The Washington Post has put out an article (subscription may be req'd) about the concern that some have for a white man portraying the man who could be our first black president.
The brunt of the criticism comes from Maureen Ryan and Hannah pool. The latter is a black writer for the British Gaurdian. She has a blog post up that accuses SNL of employing blackface and says that minstrels come to mind.
SNL defends the Fauxbama, Fred Armisen, who is of white and asian background, saying other blacks have been portrayed by whites successfully in the shows history without being racist. For example, Darrell Hammond impersonated Rev. Jesse Jackson.
"Did SNL go beyond the pale?" My opinion and a poll beneath the fold.
First, by way of disclosure let me say that A) I'm white, B) I am an Obama supporter who will vote and caucus for him on March 4th and C) I haven't thought SNL was funny in some time (I did watch it this last weekend and my opinion didn't change).
As for Armisen playing Obama, I personally thought he did a good job. I didn't find the skit that funny and really didn't see the Texas debate as particularly biased, but I thought his Obama impersonation was pretty solid. He did wear makeup to make his face darker, but come on, it wasn't "blackface" and makeup is often applied to change a likeness in skit comedy. There was no intent at racism and the character didn't come off negatively. The piece was obviously aimed at the media more than at Obama himself.
That said, I understand the history of this country and how a black person might well be offended at the idea of a non-black portraying who is certain to be an historical figure. I am a white man and I might lack the sensitivity to truly assess the situation.
These are the type of questions that will arise more and more throughout Obama's candidacy and throughout his presidency, assuming all goes according to plan March 4th and November 4th.
So I get to the true raison d'être of this diary, your opinions. Was it racist, inappropriate, or not?
(Also, this is my first diary. Tried to follow all the rules as outlined but if I failed at some point feel free to rip me a new one in the comments.)