Someone's been skimming their old college sociology texts . According to John Dollard's
Caste and Class in a Southern town, white editors and newspaper reporters would use "Professor" and "Reverend" as honorifics for "special" blacks more important than the run of the mill sort. This way addressing them as Mister would be avoided, while still according them more respect than simply referring to them as "Jim Smith" or Jane Doe", as would be the case for pretty much all other black people mentioned in print. But that classic text was published in 1937! To pretend any white person referring to a black person as "professor" is doing so to be condescending is absurd, particularly when the black person in question was in fact a college professor. (Never mind that 1937 was a loooong time ago , and it is now 2010.)
(Never mind that 1937 was a loooong time ago , and it is now 2010.)
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Maybe this comment was aimed at senior blacks who might be interested in the Tea Party movement and in Palin. Only older blacks might make this interpretation. To put this out there could indicate that they are really worried that she might be appealing to some in their base.