Comments on: Is the PC (political correctness) Movement Running out of Steam?

By: David Chiu

David Chiu — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:15:38 +0000

I suspect the word articulate only had meanings for joint motion and would be misrepresentation of others who were unwilling to move for that cause. I even suspect the word articulate had it’s meaning changed in recent times to include connotations to speech and was originally only about joint motion.

By: rbeard

rbeard — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 19:04:25 +0000

Thanks for your thoughtful rebuttal of this blog. I have thought it over and come to this conclusion. Your argument critically hinges on the assertion that the majority of whites claim, think, assume that all blacks are inarticulate. I challenge that premise until someone runs the statistics. My impression is that, with the exception of a minority of biggots, all Americans assume that blacks may be articulate or not, just as whites may be. That Mr. Jackson sounds black and Mr. Obama sounds white is a matter of interpretation which I also do not share. Mr. Jackson has a southern accent while Mr. Obama has a northern one. That is because Mr. Obama grew up in Hawaii and Kansas while Mr. Jackson grew up in Greenville, SC (See our Rebel-Yankee Test). I have never heard anyone so much as insinuate that Mr. Jackson is inarticulate because of his southern drawl or the color of his skin. Judging on a linguistic basis alone (their comparative abilities at coming up with catchy phrases and names like the 'Rainbow Coalition'), I think I could argue that Mr. Jackson is more articulate than Mr. Obama. Now, if I say that Jessie Jackson is more articulate than Barack Obama, whom do I offend?

By: Dirk Cable

Dirk Cable — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 18:19:46 +0000

I enjoy your blog a great deal, but as to this entry, I do not think you could be more off the mark. I’d be interested to know *where* exactly you’ve seen calls to relegate the word “articulate” to the vast list of so-called “politically incorrect” words that convey hate and disrespect for women, ethnic and cultural minorities, gays and lesbians, etc. As you say, the word “articulate” itself is a perfectly good word with no pejorative connotations, so I doubt that anyone is advocating removing it from the realm of acceptable speech.

What really caused the controversey here is that a *great* many people, mostly African-Americans, perceived Senator Biden’s words as, at best, patronizing, and, at worst, racist. This is not “purportedly” offensive, as you say; it is most definitely offensive. Your point that plenty of white people, including our current White House occupant, are inarticulate is, well, beside the point. No one stereotypes all whites as being inarticulate, but black people have always been stereotyped as such–just part of the vast convoluted realm that is American racism.

I think what most rankles here, in fact, is that Senator Biden was not merely recalling the general stereotype of black people as incompetent speakers of English, but was specifically implying that there had never before been an articulate black person who had ever run for President, or who had considered running. He apparently forgot about Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson, and Colin Powell. The difference, of course, between Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama, is that Mr. Jackson “sounds black” and Senator Obama “sounds white”–and that makes him “articulate” in many peoples’ minds.

You might seek out an episode of Chris Rock’s HBO series, in which he discusses this exact issue with reference to Colin Powell. He expresses comical (but real) frustration that so many people are surprised that Powell is “so well spoken!”