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The CPAC ‘Founding Fathers’ Rap Performance: Not Racist, But Not Helping

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by Frances Martel | 12:09 pm, February 11th, 2012

» 53 comments

One of the best things about the Conservative Political Action Conference is the apparently buttoned-down atmosphere in which the most memorable stars and names tend to not be the presidential candidates and national figures we see on television every day, but bloggers and artists that work mainly on the internet. One of the worst things about CPAC is, well, exactly the same thing. Take, for instance, this performance of a “founding fathers rap” that, to some, is simply an unfortunately unfunny endeavor, but others are already slamming as racially problematic.

The performance of “Mr. America,” a song by conservative comics and commentators Steven Crowder and Chris Loesch is based on the follow video which debuted on the internet yesterday, of the Founding Fathers returning to America in 2012 and expressing disappointment at what we Americans of today have done to their precious country. Crowder, you may remember from last year’s CPAC, is the Fox News contributor boasting the best Keith Olbermann impression since Ben Affleck. Before watching the performance, take a look at the pretty high-gloss music video:

I preface any opinion of this video by admitting a bias: the entire concept of white people rapping for comedic effect is lost on me. That Natalie Portman Saturday Night Live sketch where she “goes hard”? Does nothing for me. This sketch, with Sarah Palin? Much of the entire discography of The Lonely Island? I just don’t get it. There is nothing inherently funny about the act of white people rapping– you have to put in a little bit more work than that to get a chuckle out of it.

With that out of the way, it is worth noting that much of the criticism they have received is that their work is not funny (except for Wonkette, but they’re a comedy blog as much as a political one), but rather, that it has unfortunate racial implications. So what’s so bad about a couple of guys rapping the Founding Fathers being dismayed at President Obama (who, while not mentioned by name, is certainly the target for at least part of the ire)? Well, much of it has little to do with the original video, but with their performance of the song at CPAC yesterday, where the line “knickers”– clearly meant to sound like a racial epithet, which is apparently meant as a joke– is accompanied by the one visible black man in the room walking out. [Update: Loesch tells us (and Crowder confirms) that the gentleman just happened to walk out temporarily (apparently to the mixing console), and that he "told us he enjoyed it." Loesch adds, "the producer of the song was in the video, was in on the gag and is black."] There is also an elder white lady grooving that is either hilarious or tragic (edit: it is conservative blogger Cynthia Yockey), depending on how much of a glass-half-full type you are about humanity, and a bit of a gratuitous slam in the lyrics on Tyler Perry:

Not the best optics in the world, no– unintended though they apparently were, and as much as it is not the fault of anyone involved with this production that the details of it were taken out of context and no comment from people actually in the room was used in many of the reports that went ahead and reported “knickers” as the full n-word and rolled with the narrative. Not at a CPAC that will be remembered as the one where they kicked out the once-welcome gay conservative group GOProud in lieu of white nationalist groups. And not one where Cal Thomas made a birth control joke about Rachel Maddow, once a respected guest at CPAC. Not at one where the only memorable words from James O’Keefe were “fuck the media.” Even if none of this has anything to do with Crowder and Loesch’s actual video, these issues tend to snowball to form a narrative in the eyes of a media that is already predisposed to looking askance at conservatives– at least, according to many conservatives, who insist they never get the benefit of the doubt. And if conservatives are to live by that philosophy, they have to think stunts like this through if they want to avoid greater media scrutiny. Even if the entire performance was likely meant as a jab against those on the left that accuse everyone on the right of being racist early and often, and it might work well (or disastrously, it’s a matter of taste) in the music video itself, someone should have really known better about how this would play to the world outside of that conference room. In the immortal words of Maebe Fünke, this one, for the left-of-center media, was a freebie.

It is impossible to say how this would have played in a different context, but the fact that the video circulating is their debut performance (and not the actual video) goes to show that maybe there isn’t much to be outraged about in the actual work. Except, of course, the idea that white people rapping is funny.

