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The Word of the Day

The word of the day is uppity. According to Collins Essential English Dictionary, this informal adjective describes one who is snobbish, arrogant, or presumptuous. Those of us who grew up in the South know that when White people use the word, it's an insult meant to reprimand a Black person who dared to rise above their station.

Over the weekend, Lynn Westmoreland, a Republican congressman from Georgia, was asked to compare Sarah Palin with Michelle Obama. He said, "Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Senator Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity."

I find it interesting that the Obamas are getting labeled as uppity for being elegant, well-spoken people with Ivy-League educations. I would think that Cindy McCain's six million dollar-a-year salary, and John McCain's inability to remember how many houses he has would seem more arrogant, snobbish, and presumptuous.

Even though we hate to admit it, race is an issue in this presidential election. Texas Republican Senator Dick Armey was quoted in the Dallas Morning News as saying that the "Bubba" contingency isn't psychologically able to vote for a Black man. That's just about as real as you can get.

So what do we do? Fall back and let Bubba and his kind vote John McCain into office? If we do that, all we have to look forward to is the perpetuation of George Bush's failed policies. I think not. It's easy to listen to the poll numbers and nasty little men like Westmoreland and Armey and get discouraged. Ladies and Gentlemen, that's the one thing we CAN'T do. We have to press on in spite of what it looks like.

Right now, our country is in a state of turmoil. The economy is in the toilet, unemployment is at 6.1 percent -- not a good number at all -- and people are losing their houses at an alarming rate. While the John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket has offered plenty of down-home zingers, they've offered no real solutions to our problems.

The "uppity" Barack Obama is the only candidate who's offering hope and a plan to get our nation back on track. Check out his website to find out exactly where he stands on issues like education, the economy, and health care. Instead of taking potshots at his competition, he's chosen to discuss what's really important in this election. If that's what uppity will get you, I'm all for it.

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