Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Hannan / Politics The Search for a Better Metaphor: Senator Corker and the Tar Baby
Posted by Caleb Hannan on Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Yesterday, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker offered up his own Romney moment. "It's a tar baby," he said of the ongoing government bailout of insurance behemoth AIG. "It's not going to go away." Politico's headline ("Senator: AIG Bailout a 'tar baby'") practically begged for a torch-and-pitchfork response. But thus far, no outrage.
Why the double-standard? It could have something to do with location.
Up North, tar baby is (pun-intended) highly inflammatory. A lesser used version of the n-word. Its origins in the African folklore of Uncle Remus may be innocuous. But its long-ago racist reappropriation has since marked it as no-go territory for white folk like Romney (fair enough, since the white folk are the ones who turned it into a slur).
Down South, things aren't so simple. An extremely unscientific poll we just conducted reveals that the average Southerner actually knows of tar baby's Uncle Remus origins, as much as they know that using it may cause some raised eyebrows. Context, it seems, means everything.
Corker may have averted an outcry because he's from a Southern state. Or maybe no one thinks its worth it to work themselves up in a lather over a guy not running for President. Either way, in the future, Corker might be best served avoiding the sticky situations "tar baby" is meant to invoke by grasping for a better metaphor.
Comments (6)
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Obviously, if Romney or Corker were referring to a black person as a "tar baby," that would be highly offensive. As a euphemism for a "sticky situation," it shouldn't offend.
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I half-way agree with you there, Kathy. But shouldn't politicians like Corker know better given Romney's experience?
If Corker were exceptionally happy, we could correctly say he's "gay." Do you think he would be happy with that designation?
On a related note, an MTSU survey shows one in six Tennesseans admits to telling racist jokes about the President. Note, that's "admits"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/03/one-in-six-tennesseans-ad_n_171529.html
So the tarbaby line is nothing down here.
Maybe in the overall scheme of things, considering a lot of the other statements he has made, Bob Corker just isn’t worth getting excited about.
Oh, this is just silly. Look at what a tar baby is, for heaven's sake: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_baby You have to wonder whether people who are offended by it are just illiterate, unfamiliar with the original story.
What other phrases starting with the word "tar" are also off limits? Tar pit? Tar heel? What other things that are black (or red or brown or white or yellow) are off limits? Black market? Blackout? Brownout? Black lung? Brown lung? Brown bag? Brown bread? Brown nose? Red tape? Red neck? Red velvet cake? Yellow fever? Yellow belly? Yellow dog? Yellow ribbon? White House? White knight? White flag? White elephant? Just checking. Wouldn't want to offend anyone.
