Magical Negro

The magical negro (sometimes called the mystical negro or magic negro) is a supporting, often mystical stock character in fiction who, by use of special insight or powers, helps the white protagonist get out of trouble. The word negro, now considered by many as archaic and offensive, is used intentionally to suggest that the archetype is a racist throwback, an update of the "Sambo" and "savage other" stereotypes. Spike Lee popularized the term, deriding the archetype of the "super-duper magical negro" in 2001 while discussing films with students at Washington State University and at Yale University.

The magical negro is a subset of the more generic numinous negro, a term coined by Richard Brookhiser in National Review. The latter term refers to saintly, respected or heroic black protagonists or mentors.

The magical negro in fiction

The magical negro is typically but not always "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by discrimination, disability or social constraint," often a janitor or prisoner. He has no past; he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist. He sometimes fits the black stereotype, "prone to criminality and laziness." To counterbalance this, he has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not the sort of thing one typically encounters." He is patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and is "closer to the earth."

The magical negro serves as a plot device to help the protagonist get out of trouble, typically through helping the white character recognize his own faults and overcome them. Although he has magical powers, his "magic is ostensibly directed toward helping and enlightening a white male character." It is this feature of the magical negro that some people find most troubling. Although from a certain perspective the character may seem to be showing blacks in a positive light, he is still ultimately subordinate to whites. He is also regarded as an exception, allowing white America to "like individual black people but not black culture."

To save the white protagonist, however, he would do anything, including sacrificing himself, as Sidney Poitier portrays in The Defiant Ones, the prototypical magical Negro movie. Note that Poitier's character is also saved by the white protagonist, as the two help each other throughout the film.

The magical negro is a recurring theme in Chinese literature from the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD). Known as "Kun-lun" (崑崙, an ancient Chinese term that denoted all dark-skinned races), these African slaves were portrayed as having supernatural strength and the power to invade people's dreams to reveal great knowledge. One tale known as the Kun-lun slave mentions a slave leaping over high walls while laden with the weight of two people in order to rescue his master's lover. Other tales mention them swimming to the bottom of raging rivers to retrieve heavenly treasures for their lord. The color of their skin was believed to be a medicinal balm that could be wiped off and used to cure a person's illness.

Examples

Uncle Remus in Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation, 1881

Examples of magical negroes as published by social commentators include:

• Uncle Remus (James Baskett) in the film Song of the South (1946)
• Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier) in the film The Defiant Ones (1958)
  • Also Poitier in To Sir, With Love, Lilies of the Field and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, the last "particularly striking in this regard, as it posits miscegenation without evoking sex. (Talk about magic!)" Quote from Ehrenstein.
• The magical negro is a recurring archetype Stephen King's novels as well as some adaptations of his work:
  • Dick Hallorann in The Shining (1977), and in both the 1980 film adaptation (Scatman Crothers) and the 1997 TV miniseries (Melvin Van Peebles)
  • Mother Abagail in The Stand (1978), and the 1994 TV adaptation (Ruby Dee)
  • John Coffey in The Green Mile (1996), and the 1999 film adaptation (Michael Clarke Duncan)
• Moses the Clock Man (Bill Cobbs) in the film The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
• Cash (Don Cheadle) in the film The Family Man (2000)
• Bagger Vance (Will Smith) in the film The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
• Gloria Dump (Cicely Tyson) in the film Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)
• God (Morgan Freeman) in the films Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty.
• Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman) in Million Dollar Baby
  • Also Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy, Seven "and the seemingly endless series of films in which he plays ersatz paterfamilias to a white woman bedeviled by a serial killer. But at least he survives, unlike Crothers ...." Quote from Ehrenstein.
• Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) in The Matrix.
• Oracle (Gloria Foster/Mary Alice) in The Matrix.
• Lamont (Guy Torry) in the film American History X.
• The "Blind Seer" (Lee Weaver) and Tommy Johnson (Chris Thomas King) in O Brother, Where Art Thou?Vorlage:Verify credibility

Uses outside of fiction

Examples of the use of the term magical negro as published by commentators in non-fictional contexts include:

• Barack Obama, winner of the 2008 presidential election. Usage of the title "Obama the 'Magic Negro'" by David Ehrenstein for a Los Angeles Times piece later inspired the satirical song "Barack the Magic Negro," written by parodist Paul Shanklin and broadcast on Rush Limbaugh's radio show. It received new attention in late 2008 when it was included on a CD sent by Chip Saltsman, running for chair of the Republican National Committee, to members of the committee.
• David Hampton, con artist. Hampton in real life posed as the son of Sidney Poitier, which story then inspired John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation (play) and (film).

See also

• Noble savage
• Xenocentrism

External links

• "magic Negro" definition from Double Tongued Dictionary. Abgerufen am 4. Oktober 2007.