Obama: An ‘articulate’ basketball player of a politician
I am constantly amazed at how often the phrase "articulate" is tossed around like a compliment whenever some pundit is talking about a black celebrity or politician. Certainly, Sen. Barack Obama (D.-Illinois) is one of the best public speakers out there. But it's as if the average white dude just can't get over the fact that there's a black man standing there with his mouth moving and yet, somehow, Ebonics isn't streaming out.
"Ooooo! An articulate Negro ... for a change!"
This clip from MSNBC's Hardball is laughable in how Newsweek columnist Howard Fineman also called Obama a "basketball" player as part of a sports metaphor.
Setting aside the parts that made me cringe, I agree with the assessment that Obama is poised to be the Democratic Party nominee in 2008 if Sen. Clinton stumbles, and if Obama himself wants it.
Cross posted at Peoria Pundit.
2 comments:
Agreed on the media's conspicuous overuse of "articulate" to describe Obama, but is Fineman's sports metaphor really so bad? Spotlight is on Hillary, so "moving without the ball" kind of is an apt description of what Obama is doing...
I know Chris Rock did a bit on this and specifically people sayin gColin Powell was so well spoken. I have something to put the white liberals at ease. I had a DNA test done on Obama and the part of the brain that controls speech was inherited from his mother. Sleep easily now.
Post a Comment