J’s Notes

You grew up in the South and never heard of a black person being
referred to as “uppity” in a derogatory way? Give me a break.

the RNC is constatly race baiting. it’s a fact.

and that’s exactly what he was doing here.

Messie - No. I have never heard the term used in a racist way. Perhaps it’s because I hang out in circles that frown upon speaking of people in such ways. Perhaps I’ve just been lucky. I have heard it used in non-racial ways, though.

I worry Dems are being overly sensitive given the situation. Just as some on the Right might jump to “quit attacking Palin for being a woman!” when a real point might be made. Certainly no one side is completely free of such knee jerk reactions.

But I’ve found that many Democrats are always looking for white sheets in the closets of Southerners, even when there is absolutely no basis for such a concern.

They’re not being overly sensitive. You’re overly ignorant. Or your faking ignorance. “Uppity Negro” is as cliched as “Uncle Tom”, and it’s window into reality of how the RNC is framing Obama for millions of racist American voters. They’re framing it that way every time they call him “arrogant” or “egotistical”. It seems innocent enough, but believe me, these strategists know what they’re doing.

They apologized in the recent past for these tactics.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-14-GOP-racial-politics_x.htm

But that was before Obama was chosen as the nominee.

I am not ignorant, nor do I pretend to be. And I appreciate that you feel justified in making negative assumptions about a person while I am forbidden to make positive assumptions but to each their own.

Broad brushes are a dangerous thing to use, yet you and many among Democrats feel it is right to use it when referring to Republicans. Fair enough.

But at a certain point common sense needs to kick in and people need to realize that there are correct modern meanings for words such as “uppity” that have a context that is not racist. Maybe that’s a generational thing, maybe it’s regional, but you can not immediately assume the worst in people or you are going to have a very long, very sad, very lonely existence.

I’m not piling on you here, Jason, but the word does have a loaded history of being followed by a variation of the n word. It was decidedly a poor word choice.

John - No worries on “piling on”. On a right of center list I’m kinda tilting at the windmills there as well as a lot of folks tell me I’m wrong. Which I guess is a good sign of the state of the GOP that its members for the most part are aware of how to choose their words wisely.

That said, maybe I’m getting caught in a generational thing here. Not calling you all old (maybe you are), but everyone I’ve spoken to about this that is my age or younger don’t get it either. But one did point out the age thing. For previous generations, involved during the 60s or earlier, there is definitely a negative connotation in the word. It was used with race in mind.

But these days, younger people use it differently, more generically if at all. Westmoreland may be a bad example of someone to defend when using the term, but for the media and others to immediately assume the term was used in a racial manner is to ignore how language evolves.

I think it’s symptomatic of many things happening in this election where people have been and will continue to use the race or gender card. Not every criticism of someone is about their race or gender. But both sides are going to do their best to paint it that way as a means of negating the criticism and turning it back around on the critic.

We have every right and obligation to call out racism and bigotry as we see it, but we also must understand that sometimes we are too quick to react and paint things as something they are not.

Barack Obama has been able to achieve some amazing things this year, as has Hillary Clinton and even Sarah Palin. Things I truly never expected to see in my lifetime. But if we continue to keep ourselves stuck in blinders and automatically define the debate in terms of race and gender, how far along have we really come?

But maybe I’m just ignorant. Or faking it.

I’ll say, in his defense, this guy is a complete idiot.

http://en.sevenload.com/videos/APAfFaS-Stephen-Colbert-versus-Lynn-Westmoreland

Jason - Here’s an exercise that you can try to see if it is offensive or not. Got to Gilpin Court, walk up to any black man you find there and call him ‘uppity’. Report back what kind of reaction you get. (just in case it goes horribly wrong let me know where to send get well flowers…)

Thanks to you

Wow. I also grew up in the South and was not aware “uppity” was a racist term. To me, “uppity” is snobbish or arrogant, maybe even elitist. Nowhere does race play any part; anyone can be uppity.

I guess some of us just cant put the past behind us. Or maybe they enjoy using it as leverage or an excuse.

Piet - I’d probably get the same result if I called the guy an asshole. Is that racist too?

I have never said uppity is not an insulting word, just that for one to imply a meaning on it that may not be there is an insult in and of itself.

Jason, my friend, you’ve lived a sheltered life I’m not that old and the use of the word “uppity” certainly has racist tones. (He just didn’t complete the thought - generally “uppity” is followed by the n-word.)

I would be more inclined to give Westmoreland the benefit of the doubt if he were younger and/or not from Georgia. But like this writer says, he should have known better.

