Lynette Clemetson of the New York Times claims that it’s offensive for white people to refer to Barack Obama as “articulate”, because when they do, what they REALLY mean is “he’s articulate… for a black guy”.
Which is racist, because it’s just another way of saying that black people are inarticulate.
While I confess that I’ve previously used the A-word to describe Obama, I want to make it VERY clear that I did NOT intend it as a blanket insult to Melanin-Enhanced-Americans.
What I MEANT was that he’s articulate… for a Democrat – i.e. he doesn’t mumble like Ted Kennedy or have inexplicable screaming fits like Howard Dean.
Personally, I think it’s crazy to assume that every compliment is actually a disguised insult to a person’s race. It might be an insult to an entirely different group of which the complimented victim is a member.
Which is why I hate it when people say I’m “nice”. I know what they REALLY mean:
“… for a guy from Wisconsin – because you aren’t a corpse-eating serial killer like Jeffrey Dahmer, and you almost never make lampshades out of people’s skin like that horrible Ed Gein.”
So please… don’t use the N-word when referring to me any more.
actually, Harvey… I mean, you’re nice… for an anarchist. or a Libertarian. whatever you guys are calling yourselves these days. 😉
I have several words to use for Ms. Clemetson. Let’s start with the ones that begin with B:
Backward
Belligerent
Bellicose
Brutal
Banal
Benighted
Buffoon
Birdbrain
Bozo
One wonders if Ms. Clemetson came to her conclusion because the first thing SHE thought of when hearing Mr. Obama described as articulate was “for a black man”. Racism it seems is alive and well and living at the New York Times.
(first? maybe)
So when my teachers said I was articulate, they were calling me black?
Don’t worry, Harvey, I never thought of you as nice.
In my experience, Wisconsinites are nicer than the average American. Perhaps I’m a poor judge, however, because I’m what Wisconsinites call a FIB.
lol. Nice blog Harvey. And by that I mean nice for IMAO.
Oh, for the love of God! When will the whining stop? It should f**king hurt to be that linguistically sensitive. How do these people get out of bed every day? If everything is so offensive to them, they ought to just stay indoors instead of going aroud looking for ways to be insulted.
“I find that term offensive.”
“I feel that your views are insensitive.”
“Your shirt is offensive to me.”
“Your choice of automobile is environmentally irresponsible.”
“Your genitalia is offensive.”
Sheesh.
But perhaps they’re taking it out of context after all. Let’s examine Sen. Biden’s comment some more:
//”I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”//
As for being articulate, there are those in Washington who don’t possess the best grammatical skills, not the least of whom is Biden himself & his knack for using the term “bloviate”, whatever the hell that means. Then there’s McKinney’s “much ado about a hairdo” rant on every news & talk show forum, and then there’s W; let’s face it, he sounds a lot like Boomhauer on ‘King of the Hill’.
Biden said that Obie was bright, clean and good looking.
Bright? Maybe, but he’s a Dem, so he can’t be all that smart.
Clean? So far, so good. I haven’t noticed any BBQ sause on his chin yet…that’s not a stereotype or anything…just sayin’…
Nice-looking? Sure, if you like that whole “Dumbo” look, what with those ears & all.
Now, did Biden say that as a whitey, or as a Democrat? Maybe Lynette Clemetson should examine that first.
Translation of the article to plain English: “Wah! Wah Wah Waaaaahhhhhhh!”
Much quicker to read my way. Racism is indeed rampant in this world… inside the skulls of the “Entitled” minority groups. Sharpto, Farakhan, Jackson, et al, ad nauseum, ad infinitum.
Tossers.
I vote for “spiffy.”
Who the hell would even know who these people were if they weren’t offended all the time. They’d have to find another line of work.
Oh hello; It wasn’t the fact that Biden used the words articulate and clean to describe Obama, it was the clumsy context. Also, I’m sorry to say that being articulate is important for a presidential candidate. GWB isn’t articulate and can’t explain himself and it’s been a constant problem. Anyway, it was the word “clean” that set everybody off. “clean” as opposed to what?
I’m still waiting for Obama to have another thing these African Americans columnists don’t have: “A POINT”