Reid Between The Lines

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid set off a firestorm with the revelation that he described candidate Barack Obama as a “light-skinned” African-American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”  In all fairness, he hasn’t said anything that other people have said-it’s just that his words were recorded. While others argue over the words, I would like to point out the meaning of the statements.

By pointing out that Obama is light skinned, what Reid was saying is that white America can more easily accept someone closer to how they look than a darker complexioned person. This does have some merit. One need only to look at the two black men who have served as governors in modern times: L. Douglass Wilder, former Governor of Virginia and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts.  Both of these intelligent men are situated near the lighter hue of the black color spectrum.  The over-arching inference of Reid’s statement is that many in white America still have issues with color.

Now we move on to the Negro dialect statement.  I did not know that Negroes, blacks, or African-Americans (whatever the name du jour is) have our own dialect. Last I checked I speak the English language with a bit of my old Philly flavor-it has been corrupted some since I have been living in the south for the past fifteen years. But I don’t think that I or any of my similarly situated friends have differing dialects. No what mister Reid was trying to say is that Mr. Obama doesn’t speak like a nigger and because he doesn’t he could be better received by white America. This pronouncement is nothing new. Many people are educated to speak one way with friends and another in the workplace or other venues.

Personally, I do not care what Majority Leader Reid said. However, I care deeply about what he meant.  Those who want can argue for his removal, public flogging or his head on a platter-I have no problem with that. But let us be sure that we do so for the right reasons. For those who only care about the spoken words, you have taken your eyes off of the ball. Instead of being concerned with what he said, you should be calling for his removal over what he meant. Don’t just read the words, read between the lines!