(There has been a tendency in recent years for people to use terms previously considered derogatory in ordinary conversation as a way of taking the sting out of it or as a way to throw it back at you. Saffire (yes, a great group) is no doubt using it this way, at least as it relates to gender, as women have also been disparaged with the term. It is the explanation I’ve been given for blacks calling other blacks the n-word and for gays calling other gays queer. I’d just as soon these words disappear from everyday language.)

If Westmoreland meant snobby, he should have said so. What he’s saying now is just CYA stuff. He knows he made a mistake.

That was more of a joke than anything.

I think we need to look at the historical context of the word and the speaker. The word ‘uppity’, when spoken by a member of the southern conservative elite and referring to a black man leaves a very bad taste in people’s mouths. In too many cases, and in the not too distant past, ‘uppity’ was followed by a less polite version of ‘negro’ and on too many occasions ended with a rope and a tree.

The word itself is not really racist but it is racially charged. Personally, I am convinced the Congressman, having grown up in rural Georgia in the 50’s and 60’s in the midst of the civil rights movement, knew exactly what he was saying and how it would be perceived.

I’m in agreement with Jason here, I think it’s a generational thing. When I hear uppity I think either someone is flipping out over something that isn’t worth the energy or someone who is snobbishly arrogant and unaware of it. A quick check of some modern dictionaries confirms that.

I’ve lived all over the place, including the South and I’ve never heard ANYONE say that phrase with any racist language attached, though I know it has been used in that way in the past.

Language evolves. If I say something is gay, do I mean it is happy, homosexual, or stupid? Depends on what you want to hear?

Now, I’m not saying he did not mean it that way, I just don’t know the guy. But I think Jason is right. Democrats will tend to assume the negative interpretation of something a republican says. And republicans will do the exact same thing of democrats.

Uppity is not a racist term.
This is a fact which can be easily verified.
I was born in the south and live in the south and this is the first time I’ve ever heard that this benign word could be considered racist.

I am unable to find anything on the web (posted prior to 9/4) that would lead me to believe that this is a racist term.

Items posted after 9/4 all refer to past use of this adjective before the n-word.

If you follow this lead, you might as well consider all adjectives racist.

Stop the madness and spend your time fixing something which is broken.

It’s a little funny that, with the exception of one person here, all these white male southerners are claiming they’ve never heard this word used in a racial way and that they don’t find it offensive.

Here’s an article that examines the use of words as coded racism that predates this little dust up. Guess Mark didn’t look that hard…

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-shipler16apr16,0,2335261.story

And here’s a fun little piece that seems to revel in the use of this word.

http://christianparty.net/powell.htm

Piet - It’s also, with the exception of one (maybe two) person here, all white males who are having this discussion at all. I think Vivian puts it well and I’m willing to stand a bit corrected as I can concede that it’s a matter of who is using it and in what context.

Westmoreland may have meant it as a racial slur and if he meant snobby he could have said as much. Alternatively, if The Hill and everyone else felt Westmoreland was being racist, they should just come out and say it as opposed to beating around the bush and simply saying the word he chose was “racially tinged” and turn this less into a debate about who used it and more into a debate about the nature of English usage (which is where I’m getting caught up).

Though I will say, Mark, while I appreciate the defense, even dictionary.com is willing to grant that there is a racial origin to the word:

1880, from up; originally used by blacks of other blacks felt to be too self-assertive (first recorded use is in “Uncle Remus”).

And before this debate, I am well aware that the origins and past use of this word has had racist and sexist meanings. My point is that language can grow and evolve and to point to a word’s historical meaning and say “that’s what he meant!” is to ignore that.

that is from the hungryblues.net site:

I suppose this might seem hyperbolic to some. It is a factual, historically accurate statement.

When I interviewed the children of Samuel O’Quinn, an African American man who was shot dead by a sniper at the gate to his property in Centreville, MS in 1959, they said that the main problem their father had with whites was that he was well educated and successful.

Samuel O’Quinn was a graduate of the Tuskegee Institute—”the highest form of education you could get” at that time, if you were Black, Rance O’Quinn emphasized.

“My mother and father gave away a fortune,” Rance O’Quinn continued. “They gave money to every cause, the building of every church. They bought the bus for the kids to go to school and paid the bus driver to take children to school.”

“That’s why he was hated,” added Phalba O’Quinn Plummer. “They said he was biggity. They would say ‘uppity’ and ‘biggity.’ ‘Biggity’ means too big for his britches.”

