Mish,
You wrote: "Barack Obama who is both very intelligent and extremely articulate..."
What does "articulate" have to do with anything?
It is amazing that this still requires clarification, but here it is. Black people get a little testy when white people call them "articulate."
Though it was little noted, on Wednesday President Bush on the Fox News Channel also described Mr. Obama as "articulate."...
A series of conversations about the word with a number of black public figures last week elicited the kind of frustrated responses often uttered between blacks, but seldom shared with whites.
"You hear it and you just think, 'Damn, this again?' " said Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of humanities at the University of Pennsylvania.
Anna Perez, the former communications counselor for Ms. Rice when she was national security adviser, said, "You just stand and wonder, 'When will this foolishness end?' "
Said Reginald Hudlin, president of entertainment for Black Entertainment Television: "It makes me weary, literally tired, like, 'Do I really want to spend my time right now educating this person?' "
* * *
That is the core of the issue. When whites use the word in reference to blacks, it often carries a subtext of amazement, even bewilderment. It is similar to praising a female executive or politician by calling her "tough" or "a rational decision-maker."
"When people say it, what they are really saying is that someone is articulate ... for a black person," Ms. Perez said.
iht.com |
