Newsweek's Julia Reed just said on AC360 that President Obama is "out of his cotton picking mind"

[Turborama]

Is that a racial slur? If so, it was totally ignored by Cooper and Bergen (I'll add the video and transcript when they're online).

She said it while she was slamming President Obama's speech and the drilling moratorium. I just had a look at http://www.newsweek.com/authors/julia-reed.html">Newsweek's site and she seems to be a food critic, the only political thing I've found so far is http://www.wowowow.com/post/julia-reed-laura-bush-has-thankless-job-146295">this article praising Laura Bush.



(edited to add the link to her page on Newsweek)

[Clio the Leo]

1. All of my white, cotton pickin' relatives probably would say no.

.... unless you mean that the President was being insulted as someone of caucasian heritage. :)

(But I dont know how much cotton grows in Kansas)

[SheilaT]

2. It is possible to be over the top

sensitive.

I use that phrase on occasion. I think it is now so far removed from any possible racial connotation that the only insult in it is the implication that Obama is nuts.

Others may disagree.

[asjr]

3. That expression is so old it has

a beard.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

5. but it is not necessary

[Cha]

4. More critics that show how ignorant and low class they can

actually be.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

6. the media has gone down over the years

[Cha]

10. Oh yeah..I'm wondering if it has to hit

the absolute bottom of the rocky abyss before it starts climbing upward again?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

17. if it were up to me

I would close them down and start them up again with balanced reporting

[Cha]

24. You would have more than a few

joining in your Proclaimation for the country!:patriot::patriot::patriot:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

29. When I think back to the 'changes in Hungary and other Baltic states

on of the first things they did was take over the media!

I think we can put people on the boards of the big media so it will be become more balanced. The BBC is still one my favorites.

[RollWithIt]

7. Freudian slip..... It's definitely an odd thing to say...

And it's definitely ridiculous when you look at the overall situation.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Probably not -- or at least not intentionally so.

It's an old expression, maybe an original reference to actual cotton-picking, but I've never heard it used in an obviously racial way. More here: http://verbmall.blogspot.com/2010/05/cotton-pickin.html

[Turborama]

19. Thanks for the link

I was asking out of genuine curiosity. I did a Google search before posting and from what I could find there isn't that much about it online, apart from some questions on Yahoo Answers.

[jenmito]

9. I saw that. She was like the female Carville. Nah-it's just an insult-calling him "crazy."

SHE'S out of HER cotton-pickin' mind to say Obama should lift the moratorium.

[Cha]

25. You know how they like to project their

ills and guilt on others.

[Captain Hilts]

11. It was a standard expression in general usage for a LONG time. Particularly in cartoons. nt

[SeattleGirl]

12. My dad used to say that quite a bit. He's white, and was a cotton

picker in Arkansas when he was young, so I've never seen it as a racial slur.

As to Ms. Reed's intent of using that particular verbage in connection with Obama, that I couldn't say.

[Schema Thing]

13. Of course it's not a racial slur.

[Renew Deal]

14. I haven't heard that since Dukes of Hazzard

:wtf:

[JohnnyLib2]

15. Nope, not a slur.

Awkward, though.

[Gman]

16. My mother told me that countless times when I was growing up

Usually when I wanted something. At times instead of "you must be", she would ask "are you...?"

Race has nothing to do with it. Blacks aren't the only people that ever picked cotton.

[KansasVoter]

18. No big deal!

[Pirate Smile]

20. I only learned five or so years ago that enie minie minie moe had been

a racist saying. Growing up kids used it to pick stuff - always using tiger. I never heard anything else. I had no clue. I do think there are phrases that were started as racist sayings that have morphed and people under a certain age aren't even aware of the history - so I think when they get used that a lot of people don't associate the older, racist saying with it today.

As for Julia, all I know about her is that she is RW and from Louisiana.

[tekisui]

21. Out-dated and it is strange that someone on CNN would say it.

I don't think it is a racial slur. We used to say it growing up as a substitute for 'mother fucking'.

[depakid]

22. It's a Southernism- not sure how African Americans would take it

but it was used among and between white people while I was growing up with some frequency.

[Turborama]

26. That's the demographic which would be able to give a definitive answer

Particularly African Americans from the South.

[vaberella]

27. Not so well. I thought race---but I'm hypersensitive.

I did speak to my friend from the South (Georgia and then South Carolina) he confirmed what you said.

[customerserviceguy]

23. I'm not aware of it being used

as a racial slur, it is probably some figure of speech left over from many years ago when it might have been used as such, but has lost that meaning over the years.

[donco6]

28. If someone tells me an expression is offensive to them, I don' t argue.

But so far, I've never heard them say that about this one.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

30. Newsweek is losing money

they should be more careful

[BeyondGeography]

31. A white person saying that about a black person...please

Go ahead, try that on the street sometime. If it doesn't work out, you can always say some posters on DU said it was OK.

[kestrel91316]

32. It's a southern-ish colloquialism. My mom used to say it all the time, and so do I.

No racial reference to it at all, as far as I know.

[Mimosa]

33. Not racial at all, just a bit antiquated.

I saw the video since I watch Anderson Cooper every night. I'd rather hear cotton pickin' than some crude cuss word.

[Turborama]

34. Video and transcript added to the Political Videos Forum...

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x476421

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNQ69mkkXc8

[AtomicKitten]

35. A fabulously unfortunate choice of words - LOL - but no slur. nt

[Hosnon]

36. No, not at all. For starters, few people realize what words they're actually

using when they say that.

It's just a mindless expression that means "insane".

[Arkana]

37. Unfortunate choice of words, but not racist.

[goclark]

38. I'm African American ~ let's just say it was a poor choice of words

I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. :fistbump: