# Biden's choice for vice presidential candidate **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 10, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505 "2020-04-10T15:04:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 53
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1043 "2020-08-13T19:36:36Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > (Being accused of “speaking white” didn’t bother me none because even I had to acknowledge its truth. My parents are from Indiana and we kids (except for my brother for some reason) all inherited their bland speech patterns. Damn Hoosiers!) I’m curious: is Ebonics a speech pattern people have to learn? I’ve seen a number of comedians and actors, like Eddie Murphy, who seem to go easily from speaking in Ebonics to “speaking white.” ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1044 "2020-08-13T19:38:51Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > I’m curious: is Ebonics a speech pattern people have to learn? I’ve seen a number of comedians and actors, like Eddie Murphy, who seem to go easily from speaking in Ebonics to “speaking white.” This is a separate dialect of American English. Some folks are raised with this as their native dialect and learn Standard American English as well (and can successfully “code switch” between them fluently), and some are only fluent in their native dialect and only semi-fluent in SAE. Read more here: [African-American Vernacular English - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Vernacular_English) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1045 "2020-08-13T20:10:58Z")
“Speaking black” is more than AAVE. There’s also what’s referred to as a “blaccent”. A person can speak Standard American English and speak with a noticeable blaccent. See [Ayesha Rascoe](https://www.npr.org/people/599484393/ayesha-rascoe). But to answer your question, people learn AAVE the same way they learn SAE: by absorbing the speech patterns of the people around them. Eddie Murphy and 90% of other black folks do what’s called “code switching”, where they go from one way of speaking to another depending on the audience. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1046 "2020-08-13T21:35:21Z")
Thanks for the clarification, monstro and iiandyiiii. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1047 "2020-08-14T00:08:33Z")
IMHO it’s time to get past this “is she black enough” and “she’s not descended from slaves” sh\*t and just enjoy the fact that Trump/Pence will be scrambling over this for a while. Personally I’m liking this. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1048 "2020-08-14T00:19:04Z")
People of all races are diverse. As one comedian (almost) put it, “There are folks into basketball; and folks into Dragonball.” Harris seems like a good choice to me. Naturally, Trump supporters are going to look for faults. Some of the ones they have found seem ridiculous. This is not unusual in politics. In fact it is far too common. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1049 "2020-08-14T00:49:19Z")
The idiots are really showing their asses right now. > **[Virginia mayor urged to resign after saying Biden picked 'Aunt Jemima as his VP'](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/virginia-mayor-urged-resign-after-saying-biden-picked-aunt-jemima-n1236601)** > > "I understand what I posted on social media was wrong, offensive and unbecoming," Luray Mayor Barry Presgraves said Monday. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1050 "2020-08-14T01:09:44Z")
I think this sums it up well: > ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1051 "2020-08-14T01:16:19Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > IMHO it’s time to get past this “is she black enough” and “she’s not descended from slaves” sh\*t and just enjoy the fact that Trump/Pence will be scrambling over this for a while. Personally I’m liking this. I like that the GOP is flailing now, because what they’re really saying with all that flailing is “we got nothin’.” When I heard about the Harris announcement, I felt a little twinge of disappointment that it wasn’t Susan Rice. Then I realized that picking Harris means that we _aren’t_ going to have another round of Benghazi hearings this fall, and I felt better. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1052 "2020-08-14T01:23:20Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > IMHO it’s time to get past this “is she black enough” and “she’s not descended from slaves” sh\*t… Sure. Every normal person would agree to this. The point of having those discussions is not because there is some genuine reason to care but it is to stir shit up. Muddy the waters. Mudsling absolutely anything and everything they can. What better, in a conservative view, than to divide the African-American community into an internal war over who is “more” African-American? It’s a stupid debate but one they would love to see happen. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1053 "2020-08-14T01:47:37Z")
I didn’t see this posted yet but might have missed it: Eric Trump, junior asshole, liked a tweet Wednesday that said “Raise your hand if you think Harris was a whorendous pick. May have misspelled,” [https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/eric-trump-likes-tweet-calling-kamala-harris-whorendous-pick/ar-BB17VRtD](https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/eric-trump-likes-tweet-calling-kamala-harris-whorendous-pick/ar-BB17VRtD) ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1054 "2020-08-14T01:53:01Z")
Meaning he knows it’s not misspelled for his purposes. SIL Douchebag. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1055 "2020-08-14T02:08:27Z")
Good grief, what a prack. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1056 "2020-08-14T03:07:40Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > IMHO it’s time to get past this “is she black enough” and “she’s not descended from slaves” sh\*t and just enjoy the fact that Trump/Pence will be scrambling over this for a while. Personally I’m liking this. Isn’t her father a descendant of slaves? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1057 "2020-08-14T03:33:34Z")
According to Columbia University professor John McWhorter (himself Black FWIW), he has researched the issue and found that when you control for poverty, police do not kill Black people any more frequently than White people (although they do “rough them up” more). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1058 "2020-08-14T04:00:50Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Isn’t her father a descendant of slaves? Right wing websites are saying her great great (however many times) grandfather owned slaves in Jamaica in the early 1800’s. > **[Did U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris' Ancestor Own Slaves in Jamaica?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/kamala-harris-ancestor-slaves/)** > > Based on an article written by the 2020 presidential Democratic primary candidate's father, right-leaning opponents dove head-first into an ill-judged attack on her. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1059 "2020-08-14T04:18:24Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I think this sums it up well: > > [https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome/status/1293360933696307202](https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome/status/1293360933696307202) Attaboy, Stephen. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1060 "2020-08-14T04:22:37Z")
Brilliant ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1061 "2020-08-14T04:22:42Z")
Trump has already jumped on the birther bandwagon: > **[Trump Encourages Racist Conspiracy Theory About Kamala Harris (Published 2020)](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/us/politics/trump-kamala-harris.html)** > > President Trump said he heard that Ms. Harris, the presumptive Democratic vice-presidential nominee born in California, was not eligible for the ticket, repeating a theory that is rampant among his followers. Constitutional scholars quickly called... ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505/1062 "2020-08-14T05:00:51Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > How long before Trump starts howling for her birth certificate, do we think? > [@monstro](#): > > But I wish Trump would go there! Guess we didn’t have long to wait, eh? On the bright side, Biden has raised [48 million](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-biden-fundraising/biden-campaign-raises-48-million-in-48-hours-after-naming-kamala-harris-as-vp-choice-idUSKCN25A0CU?il=0) in the 48 hours since Harris was announced as his pick. I guess people are happy with his choice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505.md?page=52) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bidens-choice-for-vice-presidential-candidate/851505.md?page=54)