NYT weighs in on Biden

The New York Times has now weighed in on the Biden comments, which I think can now be upgraded from 'comments' to 'controversy'.  You should probably click on the preceding link just for the amusement value of the cartoon-headline alone.  [Thanks to Ed for sending along the link.]



An excerpt: "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.”

"...Being articulate must surely be a baseline requirement for a former president of The Harvard Law Review. After all, Webster’s definitions of the word include “able to speak” and “expressing oneself easily and clearly.” It would be more incredible, more of a phenomenon, to borrow two more of the senator’s puzzling words, if Mr. Obama were inarticulate.

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."



Indeed.  I even saw it in a Washington Post article about the elections for the student member of the Board of Education in Maryland.  One of the two candidates selected drew comparisons to Barack Obama.  Why?  I'm not sure.  Other than the fact that both are black, they look nothing alike.  I'm reasonably sure that they don't sound alike either.  But Obama has not become a frame of reference for non-blacks as "that black guy who sounds smarted than most black people we've ever heard talk." 



This doesn't just impact black people, either.  Whites get it too.  The only exampleI can think of off the top of my head is basketball.  When a good white player comes along, he is inevitably compared to other white players.  Same with blacks, and black players.   In this universe, standout college player Adam Morrison gets copared to Larry Bird of Christian Laettner -- even though his game doesn't really resemble either player's game.  And if a player stray too far from one stereotype to the other (Jason Williams), and plays in a way where it's impossible to compare him to other whites, he gets a nickname ("White Chocolate") that would be considered horribly offensive in just about any other context and walk of life. 



Sadly, non-whites seem to ave created a double-standard where people like Barack Obama have to prove that they are 'black enough'. or risk criticism and ostracization.  I highly doubt Jason Williams has faced accusations from the white community that he isn't 'white enough' -- at least not in his adult life.  Frankly, I doubt most whites care about how 'white' his game is, as long as he is good.  Isn't it hypocritical for non-whites to ask whites to embrace diversity when we often face so much trouble practicing what we preach?

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