Being Articulate – Bomani Jones

February 9, 2007

SSP–check me tonight at 7:30 ET with Hanif Omar on 90.7 FM in the Triangle. Check out his site at www.fastbreakradio.com, and click here for what I believe is a live feed.
At the risk of being self-indulgent, I’m very articulate. When you’ve spoken English for more than 20 years, you’ve got a fighting change of getting pretty good at it.
I’m not sure why I mentioned that; many people have taken the time to let me know that I’m articulate, so I figure that must be self-evident. But hey, a guy once told me that at a speech tournament in high school, and I’d figure that it should only be worth mentioning when someone is not articulate at a talking contest.
Interestingly, all of those who have complimented me on being articulate people have been white. There are a lot of conclusions to be drawn frm that, and I’m too tired to do so right now.
I can tell you that being told you’re “articulate” is an insulting, backhanded compliment. The reason for that, of course, is that I’ve only heard “articulate” used by white people to describe non-white people. Well, except for this one time this black girl I met when I was in grad school that told me that she was blown away by how articulate the black people in Atlanta are. FYI, that girl hadn’t ever been around very many black people.
But rather than belaboring that point, let’s get beneath the surface on this one. There actually is a legitimate reason for white people to note when black people are articulate, and that reason is probably more problematic than the low expectations many white people have of others.
See, there might be more avenues for inarticulate black people to become famous through the mass media than for white people. People enjoy laughing at inarticulate people, but they really enjoy laughing at inarticulate black people. In fact, there’s a wealth of evidence–and all it takes are eyes and ears to find that evidence–that there’s a greater demand for inarticulate black people in the media than the well-spoken. Shit, just watch the news if you don’t believe me.
So, in a way, it is kind of surprising to see articulate black people on TV. That isn’t really what the world wants to see from black folks. Therefore, the world doesn’t see too many of us that regularly conjugate verbs properly.
So where’s the surprise when white people point out an articulate black person?
To me, this is more of an issue with the media than it is an issue of white people having something wrong with them. The culture at large has something wrong with it, and we can’t lose sight of that in the name of raking someone over the coals for saying the wrong thing.

Comments


david

September 21, 4576, 7:39 pm

people have called me articulate before, and i'm white. and i can't remember ever using the word articulate to describe one of my black friends before. not because they aren't, but probably because 20-year-olds rarely discuss such things. ps: i'm loving it everytime someone asks me if i saw the bomani jones column on page 2 and i get to launch into the story of how he used to be my freshman econ TA.

ETS

September 21, 4577, 7:39 pm

I agree with Bo and Justin Sands. Not quite sure how, but I do. I guess it's because I believe that many whites AND blacks - not all - have a standard for "blackness." And many of them are shocked when blacks supercede that standard, which of course is unfortunate.

Justin Sands

September 21, 4575, 7:39 pm

Bo, Love your stuff but I think this one's a bit off to me. For one, never really liked it when people made broad generalizations like "black people are..." or "white people are..." and in this post you kinda are. Do we, white people, love laughing at inarticulate black people? Well, I suppose so, but so do black people, who go see the same commedians that we see. And we see them for the same reasons: because they're funny, not to make fun of people who don't speak right. There are plenty of articulate black commedians out there that get plenty of pub but have a different type of humor, Bernie Mack being a prime example. Perhaps you weren't talking just about commedians. Maybe its just us whites like to be entertained by any form of inarticulate black people. Well, then your argument gets weaker. The only other format where people explicitly go to hear someone speak would be music, and while hip hop has its people who aren't qualified to give any type of speech, the very fact that they can hook up words so well and create poetry to music is articulate. Perhaps in a different way than people realize, but it is. I think the nexus of your comments comes down to the lowered expectations you claim white people have for other folks. Well, I wouldn't just say that white people have them. There have been plenty of studies, books, and news tv specials on the phenomenon of black youths shouting down other black youths for "acting white," or, in other words, being articulate. I simply point this out not to shift the burden of lowered expectations solely on the black community but to highlight that this is systematic across the board. One could make the argument that it's origin comes from racisim, and I would agree, but the fact is that its there, and while looking toward the historic lowered expectations whites have had toward blacks is important, doing so only shows you half of the problem and a fourth of the cure. If white people had higher standards for blacks without blacks sharing those same standards, then we'd have another form of racism where some would argue that we have placed the bar too high for blacks, putting them up to a standard that they cannot uphold. The point of that last comment is to show that white people are not really in a situation to change this perception without another form of backlash. I believe this is a great example of what Jason Whitlock calls a problem created out of white racisim but that demands a black solution. White people had a strong hand in creating this situation, but us white folk having greater standards for the articulation of black men and women simply will not solve it. Sorry for being so long, just wanted to be thorough. Love your work Justin Sands 1. Thanks for the kind words. 2. Show me once where I said what all white people do. I said that people, with no specifying modifier, have a demand for inarticulate black people. Not absolving anyone there. 3. Oh buddy, don't get me started on that "acting white" thing.

