(The Root) — The super PAC situation is getting ridiculous.
For those of you who are not familiar with super PACs: A super PAC is a political action committee that is allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money either for a candidate or against one. Super PACs can't work directly with the candidate they're supporting, and they can't give money directly to that candidate, either. But they can create ad campaigns to slander any politician that they feel needs to be taken down with TV commercials, billboards, radio ads, whatever.
Enter the FightBigotry.com super PAC.
If you were just to read the name of this super PAC, you'd think it was a noble group founded to deal with America's checkered and complicated past when it comes to race. You'd guess that this super PAC would be actively working to call out bigotry and racism in our political atmosphere and to make sure that political candidates are held accountable for their statements and actions.
You would be mistaken.
I'll admit, I laughed.
After watching this commercial, I was far less "outraged" and way more laughing "out loud." The ominous voice and ridiculous framing of our supposed racist president cracks me up. The video lacked any style, substance or nuance. This was created by people who think they already have an audience. They aren't trying to convince anyone who didn't already feel that the president had issues with whites.
This would be horrifying if it weren't so silly. President Obama, who is under constant criticism by various members of and groups within the black community for not being the pro-blackity black president that they thought he would be, is somehow anti-white? Cornel West went so far as to make the ridiculous claim that Obama was uncomfortable being around "free black men" (Yes, Dr. West, we still remember that), but according to FightBigotry, Obama is just a big old white-people-hating machine.
The ad uses out-of-context quotes from Attorney General Eric Holder and an amazing reframing of the infamous Henry Louis Gates Jr. situation that resulted in the "Beer Summit." Obama is apparently racist because he said a cop arresting a black man for entering his own home was "acting stupidly." He's racist because the New Black Panther Party is calling for a race war, and clearly Obama is bankrolling it.
Wait — no, he isn't. But you'd think he was with all the deep-voiced accusations throughout this magical two-minute video tragedy. The point of this ad was to paint Obama as the evil anti-white overlord of the United States. And it failed. However, it did highlight one magical fear that seems to keep cropping up …
The fear that whites will be treated the way blacks have been for years.
Since Obama took office, there has been a consistent strain of hysteria concerning the subjugation and discrimination of white people. Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and others have all echoed this sentiment. There have been attempts to create white basketball leagues and white scholarships. Three-and-a-half years of a Negro president and a rising Hispanic population have some folks going into full-fledged panic mode. And again I find myself laughing, because white people haven't switched places with anyone. America still defaults to white; institutionalized racism still exists; and inherent biases against people of color are still incredibly strong.
As opposed to protecting whiteness, maybe organizations like FightBigotry.com should try protecting those who actually need protection. Although that wouldn't get Mitt Romney elected, now, would it?
Elon James White is a writer and satirist and host of the award-winning video and radio series This Week in Blackness. Listen Monday to Thursday at 1:30 p.m. EST at TWIB.FM and watch at TV.TWIB.ME/LIVE. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Tumblr.