Georgia Rep Calls Obamas 'Uppity' Elitists

White Congressman denies racial implications of slam

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 5, 2008 11:10 AM CDT

(Newser) – An Atlanta-area Congressman described Barack and Michelle Obama as belonging to "an elitist class ... that thinks that they’re uppity,” CQPolitics reports. Lynn Westmoreland's comments, inspired by questions about recent speeches by Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama, touched off a linguistic battle over the word's racial implications. "I’ve never heard that term used in a racially derogatory sense," Westmoreland, who is white, said in a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“This was an adjective for elitism, not a code word,” said Westmoreland's press secretary. But "everybody gets that who is from a Southern background," according to veteran consultant David Gergen, notes the Hill, which broke the story. And a professor of political rhetoric tells CQPolitics.com: “The racial politics that it reanimates are very worrisome.”

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., right, declined to elaborate further than his comment that Barack and Michelle Obama belong to an "elitist class" that "thinks that they're uppity." (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., kisses his wife, Michelle Obama, after his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

An Obama advisor suggested that Westmoreland take some time to get to know the Obamas, including daughters Malia, 10, second from right, and Sasha, 7. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

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Political attacks like this don’t lower gas prices one cent, they don’t give one more American access to affordable health care, and they don’t get one more Georgian a job that pays the mortgage. - Georgia Democratic Party chairwoman Jane Kidd

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Georgia Rep Calls Obamas 'Uppity' Elitists