For those of us not under a rock, Senator Obama has chosen Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. There was a little buzz over a few comments Joe made in the past about Sen. Obama. Here’s the quote:
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that’s a storybook, man."
Of course there was a small brouhaha, an apology, yada yada, yada.
But was it THAT bad. In this world were people are divided by race, class, and anything you can think of, it’s gonna take effort to bridge the divide. People who are not used to interacting with each other outside of school or work may not know the correct way to express themselves as not to offend the other person.
I know there are jerks in the world who will purposely try and hurt your feelings. I also think these kind of people are in the minority.
I remember watching a reality show in which white and black people switched families or something like that. One of the white family members described a black woman as a ‘beautiful creature’ and some of the black folk got really offended by the use of the word ‘creature’.
Seriously, that seemed a bit over the top. In one family’s experience the word creature meant something from a horror movie, from the other family’s perspective the word meant the product of creation. They were all back and forth about it. Maybe the scene was exaggerated for the cameras. IDK.
I am interested to hear some other perspectives on this topic. Please guys don’t be shy about leaving a comment.
BTW, I got this Idea over at Tanyettasedit.
I missed that one…Biden really said that?! I have to say that I don’t care WHO says it, but whenever I hear somebody say an educated African American was “articulate”..or “well-spoken”, I get a little offended. To me, it comes across as saying we’re supposed to all be ignorant and not know how to put together a noun and a verb into a complete sentence.
It was a while ago and he immediately issued an apology. I hope that helps. I get your point.
I find the “articulate” comments by some whites as offensive too. I know plenty of American white people who are NOT particularly articulate. So what’s the deal?
The younger generations of whites butchering the language is just plain obnoxious. Listen to some of them. Why repeat the word “like” over and over in a context that is not even relevant to what they are saying…?
I can’t say I like the “articulate” description . . .however, I didn’t think Senator Biden meant it as a slight. I truly think he didn’t know any better, he’s occassionally afflicted by that foot in mouth disease..
That’s the point I am trying to make BBG in NYC:
That sometimes people say dumb things out of ignorance or just a different connotation. Not everyone is out to get us.
I agree. Also, its too exhausting to walk around with all that offense.