Klassic Kolbert: Rep. Lynn Westmoreland
By
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland has managed to put his foot pretty deeply into his mouth, according to this Washington Post article:
Georgia GOP Congressman Calls Obama ‘Uppity’
By Jonathan WeismanRep. Lynn Westmoreland, a conservative Republican from Georgia, let slip today what critics have been saying is the subtext of many of the attacks on Barack Obama: He’s “uppity.”
. . .
“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mister Obama, Senator Obama, they’re a member of an elitist class individual that thinks that they’re uppity,” Westmoreland said.
When a reporter sought clarification on the racially loaded word, Westmoreland replied, “Uppity, yeah.”
. . .
Is it wrong that I was so pleased to see the Washington Post also mention Rep. Westmoreland’s other “claim to fame”? Here’s that modern day classic, Stephen Colbert’s “Better Know a District” interview with Lynn Westmoreland:
Related posts
12 Comments
September 4th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Congress should expel people more often.
Reply
September 4th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
He should start a new segment called “Better Know a Racist.” Hey look! He already recorded his first entry!
Reply
September 4th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I never knew uppity was a “racially loaded word.” *goes to review an online dictionary.*
Ya gotta love that video though! haha.
Reply
September 4th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I love how at times in the BKAD Stephen has this look of incredulity on his face as if even he can’t believe what’s coming out of Westmoreland’s mouth. Specifically 5:35 i think it is.
Reply
September 4th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
How is uppity a racially charged word?
Reply
September 4th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
As in “uppity Negro” (or worse). The classic accusation leveled against black people who were perceived as not “knowing their place.” Google the phrase and you’ll see examples — some ironic, many serious.
A lot of the blogs I read have made solid arguments throughout the campaign that some of the constant refrain of “he’s elitist” or “he’s arrogant” had this attitude behind it — obvously many people are very quick to see a black person who’s achieved any kind of high status as smug, or show-offy. Nice to that not only is the coded language not necessary, it’s not even necessary for members of Congress.
(Edit — yay edit option — sorry, Ms Interpreted’s post came up while I was still delicately parsing my words.)
Reply
September 4th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Heh – no problem. That edit feature is pretty nice.
Reply
September 4th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Shruti and Laaaura,
There’s a long and ugly history of using the label “uppity n****r” to describe a black individual who doesn’t “know his/her place”. It was a phrase common to the Jim Crow era, and there are certain contexts in which it is still used as a slur today (although there has been an attempt to “reclaim” the phrase, with “uppity negro” now gracing T-shirts and websites). The word itself isn’t offensive, but it’s not unlike the way “boy” isn’t offensive … until it’s being used by a white individual to disparage a black man. I don’t like to assume the worst about people, but I find it very hard to believe that this congressman from the Deep South was unaware of the racial implications of “uppity” as applied to the Obamas, particularly when a reporter asked him to “clarify” it.
It’s possible that I’m being overly negative, but I was recently reading Voices of Freedom (a companion piece to the much-praised but almost impossible to find miniseries, Eyes on the Prize). Reading the first- and secondhand accounts of people who were savagely beaten, permanently incapacitated, and too-often killed merely for attempting to vote, enter common public venues, attend public schools, report injustices or crimes committed against them, even look at white people … it really makes me hurt inside. And that’s why I get angry at the thought of any of that era’s slurs persisting or resurfacing nowadays.
I think there’s something encouraging in the fact that the phrase is so rarely used these days that the negative connotations are no longer universally recognized. And as I say, I don’t want to think the worst of people, so I certainly hope the congressman was simply ignorant. But I just can’t believe that. I can only hope that he becomes more sensitive in the future and, at the very least, I should fervently hope that he never says it again.
*Climbing off of soapbox now*
Reply
September 5th, 2008 at 1:20 am
@Ms Interpreted,
You can stay on that soapbox — it’s for a good cause. :)
I also wondered if the incredible hateful sneers at the RNC about Obama being a “community organizer” were also at least part-code for his choice to aid and assist those in poor and poverty-stricken black neighborhoods (cue Westmoreland again).
Reply
September 4th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
That just is… ugh. Sometimes I wonder how people can say stuff like that.
Watching him squirm in that clip made me feel ten times better though. I could name more commandments than him and I don’t even believe in God xD
Reply
September 5th, 2008 at 2:04 am
I’m waiting for Stephen to mention this. He probably will, since Westmoreland was on the show.
Reply
September 5th, 2008 at 10:53 am
the thing I perhaps love best about this statement, is that his sentence actually makes no sense!
They’re a member of an individual? what?
They (the individuals) think themselves uppity? What?
It’s clear what he was trying to say — that the Obamas are individuals in an elitist class, who think they’re better than others and therefore are uppity — but the words he used didn’t say that at all.
Maybe the transcripting was bad and there were pauses or inflections that make sense, but the words the way they are barely make sense. It’s astonishing to me how many elected officials can’t even construct a coherent sentence.
Reply