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US politicians talk in code
15/08/2008 13:12 - (SA)
Atlanta - The issue of race in US
politics is so sensitive and explosive that it has a language
all its own. For outsiders, the code can be hard to break.
Indirect words, phrases and euphemisms have long been used
to discuss race in the United States, and the subject has drawn
more attention this election cycle because Democratic candidate
Barack Obama is black.
Obama has been accused of making subtle references to race
in to bid to manipulate sentiment, most recently by saying he
would look different than other US presidents.
At the same time, references to his alleged "inexperience"
as a one-term US senator and perceived "arrogance" on a trip
to Europe and the Middle East last month could also be seen as
subtle racial digs, political commentators say.
Inexperience might be a substitute for an idea with roots
in the era of US slavery that African Americans couldn't be
trusted, while arrogance can be a way of suggesting that black
people are "uppity" or above their station, they said.
"The issue (of race) is there in political campaigns and
not just this one. People talk in code. It is the 800-pound
gorilla in the room that is ignored by mutual agreement so it
never gets dealt with head on," said Andrew Taylor, professor
of political science at North Carolina State University.
Understanding that code can be difficult, but Taylor said
it was common because discussions about race in public forums
in America were fraught with pitfalls.
"It is very difficult to have a frank conversation about
race. Even when you tiptoe around the periphery it ... (can)
degenerate into a shouting match," he said.
Taboo
Obama faces Republican John McCain in the November 4 election
to succeed President George W Bush and race is a factor in the
contest, not least because Obama would be the first black US
president in a country where few blacks are elected to national
office.
During the primary campaign when parties chose their
general election nominee, there were several instances in which
candidates were criticised for using covert - and at times
inadvertent - language to talk about race.
When he announced his candidacy in February 2007, then
Democratic hopeful Joseph Biden described Obama as "articulate
and bright and clean".
Critics said his words were patronising and suggested he
was surprised a black man could be articulate and clean. Biden
apologised. He now supports Obama and is considered a possible
vice-presidential candidate.
In May, Hillary Clinton said Obama's support was weakening
"among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans". Her
comments were read by some as implying that blacks were lazy
but also as a subtle appeal to white racial solidarity.
Clinton said her remark was misinterpreted.
Obama gave a high-profile speech about race in March that
was praised in some quarters as bold because politicians rarely
address the issue directly.
"Blacks feel like they have more responsibility for
exposing and discussing racism. Whites generally feel that they
don't want to be involved," said Leslie Harris, a history
professor at Emory University in Atlanta.
Subtle racial message
Racial references touch raw nerves when they allude to
negative stereotypes about African Americans to do with
laziness, criminality, untrustworthiness or sexuality.
An advertisement run by McCain's campaign this month, which
portrayed Obama as a celebrity who was not ready to lead, sent
a subtle racial message by flashing images of Paris Hilton and
Britney Spears, according to Ronald Walters, professor of
politics at the University of Maryland.
Walters said the ad played on deep cultural fears about
inter-racial dating and marriage, which was illegal until the
1960s in some US states.
"The code is used to remind people that the opponent is
black. One of the reasons why people talk about it in muted
terms is because it's an old racial taboo particularly ... in the South," he said.
At the same time, many people object to language which can
be construed as playing on white guilt.
When Obama told an audience last month he would look
different as president to his predecessors, some of whom are on
US currency, McCain's campaign said he had "played the race card and he played it from the bottom of the deck".
Both sides denied they were attempting to exploit race and
neither explained exactly how the other side's words were
racially loaded. Instead, they left the media - and voters -
to decipher what they meant.
- Reuters
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US Elections Special Report