Five years after Samuel O’Quinn was murdered, in April 1964, his eldest son, Clarence, was attacked on the Centreville Post Office steps by Chief of Police Bill Ivey. “You damn uppity nigger, you think you own the town,” Ivey said, as he beat O’Quinn with other whites looking on. Clarence O’Quinn’s 94 year old grandmother, mourning the murder of her son Samuel, urged Clarence to leave town. “You have a life worth living; you should not throw it away,” she said. “You have no rights and privileges here.”

The word uppity has always meant arrogant, snobbish, putting on airs of superiority. It has no racial meaning or reference. I have been here since the 1920’s and that word was used in movies before “talkies.” People who try to re-interpret the word must have a one-way racist mentality. We are all Americans and should not be divided by racial, ethnic or religious associations. Some healivly biased people read racism into every thought, word and deed.

I agree with Jason, that the racial connotation of uppity has lost it’s relevance with this generation (but Westmorland isnt that young, right?). It’s just a class thing now. Nonetheless, when white person signales that a black person is out of their assigned social class, that is racially inappropriate. The thing is, Obama is much less removed from the working class than his opponents, if you ask me. And of course, it’s no secret that Republicans actively extend their big tent to include white racists. Again and again, Republicans lay claim to whiteness, privilege, and patriotism as though they were all one in the same (Dems do it to a much lesser extent). It’s ugly and the party needs to choose another approach and then not revert to exploiting racial and cultural division any longer.

I’m a 24 year old white guy in the metro-detroit area. The second I saw a clip of him using the word ‘uppity’, the racist undertones were all I could, or have been able, to see. I’ve certainly never heard a white person referred to as uppity before. Racist family members love to use it though. This would be on par with calling a Jewish candidate ’stingy’.

For those of you who’ve never heard it before, just take our word for it this falls into the camp of common sense.

Anyone claiming to not know “uppity” is racially charged based on their age and it being a generational thing was raised poorly and probably by people who would have liked to use the term “uppity n-” but knew better and their only coping mechanism to keep themselves from calling someone an “uppity” n- or woman was to not use the word uppity at all nor explain anything about the use of “uppity” to their children.

Do these same people not know “bougie” (admittedly probably misspelled) or “oreo” are racially charged terms?

It is not a generational issue. I am young and have always known about “uppity”.

I also have a very hard time believeing a man who grew up in Georgia during the civil rights movement didn’t know uppity is a charged word.

You’re also an ignorant discriminant bigoted moron if you don’t realize using “gay” and “stupid” interchangeably is charged and wrong.

Yes, language evolves… but that is not an excuse to make charged words acceptable or create new discriminatory slang.

“I’ve seen some people defend this usage of the word. I am all for amelioration, but ‘uppity’ hasn’t quite reached that semantic change in this context. Regardless of what the holy dictionary says, words have connotations and are used in context. They change in each context, depending on who is speaking and what is being described. Context and connotation is everything.

What does “uppity” mean?

Arrogant. Snobbish. Haughty. Conceited.

Like the link to Feministe says, these types of charges are flung at politicians all the time. Why is ‘uppity’ so different?

‘Uppity’ also means, ‘doesn’t know one’s place.’ When has the phrase ‘doesn’t know one’s/their place’, been used? About whom?

Immigrants. Women. Slaves. Natives. People of colour. People in the margins. In the United States of America, at the very least - black people.

“Those n—–s don’t know their place.” Segregation.
“Those savages don’t know their place.” Civilization.
“Those women don’t know their place.” Kitchen.

Should I go on?

‘Uppity’ has been used by people in positions of power and privilege to describe and invalidate people in the margins who question domination and an oppressive status quo, and who are told to obey hegemony, accept supposed inferiority and servitude.”

It’s not the word. It’s the intent. We don’t have to make the election about historical (and present) patterns of inequality. But we do need to recognize that a politician applying a derogatory (and superficial) label is trying to play on existing frameworks in the minds of Joe and Jane Public. And you don’t have too think to hard to figure out which page out of the Republican playbook this one comes from.

That said, I use “bourgie” all the time. But then again, I’ve had loads of brushes with socialist circles where bourgios and preletariat were terms that were used in earnest. So, it’s just s fun tongue in cheek term for me. And I typically apply it to pretentious things middle class and above, but not to black folks b/c it hasn’t really been very long that people of color have even been economically upwardly mobile.

I am 26 years old from California, and I have NEVER even REMOTELY heard of the word ‘uppity” being racist. When I first heard this story, I thought the democrats were just making up more bullcrap as usual. I still think this story is utter useless, and those trying to say this congressman is racist are simply being idiotic. A case of “let’s play the race card and hopefully the republican will get smeared!”

Get over yourselves. Racism in politics is virtually over, no matter how much you want it to still exist.

