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So what EXACTLY is the problem with Reid's comments? Tom Send a noteboard - 12/01/2010 04:11:56 AM
I'm still trying to figure this out. Is it that he used the word "Negro", which is outdated and slightly offensive in the modern world? Is it that he seemed to imply that being "light-skinned" was "good", which is an implication of racism? Or is it that he was saying that the absence of a "dialect" was good, which is the frank truth?

I've long agreed with Bill Cosby and others who have attempted to fight the "Ebonics" movement, and so I certainly hope Reid isn't being attacked for expressing opposition to efforts to encourage proper diction, orthography and the like. Speaking in "Ebonics" is nothing but an impediment.

Because the exact reason why Reid is being attacked hasn't been elucidated, I'm still trying to figure out whether or not I support Reid or think he's being racist. The implication that "light-skinned" = "good" is blatantly and overtly racist, and I disagree with that if that was Reid's assumption (and it may have been). Using the term "Negro" is outdated and somewhat offensive, but he's an old guy and so I don't think it's necessarily as offensive as it would be if, say, a 25-year-old said it.

However, if the issue is Reid's praising the fact that Obama didn't speak in "Ebonics," there should be no furore whatsoever over his remarks.
Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.

ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius

Ummaka qinnassa nīk!

*MySmiley*
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So what EXACTLY is the problem with Reid's comments? - 12/01/2010 04:11:56 AM 916 Views
it wasn't just that he commented on the lack of "dialect" - 12/01/2010 04:16:27 AM 611 Views
Regardless of that, I don't see the ability to use dialect as a racist statement. - 12/01/2010 04:32:07 AM 559 Views
I agree - 12/01/2010 04:36:23 AM 580 Views
That's what I was thinking... - 12/01/2010 08:52:32 AM 583 Views
when was the last time you heard a white person speaking ebonics? - 12/01/2010 01:41:24 PM 573 Views
A week or so ago. - 12/01/2010 08:09:09 PM 505 Views
About a day for me. - 12/01/2010 10:33:40 PM 577 Views
Yeah, I'm back in Boston now, so... - 13/01/2010 03:33:38 AM 470 Views
Isn't that the definition of a wigger? A white person who speaks/acts like a black person? - 12/01/2010 09:49:34 PM 536 Views
So black person = N****r? Reid's looking better and better. *NM* - 12/01/2010 10:34:37 PM 257 Views
You know Tim isn't saying that. - 12/01/2010 10:43:43 PM 531 Views
Um, what? - 13/01/2010 06:55:21 AM 526 Views
And the fact that Wigger = White N****r isn't racist at all! *NM* - 12/01/2010 10:33:04 PM 290 Views
I wasn't using the term seriously 9_9 - 13/01/2010 04:26:20 AM 501 Views
The problem is he's a politician - 12/01/2010 04:35:51 AM 603 Views
because that would solve our problems. *NM* - 12/01/2010 04:37:18 AM 249 Views
You know, what IS a good term for black people these days? - 12/01/2010 04:36:33 AM 605 Views
technically... - 12/01/2010 04:39:51 AM 578 Views
i know, right? *NM* - 12/01/2010 06:11:33 AM 262 Views
I just use "black" - 12/01/2010 02:27:16 PM 506 Views
yah, that's what i typically do... - 12/01/2010 02:28:39 PM 576 Views
I agree. Say what you mean. - 12/01/2010 10:03:37 PM 548 Views
How many "black" people do you know that are truely black? - 13/01/2010 05:10:44 AM 524 Views
how many white people do you know are WHITE? *NM* - 13/01/2010 05:26:36 AM 236 Views
Why is it OK to discriminate on the grounds of language but not race? - 12/01/2010 08:23:21 AM 659 Views
Please tell me you were joking... *NM* - 12/01/2010 01:29:37 PM 226 Views
Not in the least. I thought you knew me better than that. - 12/01/2010 09:44:59 PM 496 Views
Ah! You were looking for an active rebuttal - 13/01/2010 01:48:20 PM 471 Views
It is okay to discriminate based on language... - 12/01/2010 01:40:18 PM 575 Views
Your AAE is a language the way that Pig Latin is a language. - 12/01/2010 06:38:35 PM 536 Views
I don't even know where to begin. - 12/01/2010 09:43:21 PM 613 Views
That third point is going a bit far. - 12/01/2010 10:06:08 PM 567 Views
You're right, I was conflating two separate points. - 12/01/2010 10:14:48 PM 510 Views
Well, it still only applies... - 12/01/2010 10:24:08 PM 655 Views
That it was a stupid thing to say? - 12/01/2010 09:49:05 AM 592 Views
this. *NM* - 12/01/2010 01:07:46 PM 258 Views
Who seriously uses the term "Negro dialect" anymore? - 13/01/2010 02:00:15 AM 496 Views
the subject is race. and party lines. - 13/01/2010 05:27:39 AM 488 Views
Powell, Rice and Steele. Just food for thought. *NM* - 13/01/2010 08:12:18 PM 311 Views

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