Wednesday, May 14, 2008
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Using "Code" Language?
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Posted by:
Carol Platt Liebau at
10:19 PM
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Writing in The New Republic, Cinque Henderson -- who identifies himself as an African American -- explains his skepticism of Barack Obama. Here is an interesting little nugget from the piece:
[Obama] gave speeches across South Carolina that warned against being "hoodwinked" and "bamboozled" by the Clintons. His use of the phrase is resonant. It comes from a scene in Malcolm X, where Denzel Washington warns black people about the hidden evils of "the White Man" masquerading as a smiling politician: "Every election year, these politicians are sent up here to pacify us," he says. "You've been hoodwinked. Bamboozled."
Hm. Is Barack really deliberately employing "coded" language from Malcolm X -- and is that a reference that most in the African American community would pick up on? Interesting, if true.
Henderson identifies himself as a Clinton supporter, which means he's a Democrat. That's a shame, because if the dialogue quoted above applies to anything (else), it should be to the Democrats.
They're the politicians who, for so long, have presented themselves as the friends of black America (and taken the black vote for granted) -- even as they allow the cities they control to rot, crime in poor neighborhoods to run rampant, and schools to continue serving as a teachers-union-full-employment guarantee rather than places of education.
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