'Articulate,' 'Clean,' 'Mainstream': How Else Will Biden 'Compliment' Obama?

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What was he thinking? The nation's liberals and conservatives alike are buzzing over Sen. Joseph Biden's comments about Sen. Barack Obama. Announcing his plans to run for the presidency, Biden, of Delaware, described Obama as "the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

"Clean" is the word most pundits on the right and left are focusing on. But it's Biden's use of the words "articulate" and even "mainstream" that suggest he considers black people in America as different from the "norm."

Biden's words offend because they suggest that Obama is an aberration—a black man who, when speaking, uses the proper subject/verb agreement. There are millions of black men—and women—who do that all day, every day ("24-7" to use the vernacular), and I dare say that now they will not vote for Biden. They are sick and tired of being told they are "articulate" because their grammar is correct. (See also: 'You're So Articulate')

That Biden described Obama as "clean" and "mainstream" compounds his offense. Biden, as a white man, represents this country's power elite. He is part of a group that has, through laws, subjugated women and people of color on the basis of the very stereotypes that Biden used to describe Obama.

That thought process is one of the root causes that create the disparity between whites and blacks in this nation. It is why a person with a "black-sounding" name is less likely to be interviewed or hired than a person named John or Jenny. It is why there are so few black members of corporate boards or black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. It is why white students at Clemson University feel they can mock black stereotypes. It is why television and film don't depict the full spectrum of black culture. It is why U.S. senators have a woeful diversity record.

And this isn't the first time Biden has offended people of color. Biden's use of stereotypes to describe Obama focused new attention on comments he made last year about East-Indian Americans when he said, "you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking."

At the end of a day, during which Biden was supposed to celebrate his second presidential run, he went on the "Daily Show With John Stewart" to explain himself:

"Look, what I was attempting to be, but not very artfully, is complimentary," Biden told Stewart. "This is an incredible guy. This is a phenom. This guy is ... the word that got me in trouble is using the word 'clean.' I should have said 'fresh.' What I meant was that he's got new ideas. He's a new guy on the block."

Then why not just say that?

Here's what the bloggers think:

The liberal blog Tennessee Guerilla Women (TGW) writes with tongue firmly in cheek, "Aren't you so very glad that Barack Obama is not like all those other inarticulate and dull and dirty and ugly African Americans? We're embarrassed to admit it, but Senator Biden from Delaware is indeed a Democrat."

Conservative blogger John E. Carey writes that Biden "urged reporters to believe one of the oldest excuses of all: the remark was taken out of context. Actually, the remark was taken out of Sen. Biden's mouth as he was, apparently, inserting a foot."

And the conservative Moore Thoughts blog contends that Biden's remark ends any speculation that he will be nominated as the Democratic nominee for president. "He goes on to point out that Senator Obama is 'clean'??!! Wow. That one word just acted like a jackhammer drilling a huge hole into Biden's now-sinking presidential ship."

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