In an age of political correctness, here's another helping of some interesting food for thought...
"The Racial Politics of Speaking Well" - New York Times
Do you recognize the power in the words that you speak?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
That is a very interesting article. I've read several good editorials about Biden. I see statements like this as the last vestiges of racism. It really is a way of talking down to a person, which is just ridiculous. President Bush was quoted talking about Obama "He's an attractive guy. He's articulate."
Eugene Robinson wrote a nice editorial. A few paragraphs really stated what I was thinking about the whole ordeal:
"I realize the word was intended as a compliment, but it's being used to connote a lot more than the ability to express one's thoughts clearly. It's being used to say more, even, than 'here's a black person who speaks standard English without a trace of Ebonics.' The word articulate is being used to encompass not just speech but a whole range of cultural cues--dress, bearing, education, golf handicap. Articulate is really a shorthand way of describing a black person who isn't too black--or; rather; who comports with white America's notion of how a black person should come across. Whatever the intention, expressing one's astonishment that such individuals exist is no compliment. Just come out and say it: Gee, he doesn't sound black at all."
I really liked D.L. Hughley's quote, about this being more "insidious." I really think it is. Racial slurs can come and go, but it is the deep rooted last vestiges of racism that are so covert that still do the damage.
Now, do I think Biden actually meant this in the way it was perceived...I don't know. I hope not. But, I would hope in the future people will be a little more careful...between Biden and Kerry's somewhat recent debacle about dumb people getting shipped to Iraq...I'd hope people pay more attention to what they are actually saying.
Hopefully this is all changing.
They just can't stop putting their foot (feet?) in their mouths!
NASHUA, New Hampshire (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is apologizing for saying the lives of the more than 3,000 U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war were "wasted."
During his first campaign trip this weekend, the Illinois senator told a crowd in Iowa: "We now have spent $400 billion and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted."
He immediately apologized on Sunday, saying the remark was "a slip of the tongue."
Post a Comment