I've been stewing lately, thinking too much, and one one of the things rolling around inside my head has been the cover of the New Yorker. (I would post a link or a picture, but by now I'm sure everyone has seen it.)
I couldn't come up with the right words to use, but thanks to an awesome article, I found it-
Hipster Racism.

Hipster Racism is when someone is being "ironically" racist. They drop the "N", but everyone should realize that when they use it, they are witty and clever, not ignorant and hateful. They are above racism, so far above it, in fact, that the rules don't apply to them, that they can use words and make jokes and wear t-shirts that are just nasty, and when someone is offended it's because they "don't get it".

The New Yorker issued a statement claiming that their ugly cover is satire. But shouldn't  satire focus the critique on the instigator? It would seem as if some of this satirical picture is missing, and what you have left is a "joke" that so many will take as a "TOLD YOU SO" fact. (For instance, my dad. He only half-assedly watches the news, he doesn't read, and somehow forms these insane opinions on everything. My younger brothers and I support Obama, and love engaging him in debate, for comedic value. Every argument boils down to my dad yelling "HE'S MUSLIM! HE'S A TERRORIST! etc", which is amusing until you think about the fact that my dad votes.) Whether intended or not, it is perpetuating the idea that the Obamas are angry, militant black Muslims to people who can't think of anything that they hate/fear more. (Except for us white girls who marry these angry black men and produce little mocha babies. Whee, Lord, they hate us.)
Worse than that, maybe, is that is confirms to the confused that it is okay to make jokes like this, that this is an accurate assessment of certain groups of people, etc.

Case in point-
Damien and I love Dave Chappelle. (For the sake of argument, this makes me a hypocrite, I suppose, since so much of his brand of  humor is based on race/racism.. But whatever. He's fuckin' funny.) A few years ago, we bought his show on DVD, and would watch it occasionally with our friends. Relatively harmless, for the most part, except when it came to one particular friend. This friend went from constantly quoting the show, to adapting jokes for his own personal use, to using the "N" in every other sentence, to calling Damien the "N". He truly thought it was okay to do this, because 1. Dave Chappelle uses that word and 2. Because we knew he wasn't being racist, only funny.
(This is heading into either the Chappelle/Boondocks/racial humor that is smart vs. offensive discussion, or the "I'm not racist, but..." discussion, both of which are neccesary to talk about, but not today. Let me reel it in.)

Anyway. Hipster Racism is my point.
The New Yorkers smugness at the reaction their cover caused is alarming, especially considering the fact that they are not exactly known for a diverse staff. Duh, it's a joke seems to only make sense if it 1. was funny or clever somehow, 2. was in the correct context, or 3. wasn't made by a bunch of white people who were edited and influenced by other white people.
The editor in chief stated that he thought people would be smart enough to get it. But, really, it's mimicry, not satire. And no matter what excuses the New Yorker comes up with, the damage has been done.

I'm ending this here, and I will come back later to post more. Until then, maybe a flame war will break out on my blog, which would be fun and beneficial (because I need more friends).