A few more thoughts on Michael Nutter and pre-election stereotypes of him:
First of all, I never called Nutter an Oreo (black on the outside, white on the inside). I said Oreo was a stereotype others were using to describe him and that he would have to overcome the label to win the Democratic mayoral primary. He did, and he did, gaining more than a third of the African American vote in a race with two other African American candidates. The two white candidates got black votes, too.
I have received emails from readers who believe Oreo is a term used by anti-intellectual blacks to denigrate fellow African Americans who are better educated and speak proper English. That's sometimes true, but not necessarily. Black intellectuals Cornel West, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Michael Eric Dyson are very well educated and individually (ahem) articulate, but I've never heard of either of them being called an Oreo.
Sometimes, Oreo is used as shorthand for the difference between W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington, two intellectual stalwarts of the early 20th century who disagreed sharply as to how aggressive African Americans should be in pursuing their rights. Both men wanted those rights. Each respected the other. But one would have been considered an Oreo. Check your African American history books if you don't know which one.
Finally, Nutter might have dismissed all this idle cookie chatter much earlier had he given his wife a more prominent role in his campaign. Seeing is believing, and Mrs. Nutter, with her dreadlocks hairstyle, looks more militant than milquetoast or the wife of one. She was seen so briefly in the TV ad featuring daughter Olivia that people were left wondering whether Nutter was a single dad. Did he fear his wife's hairdo would offend voters who still associate dreadlocks with the MOVE house residents? I don't think so. But it makes you wonder.
Harold Jackson is deputy editorial page editor for The Inquirer.
Comments (1)
I think the key is that black liberal intellectuals are not called OREOs by the black community, but black conservative intellectuals are. Thus, Clarence Thomas and the guy who opposed race preferences in California are OREOs.
Frankly, the black community is far too supportive of leaders who favor more social programs, more preferences, more handouts, etc.
Posted by Anonymous | June 4, 2007 9:50 PM
Posted on June 4, 2007 21:50