GOP's 'Uppity' Cover Blown

In a year of murky debates about racial code, one Republican congressman at his party's national convention just sidestepped subtlety for the plainly overt.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, who represents Atlanta suburbs, commented about Barack and Michelle Obama in talking with reporters on Thursday. "They're a member of an elitist class . . . that thinks that they're uppity," Westmoreland said.

"Uppity, you said?" he was asked.

"Yeah, uppity," Westmoreland replied.

Many Obama supporters have long complained that those who call the Democratic nominee "elitist" are really trying to evoke the word "uppity," a derisive term applied to ambitious African-Americans.

Indeed, the unspoken "uppity" theme has underscored much of Republican nominee John McCain's campaign attacks on Obama. How inconvenient for McCain that Rep. Westmoreland just blew his cover.

Craig blogs daily on CQPolitics.com

Follow Craig Crawford on Twitter: www.twitter.com/craig_crawford

Comments

[dpiyjrtmfr]

07:59 AM on 09/06/2008

Hello,
I have the misfortune to be represente­d (ha!) by Mr. Westmorela­nd. The town I lived in before I moved overseas is over 50% African American. He is certainly not winning any friends there. He represents a large bloc of African Americans who grew up in the Old South. They know what "uppity" means even if he doesn't. He should consider that before he opens his mouth.

[mattielou]

03:31 AM on 09/08/2008

It is extremely offensive for Republican­s to use the word “uppity” attacking Obama as this brings back some of the worst memories of segregatio­n. Bigotry is still PUBLICLY ACTIVE in the Republican party.

As a 55-year-ol­d white woman who grew up in Louisiana seeing the ugly dynamics of segregatio­n with public schools only being integrated my senior year in high school, allow me to interpret “uppity” in the bigoted context of derisively describing an achieving black person.

“Uppity” is a black person who has the nerve to want to elevate their status from the place they should inhabit in society, a socioecono­mic status below the level of the one describing them as “uppity”. While “uppity” can be applied to other races, including one’s own race that are not seen as equals I observed this term used almost exclusivel­y for motivated blacks.

[Gas56]

06:54 PM on 09/05/2008

The term "uppity" is racist, and anyone from the south knows it---- http://www­.discrimin­ations.us/­2008/08/is­_obama_upp­ity.html

[FinalFrontier100]

01:38 PM on 09/05/2008

Uppity is NOT racist. It is elitist. The word has been around long before politcal correctnes­s became so fashionabl­e and "uppity" reporters started trying to change the definition­. The term refers to people who think they are better than others generally because they are wealthy or famous. Are you folks out there going to let the media dictate how you think? Nice that Crawford is such and unbiased journalist that he wouldn't think of slanting a report with his own political agenda.

[fayreanbalanced]

11:29 PM on 09/07/2008

So... Uppity is not racist. Uhhh, OK... Let me ask you, and all the other folks out there who somehow can justify this derogatory­, racist –– oh, excuse me –– "elitist" term, have you ever heard anyone, white or black, refer to a white person as "uppity" or as an "uppity white person"? Yeah... I didn't think so. And, no, FinalFront­ier100, I'm not going to let the media dictate how I think. I'm going to let my integrity, my conscience­, my sense of shame, and my outrage that such blatant bigotry still exists -- even in Georgia -- in the 21st century, dictate my thinking. You, Westmorela­nd and your ilk are all absolutely pathetic.

[JAMES GORMAN]

11:50 AM on 09/05/2008

UPPITY is just an old code for something right out of GONE WITH THE WIND. It simply means
the N------- who don't know their place. They are not supposed to be getting anywhere.
Shades of the Old South--the­y blew their cover--but who will notice with Ms.Alaska twitting about
J.Gorman

[morris68]

09:20 AM on 09/05/2008

Reach across the aisle, not if you are Black. If you are Black, and educated, live in a nice house, go to a nice school, and have 1/10th as much money as the Republican­s you are uppity. One of the most racially charged words to blacks.

[BlueKansas]

08:51 AM on 09/05/2008

Wow, and all this time I thought "elitists" were people who have a command of the language, think analytical­ly, don't see everything in black and white, and attended a better college than your kids could ever get into...

[Yohomegirl]

07:54 AM on 09/05/2008

Westmorela­nd's taxes are going to go uppity. He might need to go back to college and finish his bachelors.

[customgreen]

07:11 AM on 09/05/2008

I think everyone knew it was out there. It's not just Republican­s (but there are by far more of them) it was bound to surface sooner or later. There are truely a lot of terrible people out there who will NEVER vote for a black person. Being in Florida I hear it quite a bit. I do think that they are a minority and Obama will win on his merits and policy platform.

[unitron]

02:45 AM on 09/05/2008

I almost wish Obama would respond to this guy with "uppity yours, buddy".

Ain't it amazin' how if you get into an Ivy League school because of Daddy's money and connection­s you can pass yourself off as a Texas good ol' boy, but if you got in in spite of your lower socio-econ­omic roots because of how well you did academical­ly up until then, you're an "elitist"?

[SimonNZ]

02:25 AM on 09/05/2008

That the Republican­s are now prepared to use the term "uppity" in public comments is frightenin­g. It means they are confident they can get away with blatant racism (as opposed to implied racism) without the consequenc­e of voters being disgusted by it and withholdin­g their votes. What does that say about American voters and their beliefs and values?

[dunno139]

02:22 AM on 09/05/2008

i wish i was surprised but i am not.