permaculture

[Marimike6@cs.com]

>It's also a bad idea, if you meet a black person whose manner of speech
>impresses you, to call him "articulate". Don't ask why. Just jot it down in

To which Jedd adds "This is a shame, as I'd love to ask why."

That's the current kiss of death among political buzzwords, Jedd. I think it 
was Barack Obama, about whom someone recently commented that he was an 
"articulate" black candidate. And the entire black population of the country 
went 
ballistic.

"What do you mean? Are the rest of us just too ignorant to be able to speak 
intelligibly?" was among the nicer of the thousands of negative comments. It 
seems this word hits a nerve.

And black folks are entitled to have some sensitivities in this area. After 
all, since the end of state sponsored apartheid in this country, certain 
people 
who are still not entirely happy with sharing the country with black citizens 
have been known to speak in code. 

So when the word "articulate" is uttered, they also hear the unspoken rest of 
the phrase "...for a black person".

Face it, we have a legacy to live down. Too many centuries of discrimination 
have gone by for us to be able to just wave a magic wand and say "okay, now 
it's all over". Jews hear these coded buzz words whether or not they are 
intended, as with the possibly innocent comment "Jewish bankers". And black 
people 
also hear them, when someone white calls a light skinned, straight haired, 
only 
technically black person "attractive". It stings.

I don't find it too much trouble to be sensitive, and to offer respect to my 
fellow man and woman. I think mostly people blunder into this kind of thing 
unknowingly, when we don't have close black or Jewish friends to set us 
straight.

So that's my other two cents. That makes four cents now.

Michael