Dave

September 21, 4578, 7:39 pm

What does it say that when I was reading that post all I could think of was a Chris Rock bit (I think it's from "Bring the Pain") about white people's only compliment of Colin Powell is "He speaks so well!" And what does it say that the bit is ten years old yet this is still the prevalent attitude?

RHH

September 21, 4579, 7:39 pm

I think your logic could also be applied to your MLK day post. My guess is that ol' boy observed all the tall and/or black folk headed to the hoops camp, and the short uncoordinated white folk headed to the SAT camp, and made an assumption based on that. Obviously the reasons behind that trend are a symptom of racism in the macrocosm, but unless ol' boy forced you to pony up some ID before he let you pass, I doubt it was anything personal.

AJ

September 21, 4580, 7:39 pm

Let me be honest - not very many white people or whatever else color people are exposed to intelligent black males/females regularly. Take for example when I go play hoops at the rec center on my college campus - most of the guys I kick it with say nigga, bitch, and make violent threats to each other and the white kids shooting around just watch them like a spectacle. I mean, of course white people are gonna think black people are inarticulate when 97% of the time, it's the only interaction they've ever seen between black people and other black people. It's not a question of who is responsible for or contributing to this idea that people are surprised by articulate black people, it's a question of how limited the exposure is and how ridiculous black people make themselves out to be when they do get a chance of getting exposed. I mean, many people simply don't care what comes out of Stephen A. Smith's mouth because to my white friends he's just another angry, black man. Is this right? No. But is he presenting himself in the right light by screaming all the time? I mean, isn't he essentially an angry, black man when most people are exposed to him?? So what am I saying? I'm not saying that black people in general are inarticulate, but most of the black people that most of the white people are exposed to are. And unfortunately, most of this country listens to the radio and watches television and neither of those mediums are dominated by articulate blacks.

AJ

September 21, 4581, 7:39 pm

And by Stephen A. Smith not presenting himself in the "right light" I mean that it's not in someone's best interest to always be screaming or angry (see Lewis Black as to why anger is not funny). Why does Stephen A. Smith's pitch revolve around being real loud and opinionated?? There are plenty of white people that are like that too in the media, the problem is that Stephen A. is among the very few representing for his race, and like it or not, that's going to shift people's opinions. And, correction, I meant to say how ridiculous "some" black people tend to be when getting some exposure. I'd rather listen to Greg Anthony on 1st and 10 then listen to Stephen A. yell all the time - and that's because I don't think anger is amusing. The same way I'd rather listen Dennis Miller then Lewis Black. I mean, I can't condone any negative stereotypes that people have for blacks (and there are plenty of them), but wouldn't you say that most of those stereotypes are re-affirmed through the exposure they get??? Not saying anything is right or wrong, but it also would be less prevalent if more black people were articulate when given a chance to speak to the majority of people who don't regularly speak with or even see black people. Fuck, I'm surprised when I meet a articulate black person cause let me be honest without getting reamed for doing so - most of the black people I meet aren't articulate. I don't care how that makes me look cause that's just pure honesty coming from me.

eauhellzgnaw

September 21, 4582, 7:39 pm

Black speakers who draw heavily on the oral traditions of the black church = "engaging,” “electric," "skilled orators," sometimes “charismatic” (in the positive sense) Black speakers who express opinions that make people uneasy = "fiery," sometimes "charismatic" (in the sense that negative sense) Black speakers who white people perceive to be "white sounding" = "articulate" A few more things: 1.) White speakers are often described in the same terms as black speakers in the first two categories, but are almost never described as “articulate.” 2.) Being “articulate” has nothing to do with actual oratory prowess, as exemplified by Powell and Rice. Obama would be called “articulate” even if he weren’t an engaging speaker. 3.) “Eloquent” is rarely used with black people, but when it is, it has more to do with the esteem in which a black speaker’s ideology is held; hence, MLK and Obama might be “eloquent,” while Malcolm X and Al Sharpton are not. 4.) Oddly enough, Alan Keys is the only person I can think of who has been placed in every one of the categories.

brotherbrown

September 21, 4583, 7:39 pm

AJ you just equated cussing on a basketball court to a person's ability to speak well. That doesn't make any sense.