp Tech Blogger,”
• “Gangsta Tech Blogger,”
• “Thug Tech Blogger,”
• “Wigger / Wigga* Tech Blogger,”

No, he called it the “Black Tech Blogger.” By using Black, it became a simple rehashing of stereotypes. By using Black, Feldman reduced the diversity of black Americans into ‘niggas’ and ‘hoes.’

Had Loren even gone with ‘TechWigga.com’ — which is what it is, in my opinion — I suspect we all would have thought it 7th-level hilarious and understood it as a white man’s parody of white people who try to ‘act black.‘ As it stands now, it’s simply a white man parodying black people. And yeah, while ‘we‘ — meaning the Exceptional Negroes on that panel and those that Feldman counts as friends — may not have been who he intended to parody, when you use a term as broad as ‘black’ that’s what happens.

Then add insult to insult, when Twanna asked during the panel (roughly) ‘What onus do people have to seek out black tech bloggers (or what-have-you) if they’re wondering where they are?’ Feldman’s response was ‘None. Look, I’m a comedian. I’m trying to gain traction.’

Even with the slack-cutting that goes with being unexpectedly put on the spot that was a bad answer. After all, he asked the question.

It’s a doubly bad answer since Feldman asked the question in the summer of 2007. At least three of us have been blogging about technology since 2004 or earlier (2002 in my case). Most of us are also visibly and publicly black, and have been a part of panels and presentations on technology topics.

Was he just not paying attention? Or maybe he’s just comfortable asking questions and posting responses that make him appear clueless, ignorant, and more than a little bit racist.

I don’t know the man or his work beyond that video, so I can’t and won’t label him personally. But I think I’m on safe ground when I say Feldman f*cked up with that video. And I hope eventually he will own up.

Possibly related: ebogjohnson’s instructive post and diagram “Should I Use Blackface On My Blog?”

*I have no qualms with the word ‘wigger.’ I find that people who get slapped with the label are usually acting in accordance with the ‘nigger’ stereotype rather than an actual, authentic, respectful version of blackness.