The Politics of Ebonics

I am placed into the unique position of defending a guy I have more-than-a-few differences with. The one word that consistently comes to mind when I think of Harry Reid is "befuddled". That's not to say that he's a bad guy (certainly he is not) or that he's dumb (obviously he is not). It's just that at times he appears so totally overwhelmed by forces he has no control over that one might expect the poor old bugger to spontaneously combust at any moment. (The good folks at Spell Check are informing me that "combust" is not even a word. God will forgive me, I am almost certain of that).

This latest beltway freak out involves a single paragraph from the new book, "Game Change" by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. So as to be certain that nothing is taken out of context, here in its entirety is the paragraph that all of Washington is in the process of having a nervous breakdown over:

"Years later, Reid would claim that he was steadfastly neutral in the 2008 race; that he never chose sides between Barack and Hillary; that all he did was tell Obama that 'he could be president', that 'the stars could align for him'. But at the time, in truth, his encouragement of Obama was unequivocal. He was wowed by Obama's oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a 'light-skinned, African-American with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one', as he later put it privately."


Well, now! Let's all just take a deep breath and think about this for a minute or two, shall we? By the way - Spell Check is also telling me that "Barack" and "Obama" are not proper words so what the hell do they know? Who wants to make a little wager that that company is owned by a Republican?

What we have here is simply a case of old habits of the tongue. Harry Reid was born in a town with the quaint name, Searchlight, Nevada, on December 2, 1939. This means that he turned seventy last month. That would make him an old man - relatively speaking, that is (Everybody knows that seventy is the new sixty). Back in the day, when Harry was in his prime, the word "Negro" or "Negroes" was not considered bad form, if fact it was a term of respect! Why the heck do you think they called it the United Negro College Fund instead of, The United....Well, you can see where I'm going with this, can't you?

The only objection one could possibly come up with concerning Reid's remarks (which were off the record by the way) is the term, "Negro dialect". This conjures up images (in my mind at least) of black-faced, vaudeville comedians in the days-of-old and the hideous depictions of African Americans during Hollywood's "golden" years. Many a time I have been enjoying a classic film from the thirties when all of the sudden I am jolted from my cinematic reverie by the appearance on the screen of one of those Stephin Fetchit-type, watermelon-eating Uncle Toms - thrown into the scene for no other reason than cheap, comic relief. We all know the dialect: "I is" as opposed to "I am"; "You was" as opposed to "You were". The late Lenny Bruce satirized it brilliantly in his classic bit, "Father's Flotski's Triumph" where he took on the role of a condemned, black prisoner on Death Row:

"Well! Well! Soooon I'm gwine up to Hebbin on dah big Ribbah Boat! Den when I gits up dere, I'mma gwine git me some fried chicken and watee-melon!"

You get the idea. Things would probably have been better off for Harry Reid had he used the term, "Ebonics", which seems to be in vogue in certain quarters these days. But as George Will (of all people) pointed out on Sunday, Reid was speaking (or implying) an unspeakable truth. Let me put it to you as gently as I possibly can:

If Barack Obama spoke like Dick Gregory, he would not be president of these United States today.

QUESTION: Is it possible for a white guy to talk like a half-witted shit kicker and get elected president? Hell, yeah! Not only is it possible, it's almost a certainty! Didn't George W. Bush prove that for all time and eternity? Black people, on the other hand, are at a decided disadvantage in our culture. I don't think I'm giving away any state secrets when I make that statement. For all of Condoleezza Rice's intellect and accomplishments (before she signed up with the Bush Mob, that is) how far do you think she would have gotten had she talked like Flip Wilson's Geraldine Jones character? Not very far, I presume.

Here is a fact that cannot be denied: Barack Obama would have had an easier time being elected to national office with the diction of the guy who played Goober from the Andy Griffith Show than that of, say, Huey Newton or Bobby Seale. In 1984, Jesse Jackson had all the right ideas. He was saying all the right things. He never stood a chance. To the ears of most of White America he sounded "too black".

The silliest thing of all in this entire debacle is watching the Republicans shed their crocodile tears over Harry Reid's "racial insensitivity". They're comparing it to the Democrat's reaction to Trent Lott's unfortunate comments back in 2002 at Strom Thurmond's one-hundredth birthday party. Lott, referring to old Strom's run for the White House in 1948 as a "Dixiecrat" candidate, said that America would today be a better place had the country elected him over Harry S Truman. Trent seemed to forget that the only position Thurmon ran on in '48 was as a staunch segregationist. Lott was forced to step down as Majority Leader - not because of his moronic statement - but because he had already lost favor with the Bush White House.

For the Republicans to now claim a newly-found racial sensitivity is quite amusing to say the least. If that is the case, why the hell did they choose the dumbest black guy they could possibly find to chair the RNC? Racial sensitivity? Please.

Harry Reid will survive this little snafu he's gotten into - but just barely. As the numbers stand, he is not likely to be reelected this November. He should step aside with dignity and allow his party to nominate someone with a better chance of winning on Election Day. Maybe he will do the right thing - who knows?. In spite of everything he strikes me as essentially a decent guy. He should just go back to Nevada to a dignified retirement and bask in the glow of his career as a public servant - or go to work as a lobbyist for the gambling industry - anything. He just needs to realize that his number is up.

Reid's comments, while inarticulate, hardly constitute the fuss that is currently being made. All it really amounts to is the GOP's Bitch Du Jour. They have so little credibility left that it really is quite touching watching them stoop to these non-issues. It is total desperation on their part. Today it is Harry Reid's harmless gaffe; tomorrow it will be something equally stupid and irrelevant. Just you wait and see.

Tom Degan
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

AFTERTHOUGHT:

The photograph at the top of this piece is an advertisement for Dick Gregory's 1968 campaign for the presidency. I would have voted for you, Greg!

Attention fans of the Fabulous Foursome: Ringo Starr will be performing on the Daily Show tomorrow. Just thought you'd want to know! He is going to be seventy on July 7. How the hell is that possible? There ought to be a law, I tell you!