Articulate. On its own, the word means nothing more than its Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of "divided into syllables," or "words meaningfully arranged" or "able to speak." But when the word is used to describe a black person, it tends to carry an entirely different connotation.
"First of all, it expresses a presumption that African-Americans are, by and large, not articulate," explains Charlton McIlwain, associate professor of media, culture and communications at New York University. "It indicates that we don't expect them to speak well or have those capabilities. To say that a black man is articulate has a negative association because that statement is not made about white people or others who speak well. So it translates into "Hey, this is not the type of black person we are used to. He actually speaks well."
Use of the A-word in reference to blacks, has received increased attention recently as a result of Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. The murmurs surrounding the use of the word, which is frequently used in reference to Obama, reached a crescendo in February when Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware described him as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man."
But not everyone was enamored by Biden's description of Obama. Beyond the other glaring problems with Biden's account of Obama's good qualities, like the use of the words 'first' and 'clean', using the word articulate was a clear verbal misstep. The following day, the Delaware senator found himself in the midst of intense media scrutiny and quickly apologized.
And though Biden may not have meant to reinforce that stereotype, Obama still felt the need to set the record straight.
"I didn't take Senator Biden's comments personally, but obviously they were historically inaccurate," Obama said in a statement to CNN. "African-American presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns, and no one would call them inarticulate."
Though we know why the A-word elicits such negative reaction, from where does this response originate? Some race relations experts say slavery.
"There is a period of refinement within the institution of racism and it changes the way it manifests in attempts to be more subtle," explains Jeffrey Menzise, PhD, professor of psychology and former assistant director of the Race Relations Institute at Fisk University.
"Slavery doesn't exist anymore, but when you look in the health disparities between races, lack of jobs amongst African Americans and the way the media portrays blacks, you can see that racism is still in effect. A person that says they don't see is race is delusional."
Although the past is a dark one, many experts are optimistic that a national discussion of such topics will help raise sensitivities to the use of such words.
"I certainly believe this kind of dialog and constantly putting it out there will help," says McIlwain. "When people hear the word being used and allow themselves to think theoretically about it, they realize what's going on - even if it's not something they meant to imply. It may take a while longer for people who don't engage in this discussion, but as long as it continues, eventually, things will change."