Im a white male in my twenties originally from the northeast (now live in northern virginia) , and even i knew the term had some racial insinuation to it. That being said though, that might be just cause im a history buff. Ive never actually heard someone use it in a racial way nor did i know that it usually is followed by the n-word. I thought it was just somemthing in and of itself. So who knows. But i tend to agree with the sentiment that an older white guy from georgia, even if he were not meening it to be racial, should have known better and not said that.

[...] using code words to speak negatively of her without coming right out and saying it (see “uppity“)?  The Obama campaign and many Democrats have been using the term “lipstick” [...]

There is no THE SOUTH. There are many “souths.”
When I got to college I was quite alien to many of my fellow southerners and they were quite alien to me even in cases when we were from the same state.
In South Georgia uppity was a bad thing to be for everyone, and it was doubly bad to be an uppity Negro–especially around white people. But as a grown man in Richmond, a policeman told me that if I got smart, he would lock me up. So I guess Negroes were supposed to be stupid in Richmond at that time–the late 1960s. The comment may or may not have been racist.
Preston M. Yancy

You and I are in the same boat.

http://astrangeday.net/2008/09/11/really-uppity-is-racist/

Katfish,

You are making many assumptions here. Just because you are familiar with a usage of the word doesn’t mean everyone should. I’ve moved and lived all over the world. My parents have never shown anything but respect to every human being on the planet. To say they want to use racist terms is insulting.

I was taught that all people, everywhere, are worth just as much as anyone else and no one is better than anyone else. My parents never had to tell me not to use the word “uppity” because I was never exposed to it. I also never say the N word, but no one ever told me not to say it. I didn’t even hear anyone use it (discounting things like Roots and other books or movies) until I was in high school. Maybe you find it hard to believe that I lived in Virgina, North Carolina, and Oklahoma and never heard it before then. I don’t, but I generally associate with open minded people, so it just never came up.

I don’t know that bougie or oreo are racially charged terms either. It’s just not something I think about. I don’t know anyone that uses “oreo” and wouldn’t even know the context to use it in. I NEVER said using gay and stupid interchangeably was not wrong, I merely said gay has more than one use.

Are these things I should point out to you:

-I myself have dated several racial minorities, to include my very first girlfriend, and never thought it was worth noting before now. Should I also point out I have dated a Buddhist, a Catholic, and a Jew? What about blond, brown, or red hair?
-Anytime anyone uses the word gay in any way other than happy or homosexual, I make it a point to say something, even if it is someone I don’t know.
-I am a board member of GLOBE at my place of employment, and actively engage with our leadership on my own time to make our workplace more gay friendly.

Please do not make accusations or assumptions about me, my family, or the way I was raised. It is laughable, especially to anyone that has talked to me for more than 5 minutes.

I’m a 40 year man who has lived in the GA all of my life. I have never heard the word “uppity” used with a racist connotation. I just thought it was a “dumbed down” version of arrogant. My mom has always used it to described the folks on the “Northside” a more prominent area than I grew up.

Honestly, it’s bizarre to me that anyone would think someone who hasn’t heard this word used in this way is ignorant or oblivious. I have never heard it used in that manner in my life, although it always seemed like such an antiquated word that I’ve never used it at all. Frankly, I don’t really know anyone that has.

I’ve asked quite a bit of people about this and none of them seem to have heard this. I’m not from the south whatsoever, nor do I live in the south. If people aren’t willing to believe this, I don’t even know what to tell them. All I can go by is the dictionary version of the word. Hell, even the freaking Mr. Men cartoons had a guy named Mr. Uppity who was nothing more than a rich snob.

I can’t pretend to know how other people mean it when they say it, let alone a random politician. But I have to say that a LOT of people have never heard this before and it makes me wonder how prevalent it is on a nationwide basis.

Certainly with certain context I could see it being used in a way to put people down. The concept of trying to seem more important than perhaps you actually are… but even in that sense, I have a hard time seeing why it would only be applied to one race.

It honestly seems like it’s more of a case of association than actual, concrete meaning. As was said, if your only argument is that it’s sometimes followed by a racist term, then what adjective wouldn’t be racist?

I should note that I am not trying to argue that no one has ever said this in a racial way, I just want to make the point that a hell of a lot of people don’t seem to.

I think the thing that makes this a problem in terms of Obama is that he’s basically being attacked for getting an education and making something of himself and having a bit of money. Would people insult a random white politician about that? I doubt it.

In that context I definitely see the problem… but I certainly don’t think everyone on the planet thinks of the word that way when the dictionary won’t even reference it.