Eugene's waste of ink

Well, Joe Biden said it about Obama a few days back, but Eugene's column doesn't appear until today. Poor Eugene. Al Sharpton immediately grabbed the clean comment (since he doesn't have to wait for a deadline - he just opens his mouth) and that left someone to tackle the trickier "articulate" comment.

Side note:
Having grown up in the South and I have lived in "transitional" neighborhoods in Atlanta and DC for the past 5 years now, I feel comfortable in saying that race issues are really just effective way to sell papers to the masses. The real issue at work here is one of class or some version of social standing. To wit: With the delayed application of the Equal Protection Clause in the Constitution during the 70s and 80s, black families could go out and get their piece of the pie (I was watching a funny Jeffersons re-reun last night on TV Land). No problem there. During the past two decades, everyone who lives in the burbs and is in a Southern state has seen the integration of those neighborhoods by Asain, Hispanic and black families. So you have some families that have raised their children to speak standard American English (Chinese parents who cannot speak a lick of English have kids who speak perfect English, same for Hispanic families). The issue is about how you were raised and/or what standards you wish to adopt.

The central point in Eugene's screed is that no one calls white people articulate, but that this label is applied to black folks exclusively in the following context, and this is a direct quote: "...here's a black person who speaks standard English without a trace of Ebonics." and he refines his definition towards the end of the article as "Articulate is really a shorthand way of describing a black person who isn't too black - or, rather, who comports with white America's notion of how a black person should come across."

Dear God - Can someone fire him already? Eugene wants us all to feel some guilt for being judgemental towards people who cannot speak standard English. But "white America" (whatever that is - I don't know but I will assume it is the press corps) judges people on their presentation. If a person is from Brooklyn and has a strong accent and hang around "white America", this artificial construct will (apparently) think that this person is less intelligent. If you have a hillbilly from some Appalachain town who cannot get through a sentence without using "ain't", this person will be judged as being less intelligent by "white America". Same for any of a range of similar cases where people make superficial judgements. Eugene - this is life. Articulation is the marriage of presentation and content. Both are required to be assumed articulate. You might be brilliant but you have to be able to present an idea coherently to be articulate. I work with alot of inarticulate people every day - it is because they speak English poorly and it has no reflection on their perceived intelligence.

Why all this blather? Eugene is trying to get us to buy into the stereotype that blacks are less intelligent than other sub-groups in America and that every comment has a racist subtext. Its quite silly when you think about it.

Hey Eugene, try this on: Obama was called articulate and clean by Joe Biden as a way to keep his name in the papers so that Obama can make a successful run for president. Joe is very shrewd and chose a very careful set of words that would induce the Pavlovian response of the press corps. And Eugene belatedly took the bait and, by writing this screed, propigates the very stereotypes he apparently abhors. Meanwhile, Obama rises above it all and has earned another week or two of free press. Eugene's column should have pointed out that Joe Biden ought not try to bait the press with antiquated ideas of hygiene and move on.

Note to the Post: Please fire Eugene (and if you have ever seen him speak - he is extremely INarticulate).