Friday, February 02, 2007

Articulate

There are some great post out there about Joe Biden's recent comments. Eugene Robinson's article in the Washington Post regarding Sen Joe "old school closet bigot" Biden is thought provoking. Eugene Robinson asks the question; What is it, exactly, that white people mean when they call a black person "articulate"?

Robinson writes, I'll leave it to Joe Biden to explain (or figure out) why he used "clean" as one of a logorrheic string of adjectives describing his Senate colleague Barack Obama. I'm not sure his initial revision and extension of his remarks -- that he meant "clean as a whistle" -- get him off the hook. Just a suggestion, but Biden might fall back to "clean as the Board of Health," meaning sharply dressed; the last time I saw Obama he was, indeed, wearing an impeccable navy suit. For anyone who missed it, Biden explained Obama's appeal as a presidential candidate by calling him "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." He was talking to a reporter for the New York Observer, who recorded the interview; an audio clip was soon posted on the Internet. There was a sharp reaction, mostly focused on Biden's incomprehensible reference to personal hygiene. The Rev. Al Sharpton, a one-time presidential candidate, said that when Biden called him to apologize, " I told him I take a bath every day."

AAPPundit: As usual Mr. Robinson's article is on point. He makes the same points that Jill Tubman of Jack and Jill Politics wrote about when she said, "To those white people who don't get it, let me break it down for you." Check out her post, and why she feels Joe Biden is the Democrats' answer to Trent Lott and George Allen. It's not just black folks who found it odd that Joe Biden has discovered a clean, articulate black man. Hat tip's to Jack and Jill Politics, Under Cover Black Man, Mirror On America, Racialicious, blackprof.com, Professor Kim, Drudge retort, The Think, and other bloggers dealing with this AWB Articulate While Black issue head on.

What would "country Joe Biden" call these people?


oops he (Biden) probably could not name these folks if you asked him. He probably has the James Brown complex. like most whites, he probably thinks all blacks talk like James Brown sang. But then again, there are a number of words black folks will always remember about the late entertainer James Brown. Those words they were so clear, it was like, James brown was one of the most articulate black men in America when he said, "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud." at that point in Mr. James Brown's life he was one of the most articulate Black men in America. and guess what, Black folks didn't care what white folks thought.
Can you relate to that Senator Biden? Probably not...


I know it's complex stuff, man.


1 comment:

Brian said...

Excellent commentary. And good list of other blogs that covered this from our perspective.

I am perplexed as to what Biden was thinking to allow such a slip.... this is not a rookie Senator... he's been around for a while. You would think he would know how to handle himself.

But apparently he has a record of running off at the mouth like this.

Some are saying that this might doom his campaign early.