The term “magic negro” is used to describe a black character in fiction who, by virtue of special insight, assists the main character, usually white, in attaining his or her desires. We recently identified a magic negro character in this post about the movie The Secret Life of Bees and in this post featuring a travel ad for Australia. Then, of course, there was the recent controversy over the “Barack the Magic Negro” song.
Taylor D. sent in another excellent example, an Ikea commercial:
