In this post, I brought up Joe Biden's description of Barak Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." I pointed out that I was offended at articulate and didn't even make it to clean.
Lynette Clemetson addresses the offensiveness of articulate in a New York Times article. Her article is well worth the read.
Her point is that when white people use the word articulate to describe black people, there is an underlying insult, intentional or no: "He's articulate"...for a black person.
Frankly, I'm always a little surprised when I hear Democrats make this sort of faux pas because to read moonbat sites or listen to Air America, you would think only Republican bigoted morons like Trent Lott would say something so completely insulting. (BTW, I don't think Trent Lott is a bigoted moron, but there are plenty of libs who do).
Clemetson has some good advice:
But here is a pointer. Do not use it as the primary attribute of note for a black person if you would not use it for a similarly talented, skilled or eloquent white person. Do not make it an outsized distinction for Brown University’s president, Ruth Simmons, if you would not for the University of Michigan’s president, Mary Sue Coleman. Do not make it the sole basis for your praise of the actor Forest Whitaker if it would never cross your mind to utter it about the expressive Peter O’Toole.
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