This post has been edited from its original form to add comment from Loesch and Crowder..

conservatives, CPAC, founding fathers, kind of but not really racist, knickers, Mr. America, Steven Crowder, white rappers

Anonymous

lonely island esque videos stopped being funny after throw it on the ground.
Anonymous

For non-professionals, it isn’t bad.
Anonymous

Thanks for writing a story about something you find neither racist or funny.
Anonymous

Umm, they are pretty good rappers if you ask me. They must listen to rap on a daily basis.
Anonymous

There was nothing funny about that video. Nothing.
Anonymous

Thats cute, “knickers”, nope, they aren’t racists at all. To me is is just simply jaw dropping what conservatives try to get away with while screaming at progressives about calling out utter idiocy. Somehow telling them to cut out their horseshit and quit insulting Blacks, Mexicans, Asians, etc is racist. The person who calls out the racist is the racist one in the world of I-didn’t-graduate-High-School Conservative Logic”.

It all hinges on the fundamental difference between modern conservatives and progressives: actions are less about the actions themselves than who is doing them. People they agree with they view through a more positive lens are given a pass until things get too visible, while the opposite is true for people they view as against them like liberals or a threat to their way of life like minorities. Conservatives are typically pretty nasty towards democrats, having a black democrat for them to all fume at just exacerbated things. This is bringing their subconscious racism that is normally held in check to a head. Obama is pulling moves out of the republican playbook from the 1990s to calm them the **** down, but that doesn’t matter, all they see is a liberal black that somehow threatens them and everything they are and the future of everything. This has caused them to explode in rage and scheme at full tilt to try and destroy this “threat.”

It’s more than just racism, its their fundamental character to act in this insane manner. It is more correctly known as tribalism, a difference in skin color and origin just kicks it into overdrive. This goes deep down into what it means to be a conservative and even fundamental differences in the brain. The good news is that they are near maxed out on crazy and are coming to the point where they can be beaten down. Human evolution has lead to the cunning beating out brute force every time, progressive liberals are fated to win out, over even American style democrats eventually. With the internet the vicious lies spread about successful countries in Europe for propaganda in the pre-information age will turn to shame over how far behind we really are in so many things. Even a vicious brute knows when it has lost; my friends they are burning the candle at both ends with their backs to a cliff. What the Democrats and Obama administration need to do is agitate them just a bit more to get them to do something stupid before the election and mess up Republicans in Congress.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_76F7SAA3N35X4IBY5BGVQML2YM James

Amazing how you once again dig for racial nuggets in people who in no way have an overarching concern with race and ignore the blatant racialist organizations that dot the Democratic Left’s political landscape as invisible entities from your point of view. Say forest for the trees 100 times and then write a story about the racially obsessed NHL, a mirror of the whiteness of the Republican Party. Neither the NHL or the Rep Party have a tacit code that keeps black folks out. Apparently the name “National Association of Black Journalists” is so out front it has you completely buggered.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_76F7SAA3N35X4IBY5BGVQML2YM James

That “tribalism” is not formally declared and organized as is the NAACP and Congressional Black Caucus. The Rep Party supports not one mainstream political construct that is formulated around race and the Left untold scores if not hundreds. How is VDare different from “The Root” in content? I’ll tell you one difference, VDare doesn’t have hotel chain ads and the participation of black celebrities and is owned by the Washington Post. Both suck, one is mainstream run by a friend of President Obama and one is marginalized by the larger “tribe” that has no interest in such things. Once again, the Left accuses a minor racial presence on the Right while excusing a massive racial interest on the Left. Hard to be more blind or hypocritical than that. Stack up facts and see where they lead you. Even the frickin’ YWCA attacks white men fer cryin’ out loud – wake up.
Charles Ulysses Feney

Nothing racist about the Musket drive-by shooting of the Redcoat

It tried to equate black rage with TeaBagger government rejection.

EPIC FAIL
Anonymous

Pretty weak soup even for you Frances.
Maybe you can tell us exactly who found that “racially problematic”.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mary-Bechthold/1380381077 Mary Bechthold

To be fair, I closed my eye’s to really listen to the music without having to look at the silly costumes .
Verdict: They sucked.
Anonymous

The New Conservatism is so pessimistic.
The future is not an advance to the past.
Guess that what escapes them about progressive thought.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Malone/100002475802402 Tim Malone

“in the world of I-didn’t-graduate-High-School Conservative Logic”.

Blacks and latinos are more likely to drop out of high school than other races, they are also more likely to vote for Democrats. So it’s the left that has to worry about the high school dropouts making their arguments.

