"Acceptable" language to specific cultural or ethic groups???

Question

I just watched O'Reilly (yes, I am a political junkie, I love the guy!).

He had a couple of women on there who were saying that it was "offensive" and "condescending" that President Bush said that Obama was "articulate."

What?!?!?!

Am I the only person who finds this absolutely ridiculous? I saw the b-roll and Bush said it in a complimentary manner, not in a condescending manner (he is a black man, therefore it is an accomplishment that he is articulate - this is what the women were trying to make us believe). If President Bush told me that I was articulate, I would be estatic!

This led me to draw this conclusion, based on these women's logic:
I am a white woman, therefore, whan I man tells me that I am beautiful or intelligent I should view it as him being condescending and offensive. After all, we girls fought for so long to overcome the oppression of men and rise equality. We fought for so long to be recognized for more than our looks.

Whatever.

Any thoughts?

Pamela, You bring up some awesome points!

Answer 1

They assumed Bush meant "Articulate for a Black man."

That would be condescending.

But that is not what he said.

So why did they assume that is what he meant?

Because Bush is White?

If that is the reason, then isn't it racist to judge a person by their skin color?

So who is really the racist one in this particular contraversy?

Answer 2

I think it clearly shows how people are just out there LOOKING for racism in every little thing. I'm a White girl just like you & I've been told before that I'm articulate & eloquent AND I've been told I'm attractive. I took it both as a compliments. I never once thought to consider the comments might be condescending. I think the difference here lies in the fact that I was not conditioned since birth to be on the lookout for racism. Unfortunately a lot of Blacks are raised to believe we are still out to get them. Until that kind of conditioning stops then we will continue to have these absolutely ridiculous misunderstandings.

Answer 3

As long as no one says that I'm a credit to my race or seems to be surprised by my intelligence I don't really care, I like compliments. Bush is inarticulate, so maybe he was a bit confused and couldn't keep up when someone failed to speak in laymans terms....maybe it was like a signal to his translator to start explaining "all the big words" to him.