Racism latent in language

Published by in politics on February 8th, 2007

Lynette Clemetson’s NY Times article from Feb 4th, “The Racial Politics of Speaking Well,” offers important reflections on Senator Joseph Biden’s racist and ridiculous statements about possible U.S. Presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Barack Obama. In reference to the adjective “articulate,” she offers the following sound 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.

Words are powerful. We can praise or condemn, insult or edify, simply based on our choice of words. The words we choose to use often reflect a great deal about our beliefs, our biases, our opinions and our worldview.

Many classrooms focus on a “word of the week” or “word of the day.” If you are a teacher, perhaps you should choose “articulate” for next week’s focus word, and discuss with students the issues surrounding this incident involving Senator Biden?

Thanks to Claire Russell for this article link.

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4 Comments »
  • http://missprofe.wordpress.com Miss Profe

    Personally, to use the term, racist in Senator Biden’s case is extreme. Thoughtless, yes; racist, no.

  • http://www.wesfryer.com Wesley Fryer

    Hmmm. I think your view is probably that of many others, but did you read the article by Lynette Clemetson? If you do, I’m wondering if her views and the views of others she shares might change your mind. I think this was more than a “thoughtless” comment. We’d like to say racism is gone and no one in Congress is racist, but I think language like this is more revealing than many people want to admit. I could be wrong, of course. But that is my perception. Thanks for being willing to disagree and state a different view.

  • http://missprofe.wordpress.com Miss Profe

    Hi, Wes. I did read the article, and, I even asked my father, who is a Depression-era and Southern Segregation-era Black male, and he did not label the mis-step on Senator Biden’s part as racist. while I am well aware of the loadnedness of the word, “articulate” when used with people of color, I still cannot affix racist to it. I do appreciate your putting this out there, and for encouraging a diversity of opinion on the subject.

  • http://www.wesfryer.com Wesley Fryer

    That is good to know. I guess sometimes when I read an article like this I assume the author or authors speak for a wider group. Evidently that is not the case here. So I guess part of the lesson is that word meaning is very contextual and varied, where some people can (and in this case are) offended while others aren’t bothered. That’s a valuable lesson for us all too I think. Thanks for returning to this thread and commenting further.

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