Michael Eric Dyson On Obama's Use Of Language

Michael Eric Dyson, writing in the Washington Post on President-elect Obama's use of language, opines that "as much praise as [Obama] has justly received for speaking in a way that doesn't assault the white eardrum or worldview, his rhetoric is firmly rooted in black soil." Dyson recounts a January 2008 Obama speech in Sumter, South Carolina in which the then-candidate, speaking to a largely black audience about efforts to misrepresent his ideas, said "They're trying to bamboozle you" and "It's the same old okie-doke." In Dyson's view, "if you weren't familar with black culture, most of what he said and how he said it went right over your head--and beyond your ears."