Plus, your whole last paragraph is full of liberal creationist nonsense. Tribalism is a product of evolution, not conservatism. Cunningness without brute force will get you nowhere, Europeans combined those two to conquer the world. Sub-saharan africans and Aztecs were more than capable of applying brute force, it was the fact that weren’t as cunning as the europeans that got them conquered. But keep up the pseudo-intellectual facade, I’m sure it will impress some fatty on Valentines night!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Malone/100002475802402 Tim Malone

Conservatives have always been pessimistic, it’s the liberals who have been the Utopianites, and that worked real well in the 20th century.
Ben

I’ll be honest,the only thing I learned from this article is in the first music video.
I didn’t know Dana Loesch was…well…hot…for lack of a more SFW word.
I still don’t like her though,cause let’s face it, she’s a mean, crazy broad…google it.
Anonymous

Im thinking the funniest thing about this is that “rap” is somehow labeled as “music” to start with.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Charles-Swann/100003281352784 Charles Swann

Conservatives consistently do something I find really impressive: although I don’t empathize with them at all, they make me feel embarrassed for them. Mazeltov.
Anonymous

Good luck getting your kids/future kids to listen to anything but auto tuned rap. People in places that have more country “music” stations have higher suicide rates! Lovely drunken ramb…. “music” that is.
Anonymous

So know how you can tell someone is racist, there has to be posts on Conservative blogs such as this where the headline is “___________ is not racist”
Pablo

“Dat’s RACIST!!!”

Lather, rinse, repeat.
Pablo

Come on. Everybody know “knickers” is code for n*gger.
Anonymous

America sucks cause it ended slavery and gave every citizen the right to vote. I would love for you Cons to go look up the Whiskey Rebellion.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Theresa-Darklady-Reed/581698361 Theresa ‘Darklady’ Reed

For people who claim to be all about traditional family values and the end of obscenity, they sure toss some words around that get liberals in trouble. “Bitches?” Really? And “knickers” to be funny? Why not toss in a few Jew jokes, too?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1782864288 Joe Dyson

Not ‘Racist’, what planet are you on? What is not racist about ‘N…..’? You idiots…
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NPUP22FNTPVCXRUMWJEURGQGD4 JonasP

This is such cutting edge comedy and satire. for ten year olds
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NPUP22FNTPVCXRUMWJEURGQGD4 JonasP

So the YWCA is part of some massive anti white racist conspiracy? Excuse me if I get confused whether to laugh or feel sorry for you.
Anonymous

It’s 10 years late but a good performance. I wouldn’t do this skit in any other venue besides CPAC. Otherwise, I give it an 8 out of 10?
Ben

I dunno….without Dana Loesh dancing in a bikini it kinda lacks entertainment value if you ask me..
Anonymous

It’s entertaining by CPAC standards I’m sure. Most exciting news from CPAC is that Romney won the straw poll.
Ben

Yea…didn’t see that one coming.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

Live action Hector Heathcote. They’re re-enacting those Saturday morning cartoons that the Tea Party believes were documentaries.
Anonymous

lololololol@racists AGAIN denying racism….its getting old conservatives…The we’re not racist but the naacp, bet and miss black America is argument is all used up…like bernie goldberg said “There’s a strain of bigotry on the right”…………..OWN IT
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_76F7SAA3N35X4IBY5BGVQML2YM James

Go to the Y’s MPLS site, look at upper left, follow fighting racism links below which bring you to white privilege seminars and more. It’s pretty damn clear “empowering women, eliminating racism” isn’t an attack on minority females. “Massive anti-white racist conspiracy” is your own stupid take on it, not mine. Educate yourself then laugh at yourself. It wasn’t me who turned pieces of that site into anti-white, anti-male propaganda.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_76F7SAA3N35X4IBY5BGVQML2YM James

Here’s an article: “Rap Music: Blatantly Racist, Actively Hurting.” That way you won’t have to stretch logic and reality so much. It’ll write itself, trust me.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_76F7SAA3N35X4IBY5BGVQML2YM James

And it’s a complete one-in-million coincidence that the YWCA is one of the sponsors of the “It’s Hard to See Racism When You’re White” billboards that just went up in Duluth, MN.

