The Isle of Perspicuity

(Originally Posted on Yahoo360, 01.31.07)

Obama v. Biden?

I just watched a news blurb about comments made by Senator Biden during an interview being posted on the web. The comments were about Obama, and it went something like “he’s clean, he’s bright, he’s intelligent, and he’s articulate”.

Somehow, this has been taken as an insult. Why? It’s because Obama is Black, and incredibly, calling a black man ‘articulate’ or ‘intelligent’ is not ok. The assumption is made that, if a white man says it, it’s racist, because it automatically shows surprise and shock that a Black man can be ‘articulate’ or ‘intelligent’.

Let’s take this to its logical conclusion, shall we?

I find that President George W. Bush is very inarticulate, and I wonder how his intelligence stacks up against other, perhaps more qualified, individuals. Does this statement qualify as a compliment to the entire White race? Does it, somehow, speak to some assumption that the entire White race is predisposed to be articulate and intelligent, and somehow the fact that Dubyuh doesn’t fit the bill is a shocker?

No. I simply was making a statement of my personal opinion about another individual human being. So, I believe, was Senator Biden.

The fact that Obama is running for president is enough to spark conversation about him. Any factors that might or might not help him actually win the election are fair game for us to talk about. How would YOU describe Obama?

Well, he’s Black, we can’t ignore that, nor should we. Neither should we glorify or condemn it, either. There will be those that will, rest assured of that, but there will be a distinct difference between the two camps: those that condemn him for being Black will do so privately, among friends, family and fellow KKK members, while those who glorify in the fact that he is Black will do so publicly; on the news, on talk shows, etc.

But, he also happens (in some people’s opinion, Senator Biden among them, apparently) to be handsome, clean cut, intelligent, and articulate. These are all factors that are widely known and accepted to be large factors in the modern era of the Media dominating our electoral process, no matter what the race of the individual who is running. These are all factors that are positive assets for anyone attempting to achieve the country’s Highest Office. How is it an insult to recognize those qualities in Obama and state them out loud?

I think it’s time we stop being so eager to find petty shit to tear each other apart over. It isn’t good for us as a society. It’s divisive, it’s destructive, and it also happens to be racist. I’m sorry, but when I, as a white man, have to be subjected to intense scrutiny and subjective interpretation whenever I make a comment about a Black person, simply because I am White, it’s racist.

At what point do we stop trying to get over on the other race and just work on trying to live together? Why does Al Sharpton have to run onstage screaming ‘racism’ every day? Racism is real, to be sure, but why do we have to look for it everywhere, under every rock and behind every tree, even in a comment that is obviously bursting with compliments?

When can we stop being Black or White and just be Human? When will we finally be done paying for the sins of the ancestors of other people?