Fresh Loaf

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland isn’t the only Georgia Republican dropping the u-bomb.

During a radio interview in Macon last week, Republican congressional candidate Rick Goddard called a black MSNBC reporter “uppity” for daring to ask Newt Gingrich a non-softball question about Gov. Sarah Palin.

Like Westmoreland, Goddard denies he meant “uppity” in the “who does this black guy think he is?” sense.

Like I wrote about Westmoreland — it’s a flimsy explanation that doesn’t sound plausible because white people only seem to refer to black people as uppity.

Calling an intelligent, accomplished black person “uppity” bugs me, but honestly, I’m just as irritated this morning by the alleged non-racist point Goddard insists he was making.

Goddard says Allen was being “arrogant” and “presumptuous” by suggesting to Gingrich that Palin’s resume is not that of a typical VP-running mate. Allen was trying and (and, incidentally, failing) to get Gingrich off his party’s talking points.

Apparently, it’s arrogant, presumptuous and uppity for a reporter to challenge a politician’s spin.
(H/T: AJC Political Insider)

Bookmark It

U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland referred last week to Barack and Michelle Obama as “uppity” — a word used in the past by Southern racists to criticize blacks who rose above their station. It wasn’t the first time the Republican congressman from just south of Atlanta put his foot in his mouth, particularly on a racially charged issue.

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3673, the Second Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act to Meet Immediate Needs Arising From the Consequences of Hurricane Katrina.”
— Westmoreland’s 2005 statement on the House floor against a Katrina relief bill

“Well, there’s one other do-nothing-er. I don’t know who that is, but they’re a Democrat. So there’s one Democratic do nothing-er, and one Republican.”
— Westmoreland, asked in 2006 by Comedy’s Central’s Stephen Colbert if he was a “do-nothinger” for failing to sponsor any legislation (more…)

Bookmark It

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)

Bookmark It