Smile,
When You Say "Niggardly"
by
Larry Elder
David Howard,
a white appointee of the recently elected Washington,
D.C., mayor, just quit. His crime? Reckless vocabulary. You see, Howard
used a "racially insensitive word"— "niggardly."
Yep, "niggardly."
During a meeting
with two staffers, one black, Howard complained about the size of
a fund he oversees and used the word, "niggardly." After
seeing the astonished reaction, Howard immediately apologized, and
tried to explain what he meant.
According to A
Dictionary of Modern American Usage by Bryan Garner, "niggardly,"
which means stingy or miserly, "derives from an Old Norse word...it
has nothing to do with the racial slur that is sounded similarly."
The dictionary also adds, "Even so, some speakers and writers
have come to shun it just to avoid misunderstandings." (Of course,
this won’t satisfy Keith Watters, former president of the mostly black
National Bar Association, who asked, "Do we really know where
the Norwegians got the word?")
Then the rumor
mill kicked in. Howard began receiving phone calls accusing him of
having used the word "nigger," rather than "niggardly."
The pressure mounted, and, incredibly, Howard threw in the towel,
stating that the rumor "has severely compromised my effectiveness..."
Even more incredibly, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams accepted his resignation!
Remember, Howard never said "nigger"!!
Even Julian Bond,
the NAACP chairman, found Howard’s resignation ridiculous. Bond said,
"Seems to me the mayor has been niggardly in his judgment on
this issue. You hate to think you have to censor your language to
meet other people’s lack of understanding."
But Mr. Bond and
other racism-is-job-number-one leaders must accept some blame for
"people’s lack of understanding." When he became chairman,
Bond declared as his number-one priority the exposure of "the
new racists." This continues the convenient nonsense that racism
remains the biggest roadblock to black achievement, ignoring far bigger
problems such as under-performing schools, irresponsible parenting,
illegitimacy, crime, and job-killing urban taxes and regulations.
But as to "niggardly-gate,"
where was the mayor? After all, Howard worked for the mayor’s campaign,
serving as a volunteer coordinator and office manager. The mayor then
appointed Howard to run the office of Public Advocate, in charge of
handling complaints from citizens. Why didn’t the mayor back his guy
up?
Well, Mayor Williams,
who is black, has his own problems. Some call him an "Uncle Tom."
Under fire for failing to appoint more blacks, the mayor found himself
in the cross-hairs of a "Washington Post" op-ed piece questioning
whether Williams was "black enough." The mayor likely felt
he lacked the political capital to defend his aide against charges
of racial insensitivity, since the mayor himself stood similarly accused.
After all, how objective could an Uncle Tom be?
In accepting Howard’s
resignation, the mayor cited reports of an "inappropriate racial
comment." Excuse me, but why didn’t Hizzoner simply march down
the hall, stick his head in the door and say, "Howard, did you
say this?" And if that conversation did take place, and
Howard denied saying "nigger," did the mayor say, "Well,
Dave, I gotta do what I gotta do"? If so, consider my mother’s
comment, "If there is something lower than a wimp, he’s it."
What’s more, the
mayor’s image-enhancing, fence-building ploy will not work. He simply
looks stupid and weak. Once the victicrats see how readily the race
card makes the mayor squirm and jump, he’s finished.
Before assuming
office, the mayor of Los Angeles, Richard Riordan, spent time and
money on inner city charitable activities. Among other things, he
donated computers to schools. After his election, he appointed a black
deputy mayor, and appointed several minorities and women to his staff.
He regularly visits the inner city, attending functions. He even opposed
the anti-affirmative action Proposition 209, calling it "too
divisive." Yet, at a gathering to celebrate Martin Luther King,
Jr., the mayor got booed by several in the predominately black audience.
And some members of the City Council still accuse the mayor of racial
insensitivity.
At least Williams
got the message. Responding to the resignation backlash, the mayor
offered Howard his old job back. Who knows? Maybe next time, the investigation
will actually precede the resignation.
Hey, things could
have been worse. Howard could have used a word like, say, "crotchety."
A reference, perhaps, to someone’s, uh, privates?
Someday Williams
will learn the L.A. mayor’s lesson. Once the victicrats brand you,
the scar remains. Once an Uncle Tom, always an Uncle Tom. Might as
well, sir, be a courageous one.