How about it’s hard to see hockey, the value of education or crime when you’re black campaign? Doesn’t have the same warm cushy feeling does it?
Anonymous

Gotta love people who use “TeaBagger” getting upset about “Knickers”
Anonymous

Francis you swung and missed on this one.. And since you hate comedy rap so much Francis I feel challenged to write a comedy rap you will enjoy.. You have to help me out first though.. What rhymes with ” kyke spic chink towel heads”???.. Then after I say it I will let the record scratch and say “I didn’t say what you heard me say” … HA!! This raps gonna be HILARIOUS!! So funny right? Still to me the worst part wasn’t the “white rapping” or even the lame racial joke… The worst part was that woman’s cackle after they said it. That cackle said it all ..
http://www.facebook.com/nowthatsonyourside Brandon Broze

Steve Crowder’s such a joke… How does anyone take this guy seriously? Even Lee Doren has more credibility. At least Lee doesn’t make goofy-ass music videos pretending to be one of the Founding Fathers or have some dumbass logo (which looks, btw, more like a CEREAL BOX’s than a political group’s) that says “National Center” in the top-right corner of his vids on his YT channel. Or call up the FTC and try to have them “prove” or ‘admit’ that SS is a Ponzi scheme.
http://www.facebook.com/nowthatsonyourside Brandon Broze

Pretending to be one of the Founders or pretending like you “know” what they’d think about the current state of affairs or what their views are on CURRENT ISSUES (like abortion and the 2 wars) is so tired and lame. GET A NEW SCHTICK, righties. Does that idiot who dresses up like an old Tom Paine and posts stupid conservative-leaning videos on YT still do that crap?

Newsflash: The Founders DISAGREED WITH AT LEAST HALF OF YOUR CONSERVATIVE IDEOLOGY! They weren’t religious fundies in the LEAST, either. Thomas Jefferson was actually pretty damn smart and rational for his time. Hell, he was smarter than probably most Americans TODAY, too! Esp. the conservatives
Anonymous

Book the next NAACP convention and I’d go 10. 11 if they make it out alive.
http://www.proactivepolitics.blogspot.com/ Norbit Peters

Is there anything more trite and irrelevant than a Democrat calling anyone who disagrees with them a racist? – hey Dems, I rolled a higher bowling score than my black teammate…that’s RACIST, right?

2012 America – the real racists are clearly Democrats, particularly their race-based institutions like the NAACP, BET, Black Miss America, Cong. Black caucus.
The very concept of these groups is RACIST, not to mention calling black & Hispanic conservatives traitors and Uncle Toms!

The GALL – THAT’S RACISM!
Anonymous

Blah.
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Keane

… “liberal creationist nonsense.”

I am awestruck.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6NVQXKGM4GSM6RZ7ZW3BQ2D73I Kim

My friend just met a chocolate man on Blackwhitemeet.COMit’s where for men and women looking for interracial’ship for a fabulous lifestyle
It’s a nice place for black white sing’les, to interact with each other…no bounds or extremes in front of true love.
Adam Rubin

You should have had a booth at CPAC. You would have cleaned up.
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Edwards/588445226 David Edwards

no this is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lLm0HYVrlg
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Edwards/588445226 David Edwards

Most rap has melody, harmony, and rhythm so I dont see your point
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Edwards/588445226 David Edwards

IF this author doesnt think white people can be funny obviously they never saw this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O54dRgTqv04
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VK7U6RFTAUIPW2JR2NGPBP2IYA super

Its primary purpose was to give a conservative message via rap and I know this is confusing to liberals but it wasn’t suppose to be funny.
http://www.facebook.com/hehilljr Howard Hill Jr.

Yeah….like the” WHITE CITIZENS COUNCIL”….huh?
Anonymous

Quoting from VDare writer Sam Harris taken from the Southern Poverty Law Centre (there are many more like this as well as some Anti-Semitic material):

“America was defined — almost explicitly, sometimes very explicitly — as
a white nation, for white people, and what that means is that there is
virtually no figure, no law, no policy, no event in the history of the
old, white America that can survive the transition to the new and
non-white version. Whether we will want to call the new updated version
‘America’ at all is another question entirely.”

David Duke has also been hosted on the site, in addition to several other prominent white supremacists.
Anonymous

You’re troubled. It seems you’re the only one who thinks the YWCA is some anti-white conspiracy. The YWCA, unlike VDare, does not feature full-fledged white supremacists and does not pontificate on black inferiority.