Homestead mailing list

["Robert Walton" <waltonrp AT gmail.com>]

On Tue, Sep 9, 2008 at 5:57 PM,  <DSanner106 AT aol.com> wrote:
> Hi Rob,
>   I am also from Georgia, and the word is still commonly used,  just not
> to describe black people. My friends and co-workers, mostly black
> were a bit confused that this word they also use is now racist. We  still
> use it when describing someone who is trying to act above there  station
> in the workplace for example. When someone who is not your supervisor
> tries to order you around, or adopts the power of your boss by dropping
> their name, they are acting uppity. The word itself is not an insult and is
> describing an action, not a person, so we could not see how the word
> itself could be offensive. It is a descriptive term not tied in any way to
> skin tone.
>
> D

I was born and raised in Florida. I live in Virginia. I'm a
southerner. I use the word all the time. It's like the word "tacky".
Harmless and gets used all the time, a southern thing.

I have not idea if the guy that AKKA was talking about meant it in a
bad way, I doubt he did.

I sure have the horse sense to not use the word "uppity" to describe a
black person, especially in a professional or public discussion.
That's treading on soft ground. Not right or wrong, just reality.

There is a sheriff in North Carolina in trouble for saying Mexicans
are "trashy". Another instance where a public official should now by
now that non local ears might construe that as wrong.

Rob - Va