Georgia Congressman refers to Obama as “uppity.”
I’m just waiting for the day someone slips up and uses the N-word at this point.
Referring to a black guy as uppity is not exactly code, it is blatantly racist.
It gets even better.
Yup. Seconded.
Yeah, I’m cool with the big O. It’s his followers who are uppity.
Yes, I happen to agree that is was vastly inappropriate and not code at all (no snark - being serious).
Saying Sarah Palin should stay home with her kids - now that’s code (that was a little snarky).
Has anyone in the Obama camp or Elected Democrat said that? No? Fuck off.
No, that’s uppity.
Well they’ve finally gotten the “Angry Black Man” out there, so nothing surprises me anymore.
Where did **ArizonaTeach **imply anyone had?
I’m praying it’s McCain. Just let the debates get a little heated… 
I sure called that one in early May.
There’s nothing racist about the word uppity. Spend enough time around southern folk, and you’ll hear it applied to members of all races, and backgrounds. Hell, a little old lady called me uppity the other day, and I’m whiter than Casper.
The same goes for the boy quote posted by askeptic. Boy’s just a word southern folk use to refer to someone they think hasn’t experienced enough, whether it’s life, politics, religion, medicine, booze, or what not. Same goes for girl when referring to a member of the fairer sex.
I agree with the others who are saying that’s not coded at all.
And I’m disappointed to find that I’m more shocked to hear of a representative misusing ‘simulation’ for ‘situation,’ than I am to hear that the same representative is using such blatantly racist terms as “uppity” or “boy” to refer to a black man.
ETA: Naturally Oblivious, during my time in the military and the South I never heard “uppity” or “boy” used to describe anyone who was not, shall we say, at risk for a Vitamin D deficiency in a temperate or cooler climate. YMMV, of course, but that’s my experience.
My mother, who is acceptingly in Obama’s camp now that Hillary is out, who played college basketball before Title IX and taught me by example not to let a man do things for me that I could do myself, feels that she shouldn’t be running for veep. “She has a handicapped four-month-old…what in the world is she doing?”
I said “There’s a famous photo of Kennedy working in the Oval Office with John-John playing under the desk. There have been presidents with very young children. She’s not running for president, she’s running for VP, her husband’s a stay-at-home dad, how does this not come across as sexist?”
She shrugs and says “It’s different. It just is.” I don’t understand it, really.
It may even be a more common sentiment than I realize. But I’ll eat my hat if anyone in any kind of official position dares to say it out loud.
It may just be the part of Ga I live in. Uppity isn’t used often, but it does get used here from time to time. Most times it’s in reference to elected officials or other figures of authority abusing their power. Or by little old ladies when they think folks are being know it alls, which was what happened with me.
Boy on the other hand is. Usually by older men in reference to younger folks, or their friends who are being naive about something. I’ve heard it from white and black folks alike.
Now, in these particular instances, it may have very well been racially motivated. I didn’t hear it first hand, and only have media reports of it, so I can’t judge one way or another. I just wanted to point out that when those words are being used, especially in the south, it isn’t always racist.
I was born, raised, and have spent all but two years in Tennessee and Alabama and am not used to hearing “uppity” used to describe people, but it definitely brings to mind someone black when I hear it. On the other hand, “boy” is a very common term for any male younger than you, and I’m often called that by my cousin who’s only four years older than me and something of a good ol’ boy himself.
We’re both white.
He may be uppity, but is he well-spoken? There is very little that surprises me about Republican campaign tactics at this point, and this is why: They do officially what the most annoying Democrats get berated for doing unofficially.
Even if it’s not racist, it’s unbelievably condescending which is little better.
Gosh darn it. I like the word ‘boy,’ in a Foghorn Leghorn sort of way. I guess I will have to train myself out of using it.
Well, you’re well named, bless your heart.
Even if the term is not technically racist, to call a black man either uppity or boy IS. I have never heard uppity used except in relation to race–when it applies to whites, people tend to say, “s/he’s getting too big for her/his britches.” Boy to a black man is ridiculous in any context–I don’t care if you’re Foghorn Leghorn himself.