By Debbie Schlussel

Hmmm . . . do you think the NAACP would be defending a Republican candidate for Mayor if she used the term, “Head Negro in Charge”?  Well, the group is defending Democrat St. Petersburg Mayoral candidate Kathleen Ford for using the term.  It’s hilarious:  Rush Limbaugh just lost a bid to be a minority owner of an NFL team (not an elected office) because of stuff he never said and relatively tame stuff he did say.  And, yet, the NAACP is defending someone who uses the “HNIC” phrase on the radio.

Head White Liberal Racist in Charge: Kathleen Ford (The White Chick)

During an appearance last week on the Bubba the Love Sponge radio program, Ford made a reference to “HNIC,” which stands for “head negro in charge,” although the “N” also is sometimes used as a racial epithet.

“Actually Cornell West has a whole explanation about the HNIC theory, and I agree with that,” Ford told Bubba during an hourlong radio interview. ” . . .

Ford and the radio host had been talking about Goliath Davis, a black deputy city mayor in St. Petersburg that Ford makes clear won’t have a job if she’s elected, partly because of Davis’s contentious history with the city while serving as police chief, and partly because Ford thinks management at City Hall is top heavy. . . .

[David] Zachem [who is white and a self-described former civil rights marcher in the 1960s] said the “head negro in charge” expression refers to an old patronage system which favored black leaders who rounded up votes for white politicians and were rewarded with business licenses and permits when the candidates they helped were elected. . . .

Ray Tampa, the head of the St. Petersburg NAACP, said he thinks many of those who showed up to criticize Ford were there for political reasons. He said he was not offended because Ford was using the term in an academic discussion about race.

Yes, like the “academic discussion” Rush Limbaugh had on ESPN about quarterback Donovan McNabb and over which the NAACP was “outraged.”