Biden, babbling

Open Mouth, Insert Foot. Again.

By Rick Horowitz

Interesting word, "articulate." Four syllables, ten letters and a mess of trouble. Just ask Joe Biden.

But first, let's ask the dictionary. We're talking "articulate" as an adjective here, by the way, not as a verb. The verb doesn't get anyone into trouble. It's the adjective that trips people up, though you wouldn't know it from looking at the definitions.

ar.tic.u.late -- Using language easily and fluently; having facility with words: an articulate speaker. Expressed, formulated, or presented with clarity and effectiveness: an articulate thought.

Nothing in there, you'll notice, about skin color. So why is it always white folks who seem to use the word, and why do they always seem to be using it about non-white folks?

I've seen it used exactly that way for years. I could put together a scrapbook of all the times I've heard or read it used that way: a white person talking about a non-white person.

The white person doing the talking this time was Joe Biden, newly minted (and already tarnished) presidential candidate, talking about his Senate colleague and fellow candidate Barack Obama. And the word in question came wrapped in Biden's instantly infamous train wreck of a description: "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Nicely put, senator. Now if you'd just figure out a way to remove your instep from your windpipe...

The best part is -- and Biden hustled himself right over to Jon Stewart to say so -- is that Biden meant it as a compliment! The whole package, and its several components, including "articulate."

We -- white folks, I mean -- really think that way. Lots of us really seem to think that calling a black person "articulate" is a compliment. By which we mean, "He can actually put sentences together!" By which we mean, "He doesn't drop his final g's, or speak in rhyming couplets."

By which we mean -- and it's the highest praise we in Whitedom know how to offer: "He almost sounds like one of us!"

As opposed, of course, to all those other ones out there. (You know the ones we're talking about...)

I can't tell you how often over the years I've heard the word "articulate" used in exactly that way. By well-meaning white friends and neighbors, for instance, to describe a black colleague -- but almost never a white colleague. By white reporters to describe a well-spoken black athlete -- but almost never a similarly well-spoken white athlete.

Apparently it's no big surprise, and certainly not worthy of mention, when some white kid can string his subjects and his verbs without getting tangled up in the linguistic underbrush. It's simply assumed.

For a black kid, the assumption is...different.

And it's not just about athletes, or Biden wouldn't be sweating in the spotlight right now. It's the same deal with politicians. Does anybody ever think of calling Chuck Hagel "articulate"? Or Jay Rockefeller? Or Lindsey Graham? They certainly are articulate -- but it wouldn't occur to most people (most white people, that is) to put it quite that way. To use that particular word. But then, they're white.

But when they're black? Our expectations are...different.

You think about it -- when and where you've heard the word, and who's saying it, and who they're saying it about -- and you see if I'm not onto something here. Maybe Joe Biden's great big splat will push us Caucasian types to put a cork in it -- but I doubt it. As long as there are mouths to fill and feet to fill them, we're sure to keep making fools of ourselves. But we might just want to take an extra-hard look at "articulate."

I'm not even going near "clean."

Posted 2/1/07. For words that entertain and enlighten, click to "Rick's"!

Rick Horowitz is a syndicated columnist, TV commentator, writing coach and public speaker.

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