'Articulate' Double Standard?

[question everything]

WSJ Washington Wire

February 20, 2007, 5:14 pm
'Articulate' Double Standard?

Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Biden took a pounding recently for an interview in which he praised primary rival Barack Obama, an African-American, as “articulate,” among other things. Critics argued that Biden’s use of the term suggested that it was unusual for African-Americans to be articulate.

But over the holiday weekend, Biden got some company in that phrasing from an especially credible source on the subject of racial sensitivity: NAACP President Bruce Gordon. In an interview on CNN, Gordon criticized the news media for relying too heavily on former presidential candidates Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton for assessments of the views of African-Americans.

Gordon ascribed that reliance to the fact that “Al and Jesse are bright, articulate, compelling personalities. They’ve both run for president, so they’ve created a presence for themselves, and the media gets lazy and simply picks them because they always have.”

A spokeswoman for Biden declined to comment. –John Harwood

URL: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/02/20/double-standard/trackback/ (subscription)

[Phredicles]

1. Yeah, but Biden said Obama was the FIRST "sort of mainstream African

American" who was articulate, etc., etc.

Besides, doesn't WSJ = Wall Street Journal? No ulterior divisive agenda here, no way :sarcasm:

[patrice]

2. "It's okay for me to talk about my own family, not okay for you."

perhaps.