Snow Defends Use Of The Term ‘Tar Baby ( On a radio program)

[IChing]

Snow Defends Use Of The Term ‘Tar Baby,’ Claims Critics Don’t Understand ‘American Culture’
Last night on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow defended his use of the phrase ‘tar baby’ during his press conference on Tuesday. The expression is “used occasionally as a derogatory term for black people,” according to Random House, and “some people suggest avoiding the use of the term in any context.”

Snow told Hewitt his use of the phrase was completely innocent, but that it would no longer be part of his “toolchest of rhetorical devices”:

Well, apparently, what’s happened is, apparently some people are unfamiliar with the pathways of American culture, and don’t realize the old Uncle Remus story where somebody hugs a tar baby. …

I’ve decided, though, because it’s a classic case of, I think, somebody trying to sort of pick a fight. I’ll probably take that out of my toolchest of rhetorical devices, rather than having to explain a hundred and fifty years of American culture.

Some high-profile conservative bloggers have helped defend Snow over the term. Kevin Aylward of Wizbang, for example, claimed that Toni Morrison’s use of the phrase for one of her novels was evidence that ‘tar baby’ isn’t commonly used as a racial epithet:

Is the term used as a derogatory term for black people? Occasionally, yes. Is more commonly used otherwise? Absolutely, as Kim Pearson’s examination details. In fact Toni Morrison has a Nobel prize winning novel tittled Tar Baby, which was a modern take on the fable.

Actually, Toni Morrison has explained her thoughts on the term:

Tar Baby is also a name, like “nigger,” that white people call black children, black girls, as I recall…. At one time, a tar pit was a holy place, at least an important place, because tar was used to build hings…. It held together things like Moses’ little boat and the pyramids. For me, the tar baby came to mean the black woman who can hold things together.

Apparently Toni Morrison is ignorant of how the term has actually been used in American culture.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/05/18/snow-tar-baby/

[Maine-ah]

1. I have never heard that phrase .

used for anything other than as a racial slur.

[IChing]

3. It is a de-humanizing term agreed

think about it, why a baby? You can have other metaphors that say the same thing that do not anthropomorphize the object.

[eleny]

5. Same here

Snow will forever be associated with this. I just don't think he can escape it or explain it away.

[napi21]

7. It's a very reference old term, and apparently has changed meaning

over the years. Similar to other words in the english language like, gay (which used to only mean happy or fun), and many other terms in the English language.

Snowe is older than I thought he was, but smarter than to use a racial slur at a press breifing. I really doubt he intended it as derogatory.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

8. Really?

I've never heard it used *as* one.

That said, I'm English rather than American, which may make a difference. But if I were looking for a metaphor for something that hitting only makes worse because you get stuck to it even more, like Iraq, "tar baby" might well be one I'd consider.

I certainly don't think using it like that reflects badly on Tony Snow, unless he was intentionally using it in a racial context, any more than talking about "calling a spade a spade" would have done. There are plenty of good reasons to criticise him, but this isn't one.

[Boo Boo]

10. Really? That amazes me. I heard it used in a fable as a child, and I've

never once heard it used as an epithet---I am aware of that possible usage, but I've never actually heard it used that way. OTOH, the story of Brer Rabbit is pretty well known. Brer Rabbit picks a fight with a straw "baby" covered in tar, but the more he fights, and the angrier be becomes the more stuck he gets.

http://www.longlongtimeago.com/llta_fables_brer_rabbit_tarbaby.html

Google is your friend.

[Connie_Corleone]

12. I guess it depends on how you grew up.

I'm black and 34 years old. I have ALWAYS heard the term used as a derogatory term for black people when growing up.

[Boo Boo]

19. Yeah, I guess it does. I'm as white as a sheet, 44 years old and, growing

up, if any child in my family had ever used a racial epithet... that would have happened exactly one time. It probably makes a difference where you grow up too. I was raised in coastal North County, San Diego, during the 60's and 70's. Not exactly a hotbed of racial tension.

Here's some more info on "Brer Rabbit":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brer_Rabbit

Although the "Uncle Remus" tales are said to be derived from African American oral tradition, they were written by a Southern White named Joel Chandler Harris. So that's where "Tar Baby" comes from. The fact that it ended up serving double duty as a racial epithet... well, not really too surprising, I guess.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Remus

[Saphire]

20. grew up in SE Texas, and have always heard it too.

[Yupster]

11. I've never heard it used as a slur

Only time I've ever heard it has been in business (other than Uncle Remus). The context has always been 'that project has been nothing but a tar baby from the start,' meaning a project that seems like an endless drain of money with little results coming from it. Also used to explain a department or project that you'd like to get reassigned to someone else, but the higher ups won't let you.

[Meldread]

2. Riiiiight.

Face it, Snowjob you slipped and let your true self show.

[tanyev]

4. "the pathways of American culture"

"my toolchest of rhetorical devices"

Yeah, there's a regular guy that Joe Six Pack would love to have a beer with.

:rofl:

[Norquist Nemesis]

6. Just curious...what did Hugh and Tony have to say about Hillary

and her "plantation" remark? Hmmm???

[ThomWV]

9. I Can Not Believe People Are Talking About This

I am old, I'll grant you that, but the Uncle Remus tales were every bit a part of my childhood. The tarbaby is in one of those tales. It was a warning to kids. Sometimes something is so cute you just want to embrace it - that thing might be a tarbaby. If you pick up the tarbaby and hug it you'll be covered with tar for the rest of your natural life.

The point is pay attention to what you embrace. It is also used to note things you wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, that implication comming from the story as well. That is what he ment.

Now, move on ....

[Common Sense Party]

13. Thank you for a refreshing dose of sanity and common sense

on this issue.

[Yavin4]

14. Snow Is Reaching Out To The Republican Base

He knew what he was doing, and he knew what he was saying. They're reaching out to their biggoted base with code phrases. Why use such a phrase when there are millions of others to use?

[Guaranteed]

15. They're bringing out every single wedge issue they can to use as

distractions.

He definitely did this on purpose.

[madrchsod]

17. yes they are

i`ve been checking around on the far right and aryan sites and it certainly has them fired up. but on the downside for bush they hate his illegals ideas. the aryan nations want mexicans shot on site and the other sites want them rounded up and sent back. it`s hard work being george bush isn`t it? no one likes him...

[madrchsod]

16. i`m 59 and i`ve always heard tar baby used

as a racial slur.

[cliss]

18. When I heard this phrase, I just automatically

assumed he meant Bush being involved with a 'Tar Baby' = meaning, the quagmire in Iraq and Afgh.

I've actually read some articles that refer to the current war as a tar baby. That's why I was surprised when Randi Rhodes started playing the clip, and people called in and said, "yes, that was a racial slur".

Here in Oregon, I have never heard that expression.