collegemom16

It's not a word commonly used here in California and has never been in my lexicon. I have heard it, but had you asked me to define it I would have said snobby or elitist. Glad to know this NSM.

ellemenope

"Uppity" from the mouth of someone from Georgia in reference to an African-American...definitely a throwback to earlier bad times.

Being uppity could get you lynched in the old days...

swimcatsmom

Northstarmom - I m not denying that that is the way the word is used over here. But I had no idea of that till today so have spent 55 years (or from whatever age i first heard/read the word) thinking of it as a classist word rather than a racist word. I wonder if it originated in England as a classist word then developed the more racial connotations over here where people moved to get away from the upper/lower class system but then developed a different version of it.

Does make me wonder how many other words are out there that mean one thing to me but something different to someone else. Fortunately I am not in the habit of using demeaning terms so hopefully I wont say the wrong thin to anyone.

There are a lot of different meanings between English English and American English. If any of you go to England don't use the word fanny.

ellemenope

You mean like "gay?" We could start a whole new thread...

calmom

Anyone from the south would know exactly. (I'm from Texas and old enough to remember quite a few pejoratives that were common). It's no accident when the Westmoreland uses the term. (The Wikipedia entry on him might shed further light: Lynn Westmoreland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) On another note, Westmoreland is the one who wanted to sponsor a law requiring posting of the 10 Commandments in public buildings, but was unable to name more than 3 when challenged by Stephen Colbert.

Steve King is also a rather strange character. I don't know what's worse -- the racially charged language, or just the fact that these nut cases can manage to get elected to Congress at all.

Geoff Davis wrote an elaborate letter of apology to Obama, so we'll leave it at that. No need to bash a guy after he's already said he's sorry.

swimcatsmom

So the Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland would likely have been using the term in a racist fashion? That is depressing.

ellemenope

"The Obama campaign, asked about the quote, did not note any racial context."

So the Obama camp is willing to allow that Rep. Westmoreland may not have been using the term in a racist fashion. But the language of racism runs deep, especially in the South. Referring to Obama as "boy" is definitely another example.

collegemom16

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
uppity

1880, from up; originally used by blacks of other blacks felt to be too self-assertive (first recorded use is in "Uncle Remus"). The parallel British variant uppish (1678) originally meant "lavish;" the sense of "conceited, arrogant" being first recorded 1734.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

calmom

The Obama campaign was simply being polite.

They obviously have better things to do with their time than get into a pi ssin match with a skunk.

lizschup

I grew up in Ohio and Missouri and I definitely heard the expression combined with the "n" word - not in my family but in plenty of other places.

It is depressing to see the Republicans using deliberate tactics such as this to cast doubt on the character of Obama. They are using the same strategy that got Bush elected in 2004 only in reverse - remember the often repeated line that Bush is the kind of guy you can drink a beer with? Well now they are characterizing Obama as elitist and uppity, hoping to convince both whites and blacks that he is someone to fear "cause he is not like them."

I've noticed many right leaning posters commenting that the Obama supporters are scared, especially in reaction to Palin. We are scared alright, but not in the manner suggested. We're scared of the same old Rovian tactics being used again to win an election. A hallmark of Rove's method is to take a candidates strength and turn it into a weakness. This time we have an exceptionally strong team with leadership ability but I am truly fearful that they will lose the election. It is compounded by the choice of Sarah Palin , who from what I read is even more radically conservative than Bush and has more chance of becoming President than any other candidate in recent history.

I also live in the midwest, in Minnesota but in a particularly conservative part of the city. My family is predominantly Republican so I know how the common voter thinks. These kinds of comments hold sway.

lizschup

No one said anything about the KKK - you are naive to political strategy if you don't think word usage is very deliberate.

The common "talking points" are that the Democratic party is elitist - it is communicated in a hundred different ways and within your own post: "The amount of bigotry on display toward rural America, those without IVY degrees, and teased hair in the last week or so has been without parallel in this election. And it has been unapologetically waged by the left."

Woodwork

I was described as being ‘uppity’ on more than one occasion in my salad days. Especially in my youth by coaches and teachers; it was one of my mother's favorite retorts to mine, and my siblings, otherwise presumptuousness, as well.

I grew up in Michigan. Maybe it’s local.

I have no idea whether or not this instance of its use was racists. Though to make a very big deal of this verbiage seems to be begging the question or issue, as it were, in this electrically charged political season. A whole thread?

…my humble opinion.

binx

Okay, I've only lived in GA since I was 27, but I never, ever associated the word with racist anything. I do think of it as an upper-class Brit sort of term.

I admit to a lot of ignorance about racial things, even as an adult. I took a class once on racial differences and learned a lot. I learned, while teaching middle school, that it was not okay to use "boy" when referring to a black student (okay with other male students), that there were racial connotations for things like watermelon and fried chicken. I learned that my neighbor was out of line for putting a noose up with his over-the-top Halloween yard display. There was some problem with ghosts, too, but I can't remember what it was. I remember that I got in trouble in college for implying that my black roommate was messy. (Even though I was just as messy, and she was allowed to say that.) I remember being rebuked without even knowing what I did wrong. I grew up in PA, in an ethnic Swedish household, and just didn't get these things explained.

There probably needs to be a whole class in school dedicated to what different groups find offensive. How will we ever learn to get along if everything we say or do offends someone? Having to tip-toe - or avoid - because we might inadvertantly fan the flames does not lead to genuine discourse and open communication.

I applaud the Obama group for refusing to engage.

lizschup

Woodwork,
I think you will see a fair amount of scrutiny and pushback on the Republican party's tactics this time. Democrats were blind sinded by the Swiftboat strategy in the last election and they are hyper aware of it this time. They understand that even the best candidate can lose under these terms.

garland

Someone early on here said it was irrelevent and a personal attack to retort by mentioning McCain's eight houses. Excuse me? How is calling someone "uppity" (however we agree to define that), not a personal attack? And if we mean "elitist," then bringing up someone else's excess houses seems exactly on topic. Ya gotta be fairly "elite" to lose track of how many houses you own.