Update: Lynn Westmoreland explains uppity

As discussed here yesterday, Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland publicly shamed the Peach State for the second time in three years yesterday when he referred to Sen. Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, as ‘uppity.’

“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity,”

A brief uppitydate on the story:

Westmoreland now insists he didn’t mean uppity in the commonly understood, racist, “I prefer my black people working in the fields, who does that boy think he is?” sense.

Rather, he says, he meant it in the race-neutral “they’re a bunch of snooty elitists who think they’re better than everybody” sense.

His explanation might be more plausible if a living person could recall an example of a redneck using the word uppity in any other sense but to demean an ambitious black person.

And just to be clear, Congressman, I don’t mean redneck as a slur.

I am merely pointing out that you don’t wear enough sunscreen between your collar and your hairline.

(Photo by Jim Stawniak)