Posted on 02/08/2007 6:10:20 AM PST by SES1066
As Barack Obama's poll numbers continue to fall, the controversy continues over whether his political opponents have been using racial code words to describe his candidacy. This brings up the question of why some language, such as Bush's reference to Obama as "articulate," is off-limits when talking about African-Americans. We'll talk about black and white in America in the first hour of the radio factor.
I echo O'Reilly's plea for a clear lexicon of these 'offensive' words but I suspect, again with O'Reilly, that this is a moving target that serves the purpose of the wielder(s). Such ability allows the party to take selective offense and thus remain in the 'victim status' category.
I wonder what those people like Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King, Percy Julian (THANK YOU PBS Nova) and others from the earlier times would think of this spate of word offenses. Given the lynchings, burnings and other offenses, and the fact that 'dumb polack' -> "circular firing squad", 'english twit' and other pejoratives are common, they would probably welcome this as a sign of equality. Then again, I am naive and perhaps unused to the idea of being a permanent victim!
Last time I checked, "articulate" was a compliment. We are certainly through the looking glass of Newspeak here.
Not when you are a paranoid black person who thinks that you think he or she is stupid. This is so ridiculous my ears are bleeding.
Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself - dang you're articulate.
From the Orwell "dictionary":
blackwhite- The ability to accept whatever "truth" the party puts out, no matter how absurd it may be. Orwell described it as "...loyal willingness to say black is white when party discipline demands this. It also means the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know black is white, and forget that one has ever believed the contrary."
>>I suspect, again with O'Reilly, that this is a moving target that serves the purpose of the wielder(s). Such ability allows the party to take selective offense and thus remain in the 'victim status' category.
<*DING!*><*DING!*><*DING!*>
We have a winner!
Just look at the proliferation and constant change in acceptable "group" terms over the years - Colored, Negro, Black, African-American, probably a couple others. What's acceptable for a white speaker to use? Are you confident that you know?
It's all about the verbal jujitsu and keeping Whitey off-balance.
The two ladies he had on last night make the Geico caveman look like the poster boy for emotional stability. Black folks see "articulate" as an insult, but then they attack Condi and Clarence as being sell-outs for becoming educated and landing on the wrong side of the aisle. You can't have your cake and eat it, too.
"Leaders" who kow-tow to the PC leftists on non-issues like this deserve what they get.
Dang, I thought articulate was a kind of tractor that bends in the middle. I did not know it was a black slur.
Jesee Jackson and Al Sharpton both sound like characters out of "Amos 'n Andy".
I suspect that they could both speak much more articulately if they tried, but they use the old black dialect to pander to their audience and to show the they are really "black" and not Oreo's.
Obama was not raised in a black culture, but in a white culture by a white mother. In that sense he is seen by many blacks, especially those to whom Sharpton and Jackson cater, as an Oreo. Add to that his ability to speak the Queen's English and it is seen as evidence that he is not really black at all.
Yeah, but if you compliment one person, you're REALLY insulting everyone else in the group.
Littly Jonny's feelings get hurt because he's an inarticulate blithering idiot.
Zero-sum game.
How did this opinion end up in breaking news?
I thought obama was a dummy who spoke on emotion, did not complete his thoughts and appealed to an average or below average analytical ability.
Democrats can no longer claim victim status - the Clintons have three homes and as many offices, all necessitating tax dollars to manage - Pelosi wants the bigger plane and countless accouterments – Teddy the scion and Kerry the decadent all have forgotten the WOT or why they were elected in the first place. These Washington moguls are not there to help anyone but themselves!
Actually, I gave up on this when we had the last round of 'correctness' against the poor sucker who happened to properly use 'niggardly' in the presence of an ignorant but politically powerful person of the Afro-American heritage. The results were predictable and instructive. NOWHERE was there any academic effort from those who know better to defend the use of this fine, expositive word that had NOTHING except homophonic pronunciation to the 'N' word. Instead it appeared and still appears to be preferable to discontinue this word in order to avoid offense. - SHEESH!
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