What you talking ’bout, Harry Reid?
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I don’t know who you been listening to, Senator, but this particular black woman is like Barack Obama. I don’t speak no Negro dialect unless I want to.
If anything, I’m a polyglot. I speak Black English, Ebonics and, on occasion, Standard English.
Yes, when necessary, I can speak as well as you can. I know the differences between plurals and possessives. I can use to, too, and two correctly. I can even tell you when to use ” fewer than” and “less than. ”
Still, I slip up and code switch. Then I start sounding like a regular, dark brown-skinned woman from Nashville, Tennessee. I drop the final consonants from certain words. I lose the g’s from the -ing suffix, and I even forget to conjugate the verb “to be”
I don’t mean to, but I can’t help myself. Sometimes, it’s hard to watch my mouth…
…But I don’t have to tell you, do I?
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Afi, Harry speaks foot in mouth!
I think a telling part of Reid’s remark is the “unless he wanted to have one…” addendum.
He seems to presume that Barack Obama is just another empty suit to be propped up and posed. Typical venality and racial condescension of the Lefty leadership.
Actually, I like the part about “unless he wanted to have one.” I’ve met lots of whites who think “you don’t sound black” is a compliment.
And I’ve met lots of blacks who think “you don’t sound black” means “you aren’t really black.”
In response to another comment. See in context »