Articulate, The New Controversial Word?

I consider Joe Biden a nice guy. While I don’t agree with everything he may do or say as a representative, I believe his intentions are good and tries very hard to serve his constituents. So, why is he now the center of a controversy regarding some recent remarks about Barak Obama? After all he was praising him and being friendly in his appreciation of the black senator. Whoops, did I say black? Sorry, I meant African American. See? Here we are again, having to choose and pick what and how we call each other.

As you probably know by now “the word” that is all over the news is “articulate”. What’s so wrong with being articulate? I’d love to be called articulate for a change. Someone who’s articulate can communicate better with others and have his/her opinions understood by most of us without having to search for the meaning of obscure and convoluted words or terms. Being articulate provides an easy flow of ideas and exchange of opinions so necessary in politics.

The problem is that Obama, being a non-white person, can be articulate but cannot be called articulate by white people. Makes sense? Even Whoopi Goldberg, someone I admire and respect for her stand in several social issues, said that she doesn’t understand why others would apply the term to her - being so articulate that is - signifying that the use of the word when referring to an African American, is demeaning because it implies that the user of such word believes that most African Americans are incapable of being articulate.
So, we have come to this, we have to think twice every time we talk to each other even in friendly terms, because practically anything can trigger a controversy.

As usual in our political theatre, little things, words and gestures are more important than real substance. And this is especially true when race is on the minds of people at all times. We have not achieved total integration by any means in this country and have a long way to go on this.

I remember in my old country, we had our share of practically everything there is here. From different Europeans - Italians, Spanish, Germans, British, and so forth - to religious beliefs, such as Catholics, Jews, Muslims and yes, even Later Day Saints-door-knockers, including all colors, from white to black and the rainbow in between. What made us different perhaps was the fact that we were not trying to denigrate each other. I, being mostly white and catholic, could comfortably call my friend a freaking black, or money-grabbing Jew, for example, and still go to each other’s house and have a laugh and a good dinner. My friends could still make fun of my British roots and apparent lack of humor but we really enjoy the freedom of saying things that were not meant to hurt but have always been part of the vernacular. Most of those words were just a way of letting off steam when finding a quick and simple picture of each other, and we all accepted that without hard feelings. In the end, when any of our friends, straight or gays, Jews, Catholics or LTS, black, white or green, needed us, we were there and, joking aside, we share our lives and loved each other.

The more we try to impose on ourselves politically correct words, the less human we become and as result we are just presenting a parody of our personalities. Besides, what good it is to play the word game if our actions may or may not be the correct ones? I’d rather have crude words coming from honest people, friends and foes, than appealing terms and hidden agendas from dishonest individuals. If the words come from a friend, we can all have a laugh and if they come from someone who’s trying to hurt, I can be the better person and ignore him/her. It won’t change who I am.