# What did Reid say?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-reid-say/524679>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 12, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-reid-say/524679 "2010-01-12T17:23:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-reid-say/524679/21 "2010-01-14T15:31:23Z")

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> [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](#):
>
> Then what does “…unless he wanted to” mean?

He was saying perhaps Obama could adopt that speaking style if he chose to. Like **redtail23** said, a lot of black people do switch between those two styles depending on who they are speaking to. He was saying white audiences would find Obama a more palatable candidate because he does not always speak AAVE.

It’s worth noting here that we don’t know who Halperin and Heilemann’s source was for this conversation. I believe the entire book is unsourced.

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**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-reid-say/524679/22 "2010-01-14T15:53:42Z")

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> [@Marley23](#):
>
> He was saying perhaps Obama could adopt that speaking style if he chose to. Like **redtail23** said, a lot of black people do switch between those two styles depending on who they are speaking to. He was saying white audiences would find Obama a more palatable candidate because he does not always speak AAVE.

He clearly doesn’t speak the AAVE dialect at all, there’s no reason why he would. So it wouldn’t make sense for Reid to suggest he does. That’s why I’m saying I don’t find this interpretation very convincing.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-reid-say/524679/23 "2010-01-14T15:56:32Z")

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> [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](#):
>
> He clearly doesn’t speak the AAVE dialect at all, there’s no reason why he would. So it wouldn’t make sense for Reid to suggest he does.

All we know is that he doesn’t speak it in public. We don’t know if he’s able to speak it and Harry Reid certainly wouldn’t know if he did or not.

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-reid-say/524679/24 "2010-01-14T16:00:21Z")

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> [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](#):
>
> He clearly doesn’t speak the AAVE dialect at all, there’s no reason why he would. So it wouldn’t make sense for Reid to suggest he does. That’s why I’m saying I don’t find this interpretation very convincing.

Well, FWIW, I haven’t been following the story closely, but that’s how I read it. I don’t see any other sensible interpretation to it. “Code-switching” is pretty common with successful communicators. I have no idea how Obama talks outside the public sphere, so I have no clue whether he switches dialects in private around certain people.

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