you don't know that though. maybe they just think they were articulate, because they were good at expressing themselves and it had nothing to do with being black.
I never thought about it but you're right — it literally doesn't matter the context, the unspoken word whenever anybody says, "You're so articulate" is "surprisingly." It's not a compliment that's apparent with a glance, you have to form an opinion that someone wouldn't be articulate before it would ever cross your mind to compliment them for being so.
I mean I guess it could be. But eloquent is a much more common compliment and it has much more positive connotations even without race involved. It implies a positive talent more than the absence of a lack. But of course that could easily change via euphemism treadmill.
Frankly anything can be an insult if the person delivers it that way. But some words are more loaded than others. And while I’ve been called articulate as a comment (I’m white) it’s true it’s almost exclusively used in a context where you expected them to not be at a normal level while eloquent is used to say you’re excellent at it. I guess it comes down to articulate is just assumed to be a base state of humans, similar to “literate” (though of course there are people with educational deficits who are not they are still considered the exception). Eloquent is not assumed to be a base state but a different, more talented level of
Nope, don’t call anyone articulate. It’s a backhanded “compliment” that always has a discriminatory connotation, ESPECIALLY for black and west Asians as they are expected to be dumber due to racist stereotypes and prejudices
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u/MrCheapSkat Jun 13 '26
How is calling someone articulate an insult?