I don’t care much for the war against political incorrectness. Politically incorrect is an embellished theory used as an excuse for those who are shamelessly racially, culturally or sexually offensive. But there is a clear difference between “politically incorrect” and just plain ignorant, and Joe Biden and his comment describing Barack Obama are textbook examples of the latter. Biden, United States senator from Delaware, stepped on a racial land mine when he disgracefully told The New York Observer, “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” Biden said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” When intuitive statements like this are made, people expect the colored to understand and give consent because that’s just “typical Joe.” If we are offended then we are being hypersensitive or “playing the race card.” But Biden’s blunder insinuates Obama’s speech tactics and cleanliness are a rarity among African-Americans and manifest among whites, since he didn’t make similar comments about Hillary Clinton. This couldn’t be further from the truth. According to Jason Horowitz, the reporter from The New York Observer who interviewed Biden, he is a 64-year-old man who has never achieved his national ambitions. There’s nothing like a politician with a long and completely empty career critiquing the performance of someone much more competent, especially in that 1950s “clean for a black guy” patronizing kind of way. “I didn’t take Sen. Biden’s comments personally, but obviously they were historically inaccurate,” Obama said. “African-American presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns, and no one would call them inarticulate.” This isn’t the first time Biden stuck his foot in his mouth with obnoxious racist remarks. CSPAN caught Biden making racist statements in reference to Indian-Americans. “In Delaware, the largest growth of population is Indian-Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7/11 or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking,” Biden said. Biden isn’t the only politician to purge racially distasteful comments. Trent Lott, Republican senator from Mississippi, made an even more abrasive comment in 2003 at Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party. “When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over the years either,” Lott said. Thurmond had openly supported racial segregation in the presidential campaign to which Lott referred. Lott voted against the renewal of the Voting Rights Act, voted against the continuing Civil Rights Act and opposed the Martin Luther King Holiday. Some suggest I should stop discussing race and write about something else. I guess it would be rather convenient for the chauvinistic, offensive and culturally ignorant bottom-feeders of society who make irresponsible statements like Biden’s if critics like me didn’t exist to point them out. I am more than confident I could write on a number of topics and have done so in the past, but it is my responsibility, and everybody else’s for that matter, to heighten consciousness and encourage education about socially developmental issues or the lack thereof. America is ready for a black president, but bigots like Biden and Lott are clandestinely whispering cultural disparity in the ears of Americans with childlike remarks and backhanded compliments. I certainly don’t want such men like Biden running this or any country. Biden’s strategy to win the presidency seems to be throwing around nasty gossip about his opponents, which is clearly not effective.
—–Contact Shanelle Matthews at smatthews@lsureveille.com