"Articulate"
Articulate is really a shorthand way of describing a black person who isn't too black—or, rather, who comports with white America's notion of how a black person should come across. - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, February 2, 2007This business of complimenting black people on being "articulate" has annoyed me for years. When you compliment someone, especially gratuitously, by citing a quality that goes against a common, unspoken or historical stereotype, you implicitly endorse that stereotype. So you end up denying the individuality of the person you were likely trying to pay a sincere compliment.
It's also annoying—if less socially corrosive—that people never compliment me on my articulateness. Insensitive jerks!
posted at 12:37 PM
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