Not to Be Outdone, Mama Troll Sarah Palin Attacks Obama with Racially Charged Language
You didn't seriously think Sarah Palin was going to sit idly by and let Donald Trump and Ann Coulter troll America without joining in on the fun, did you?
Contributing to the nationwide "u rage u lose" competition with a post on her Facebook page, Palin called on President Obama to end his "shuck and jive shtick with these Benghazi lies."
For those unfamiliar with the term "shuck and jive," or its racial connotations, here's a helpful explainer courtesy of Urban Dictionary:
To shuck and jive" originally referred to the intentionally misleading words and actions that African-Americans would employ in order to deceive racist Euro-Americans in power, both during the period of slavery and afterwards. The expression was documented as being in wide usage in the 1920s, but may have originated much earlier.
"Shucking and jiving" was a tactic of both survival and resistance. A slave, for instance, could say eagerly, "Oh, yes, Master," and have no real intention to obey. Or an African-American man could pretend to be working hard at a task he was ordered to do, but might put up this pretense only when under observation. Both would be instances of "doin' the old shuck ‘n jive."
Now, folks on the right will likely direct your attention to a video of White House press secretary Jay Carney using the same phrase at a briefing last year.
Except, here's the thing: When Carney used the phrase, he was called a racist by the same right that is now defending Palin by saying she can't be a racist because Carney said it too.
Those people are half right: Carney wasn't a racist when he said it because he was talking about himself. Palin, however, is purposely aiming slave-owner terminology at a black person.
Therein lies the racism.