Them Articulate Blacks

Less than six months ago Washington Post's Eugene Robinson was having a cow that people would dare call Condoleezza Rice, articulate. James Taranto addressed Robinson's folly...

The "CBS Evening News" has a new opinion segment, and yesterday's contributor was Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post, who offered an odd commentary about Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state. He began with some ritual bashing of American foreign policy and said, essentially, that he doesn't like Rice because she is partly to blame for policies with which he disagrees. Then he changed course:

That's the way I feel--until I hear some commentator describe her as, quote, articulate, which is code for a black person who speaks standard English. Excuse me, you were expecting the Secretary of State to be inarticulate?

That's when I get this involuntary twitch and I want to defend Condoleezza Rice--when she's patronized, the way black pioneers in all walks of life have been patronized. Look, it may be wrongheaded foreign policy, but Condoleezza Rice is making it.

Condoleezza Rice is a major, major player in this administration. So call her whatever you want, but don't call her a token or a puppet. And please don't call her "articulate."

It is true that "articulate" is a somewhat racially charged word. There is a stereotype that inarticulateness is the norm among blacks, and a white person calling a black person "articulate" can be patronizing, just as Robinson suggests.

But are we wrong to think that he's maybe being oversensitive? When someone calls Rice "articulate," why assume that she is being held to a lower standard based on her race, rather than being held to a high standard to which she lives up completely? A Google search turns up several references to people calling Rice "poised and articulate." If it's invidious to call her "articulate," is it equally so to call her "poised"? Excuse me, but you were expecting the secretary of state to be awkward?

What's more, Rice works for a president who is often accused of being inarticulate. Is that just code for a person of pallor who doesn't speak standard English?

Now Liberals are bashing Bush for calling Barrack Obama, articulate. Sure Biden recently went overboard saying of Obama, "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man." But it's very obvious that Biden was comparing Obama to other Blacks, not making a general comment about hi. Whereas Bush said of Obama, "He’s an attractive guy. He’s articulate. I’ve been impressed with him when I’ve seen him in person" Not once was there even the slightest hint that Bush was thinking "for a Black person" as Biden obviously was.

Of course with people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Jocelyn Elders (who loves listening to Eric Clapperman) it's understandable that Liberals are taken aback by an intelligent sounding Black person. Y'see they see Blacks as fillers, as those you have around, not because they are qualified, but because they fill a quota or can swing some votes or park a car. Republicans on the other hand have people like Condoleezza Rice, J.C. Watts, Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, Alan Keyes whose qualifications are impeccable, and whose grasp of their respective fields demands respect for their abilities, regardless of the color of their skin.

If Bush tossed out the word "articulate", it's not because he was saying Obama can be understood fairly well for a Black person, but that Obama actually has a good command of the language, which if you haven't noticed, the average American, Black, white or purple, doesn't. Anyone who can make himself understood clearly, is someone with an advantage. Unfortunately race baiters don't want that compliment to be made toward Blacks.

Also, since articulate actually means getting your ideas across clearly and distinctly, what does that say about Liberal (white) politicians like Joe Biden and John Kerry who have to keep explaining "what they really meant"? Funny how the Democrats  have created a double standard that the incompetence of their white politicians can be ignored while the accomplishments of their Black politicians dared not be mentioned.

Posted by Danny Carlton at February 6, 2007 6:16 AM