So much more fun to let it all hang out and then deny “intention”:
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Grantville, Ga., described the Obamas as members of an “elitist-class … that thinks that they’re uppity,” according to The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper.
Asked to clarify whether he intended to use the word, he said, “Yeah, uppity.”
Don’t you love the way somebody gave him an out by asking him if he “intended” to use the word?
And here’s his statement when called on it:
I’ve never heard that term used in a racially derogatory sense. It is important to note that the dictionary definition of ‘uppity’ is ‘affecting an air of inflated self-esteem — snobbish.’ That’s what we meant by uppity when we used it in the mill village where I grew up.
Ah, the Dictionary Defense™, otherwise known as The Last Bastion of Idiots™. Because of course all possible nuances of words are contained within their dictionary meanings, and those dictionaries are updated continuously (maybe even hourly!) to keep up with semantic change. And of course, the dictionaries are written by a multicultural group of individuals, working in harmony together.
Hold hands now, everybody! *singing* I’d like to teach the world to sing! In perfect harmony!
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September 6, 2008 at 4:48 am
CJsDaddy
I can’t say I’ve ever heard this term in a racial context before this, and would not have hesitated to use it toward anyone for whom the description fits. Hence another reason to come here and learn, but I really need a racimese and racist code dictionary!
Given the dude’s track record, it would seem he knew what he was saying though.
September 6, 2008 at 8:49 pm
macon d
I picked up the racism embedded within the linguistic code right away, but then, I often hear such dog whistles.
There’s no way Westmoreland didn’t know what he was saying with a subtextual nudge-nudge wink-wink.
September 6, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Kathy
CJsDaddy,
In the context of “assuming airs beyond your station in life” wouldn’t you think that’s pretty racist thing to say? You know, like white people
are “your betters”? Has anyone even thought to call Palin, mayor of 8000,
governor of a state the population of maybe Austin, TX, with questionable education credentials, “uppity”?
September 7, 2008 at 2:45 am
CJsDaddy
I guess I would have considered the term uppity to be synonymous with snobbish or conceited, That’s how I would have used it, and that’s how I’ve heard it used. I can’t remember a specific, but I would have used it to criticize someone who looked down upon me. So, I’m not sure about Palin, but I might have used it to describe a spoiled celebrity.
I’ve never even looked up the dictionary definition to be honest. So I totally see what you’re saying now. Like I said, I’m sure there are lots of terms and phrases out there that have an ugly side – so I continue to learn.
September 7, 2008 at 2:57 am
Mer
Like CJ’s Daddy, I thought uppity meant snobby, too :/
September 7, 2008 at 7:37 am
Kathy
Ok, so if somebody called you a cracker, would you have to think about it or look it up in the dictionary? Just saying, I mean, cracker could mean thin, white biscuit, but you know what it means, don’t ya?
September 7, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Psychobabbler
Kathy, 20 years ago if someone had called me a cracker, I would have been absolutely clueless as to what it meant – I would have understood that it was something negative, but I would have had to ask someone else for the rest, because I had never been exposed to it. Not being exposed to discussions/terms having to do with race is something that goes hand in hand with growing up with/living with white privilege, paarticularly for those whose privilege has led to isolation from other racial & cultural groups.
September 8, 2008 at 12:42 am
Kathy
Psychobabbler,
Where is your sense of humor, I mean, this was supposed to be joke, I didn’t even make it up, darn I wish I had.
racial isolation is the new privilege, those poor white people who don’t know better/discussions/terms/blah blah blah/ hardy har har har.
September 8, 2008 at 2:01 am
Mer
Well, today I talked to my dad about this and asked if he knew, he said yes he did. He thinks it was “before my time.” Though that made me feel a little better, I am still in shock that I could have been using a term that is so very horrible. (After talking to dad explain it in more detail I was very disgusted.)
When someone says, “Hey, that’s racist!” you have to say, “Ok! I won’t say it again.” It’s not really that hard.
September 8, 2008 at 3:50 am
CJsDaddy
I think I’ll ask around about this one also. A quick google reveals a few othe stories about it, including a comment directed at Spike Lee. It’s all about learning.
Funny thing is that if you would have called me a cracker 20 years ago, I would not have even thought it to be negative – just strange!
September 8, 2008 at 5:08 am
sinoangle
Ah, it seems that, in our belief that ending segregation ended racism, we have forgotten so much of our past.
September 8, 2008 at 12:09 pm
resistance
Kathy, I think you put your finger right on it. There’s definitely a presumption of class/status in the use of this word. The user is assuming everybody can recognize his or her own class and what he or she perceives as the class of the “uppity” person.
In Obama’s case, I think that people resent him not because he is “elitist” but because he is one of the elite.
Westmoreland is a high-school graduate.
sinoangle, I don’t think it’s so much that we’ve forgotten our past as we’ve actively worked to deny it and suppress it as well as worked to maintain racist ways.
September 8, 2008 at 2:56 pm
aprildelfuego
So the article you linked to that quotes Westmoreland also states that another charming act of his was to oppose renewing the 1965 Voting Rights Act…and he didn’t know the racist connotations of “uppity?” Give me a break!
One thing that is good about the racist comments and stuff being directed at the Obamas is that I’ve talked to a number of liberal folks who are FINALLY starting to get that I haven’t been exaggerating about how bad racism is in our country.
My mom said something along the lines of how all this time she thought that white people’s attitudes towards black folks had mostly changed due to the Civil Rights movement, but now she sees that really people are still just as racist as ever, they’ve just been a little quieter about it, and that perhaps their silence has been them seething in resentment.
@resistance–I agree that as a culture we’ve actively worked to deny our past. and we do the same thing about the present: we actively work to stay unaware of how bad things are right now. I know for myself, as a white person, its a daily commitment to stay in the discomfort of knowing that not only is racism alive and well around me, but that I have racism within me and that I need to always work to face it instead of run from it. I think its so easy for many white people to avoid dealing directly with racism, and to avoid dealing with their whiteness.
(see my blog post http://aprilschlenk.com/2008/08/02/talking-about-racism/ for more on my experience)
September 8, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Minority Report / Stereohyped
[...] • As predicted, Congressman Westmoreland says he didn't know "uppity" was a bad thing to call black people. [RR] [...]
September 10, 2008 at 3:45 am
molecularshyness
April, I think your mom is right. The seething anger is definitely what I see when I see white kids talking about affirmative action.
The seething anger is what I see in my coworkers as they champion a VP choice like Palin because she has what they consider to be a ‘typical family’.
This is the resentment that Barack alluded to in his speech [back in February? March?] that I still don’t think should be so easily excused.