09 December 2007

Obama and Oprah - part 2...

So the pictures from today's rally in South Carolina showed about a 50-50 split between African-Americans and Whites in attendance unlike in Iowa. ABC World News even briefly interviewed African-American women who said that they have switched to supporting Obama. Oprah can bring them in.

There was a difference in another way that I noticed between yesterday and today, and I may be one of only a few who would notice this - the language. More specifically, the dialect.

Oprah and Obama slipped out of their perfect mid-western diction and fell distinctly into not just a southern-like accent but into the language usage also.

To most, it may seem subtle, if noticeable at all, but I worked with African-American children and one of the things that is made clear to them from their elders is that there is English and then there is street, and you have to use them in the appropriate times and places. Obama's street was very noticeable when he spoke. Oprah slips in and out of it all the time with her show depending on the topic. I'm not sure I've heard Obama use it before.

in political terms it is a subtle form of pandering, but it's still pandering...

1 comment:

Java said...

Interesting observation about the dialect there. I've heard it in other venues. Didn't see today's rally. I live in South Carolina, but am a transplant from Florida. The people of South Carolina are an interesting bunch. I wonder how many of 'us' will be influenced by the dialectical pandering.