Am I Articulate Enough?

Are you articulate? Did you ever have anyone tell you that you are articulate? What does that even mean?

Well, according to Dictionary.com there are at least 19 meanings, 8 of which are adjectives (describers):

ar·tic·u·late
[Origin: 1545–55; < L articulātus, ptp. of articulāre to divide into distinct parts.]

1. uttered clearly in distinct syllables.
2. capable of speech; not speechless.
3. using language easily and fluently; having facility with words: an articulate speaker.
4. expressed, formulated, or presented with clarity and effectiveness: an articulate thought.
5. made clear, distinct, and precise in relation to other parts: an articulate form; an articulate shape; an articulate area.
6. (of ideas, form, etc.) having a meaningful relation to other parts: an articulate image.
7. having parts or distinct areas organized into a coherent or meaningful whole; unified: an articulate system of philosophy.
8. Zoology. having joints or articulations; composed of segments.

Let’s discount the last one (unless you’re an invertebrate) for the sake of this discussion. When you hear the word, what does it bring to mind? When you say the word, which meaning are you intending?

I have always used the word according to the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th meanings. Lately, I have been hearing more and more in the black community that the word is connoted as having the 1st or 2nd meanings (click on the link above to view/hear a commentary byJimi Izrael on NPR's News and Notes program). If so, it’s a slur and derogatory statement. Surely anyone who speaks can “articulate” in that sense of the word. You simply need breath and operable vocal cords. Even an idiot can articulate if you only know the first two meanings. And hence, the reason for the issue.

There are two basic ways to address this. One is to say “get over it” and “I am SO fed up with this politically correct language thing.” And, to some degree, that response would not be off the mark. We DO tend to focus too much on the use of words as a way not to hurt people’s feelings. And if taken to extremes the only solution is to say nothing at all since surely someone will take offense. (Notice how I am not taking that directive.)

The other response is to reflect on the issue itself and see what the root is for the problem. If people are using the word according to its first or second meaning, then, in fact, it IS a slur; and any self-respecting person should feel insulted. And, those meanings are assigned to the definition, so it MUST be true, right?

But let’s be real. It only becomes a racial slur if it’s used discriminately (and I mean that in the “bad” sense). When people use words in one way to one group of people and then use a different set of words to another group, there is the strong impression that the words have different meaning. As I heard recently on an NPR broadcast, if you say to the white guy “good speech” and then to the black guy “you were articulate”, what sort of message is that sending? It doesn’t sound like you think the same about them both.

So, who are you calling articulate? Maybe because I’m white I don’t get irritated about it if someone says I’m articulate. Of course, I haven’t had too many people say that lately, but that’s another subject. The point is that if praise and sentiment is being handed out in different forms to different groups, that’s the bad type of discrimination and represents bigotry and prejudice. It’s wrong.

However, at the risk of offended the entire English speaking world, I have one further point to make. Isn’t it a mockery of the language that we are trying so hard to unify one another and yet at the same time, each minority seeks to sequester its own set of words for special meaning? The conundrum is in the fact that we want so much to integrate everyone into society but we really don’t want to make everything the same. What we want is less like a cake mix where you can’t tell the various ingredients apart once they’re mixed; and more like concrete where the rock and grit is still clearly identifiable even after adding water. E Pluribus Unum – From many, One.

The truth is we are different. And each person likes to know that they are in some way unique. On the other hand, we don’t want to be so unique that people don’t know how to relate to us or treat us and so result in offending us in the process. I’ve been offended in the past; and for no good reason. Who hasn’t? We keep who we are regardless, and are strengthened by it - like concrete.

So, did I accurately “articulate” the issue or am I just some fool who still doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The important thing is that it isn’t about what I am. It’s about what you are and what world you want to see. Let's get past the whole PC-speak thing and just use the English language as it is intended.

Sorry for the lapse

Whew!

What a busy set of weeks. On a personal note, the past ice storm here in St. Louis ended with me having one less vehicle (I wasn’t driving at the time – she’s OK thank you). So, between work, outside obligations, and the hunt for another vehicle, time to enter thoughts here has been limited. So, I’m making up for lost time. Here goes:

Iraq
We’re there. Deal with it! I’d have preferred that we didn’t go there in the first place although it’s good that that Saddam is no longer in power. I like what I heard one Mullah say, “We are like birds who were born in a cage and our parents were born in the cage. The Americans have taken away the cage; but, we have no idea how to fly and must struggle to learn.” It will take at least a full generation or more before the society will have evolved enough to accept the new thinking. Remember the Whisky rebellion? You don’t? Go back and study American history to learn how freedom can alter the way you think and open opportunities to divide a country.

China
It’s the biggest thing going right now (no pun intended). If the US does not figure out a way to allow modernization in this massive country, the internal struggles will eventually result in “less than optimal condition.” Their greatest resource is people and every great country exploits its greatest resource. America had land, land, land – and natural resources. It didn’t matter if there were indigenous people on that land, we exploited it. We may have eventually turned out alright – but look at the time and the cost.

Religion in Public Life
There hasn’t been too much notoriety on this in recent weeks and days. That’s good. Can’t we all realize that all people believe something? Some may simply not to have God included in that set of beliefs. In spite of my disagreement with that sentiment, we all need to accept the fact that people are different and that enriches us as a people. It is the moral application of principles that is important to “public life” and not the denomination, sect, order, or other subdivisions of belief. Protestant/Catholic or Sunni/Shiite, Evangelical/Atheist or Democrat/Republican; it is the public discourse of ideas that allows us to express ourselves and open ourselves up to the possibility that the world may be just a bit bigger than we had previously thought.

Enough for now. More later.

Let it Snow - or maybe not

It snowed last week and the ground looks so fresh and clean all covered in white. The roads on the other hand are a mess!

We had ice before the snow and the ice is still stuck to the pavement – well, at least here in St Charles County. Last night, while I-70 was closed, we drove from Kansas City to St Louis by way of Macon and Hannibal, Missouri. Those roads were cleaned and passable. There were even road graders out cleaning the shoulders of the highway, sections of which were only two lanes wide.

Why can’t the major highway get the top priority? That’s what the top priorities age says for the MODOT Road Conditions web page (click the title heading). So why was the biggest highway in the state closed when the rural roads were passable? And why is it that the ice and “crud” on the roads was not cleaned up in this county? When we drove back, it wasn’t until we reached the county line that the road condition deteriorated.

I am glad that MODOT is working on new highways and fixing the ones we have. I’m glad that they are committed to a better accounting of their funding. I am glad that we have a state with no toll roads. All this and one of the lowest gasoline tax rates in the country.

On the other hand, can’t they find someone on staff who knows what this white stuff is that we see in the winter and what to do to get it off the roads?