Oh, Mrs. William Jewell Jones. You wrote for newspapers in a simpler time, when some words were good and some words were bad – and a reporter knew the difference.
I never met Mrs. WJJ, who did not use her given name, Virginia, in her byline, but I can claim an acquaintance of sorts, dating back to my teenage years.
I was saving pennies toward the bachelor of journalism degree I would one day earn from the University of Missouri in Columbia. Some of my funds came from my job as a typesetter at the long-defunct Press-Times in Crystal City
One chore was to type Mrs. Jones’ weekly missive, which came to me on legal pad paper, in flowing school-marm cursive.
As a neighborhood columnist, a newspaper tradition in bygone days, Mrs. Jones dutifully reported all the doings in her Hematite community – who came to visit whom, what was on the menu for the church supper, who got married (no one ever seemed to get divorced), and accompanying detail-rich descriptions of brides’ and bridesmaids’ attire.
It seemed she was never at a loss for news – until the day she was.
Mrs. William Jewell Jones felt a responsibility to fill her space, so she gave her readers, and me, her typist, a list of her favorite words.
There were dozens; I think I remember that “rainbow” and “sunrise” were among them.
Was the word “articulate” on the list?
By today’s standards, I found out a few weeks ago, it shouldn’t have been.
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum’s surprise win in the Democratic primary for Florida governor provided my moment of enlightenment.
Ron DeSantis, Gillum’s Republican opponent in the upcoming general election, regrettably used the word “monkey” in his comments about Gillum’s upset victory and the race ahead.
Since Gillum is black, DeSantis’ word choice, although not directed at Gillum personally, was super-dumb if unintentional and super-scummy if on purpose.
However, DeSantis also described Gillum as “articulate,” and I was taken aback by Gillum’s eye-roll when he recounted that word choice in an interview.
Turns out, my research shows, you are now deemed insensitive if you describe a person of color as “articulate” or “well-spoken” because you are inwardly surprised that someone who is not white could possess those qualities.
Sorry, but not buying it.
When I call former President Barack Obama articulate, it’s not because I’m surprised given his biracial lineage. It is in comparison to his predecessor, George W. Bush, who was known for being clumsy with the spoken word.
My personal choice is to continue using the word “articulate” when I want to compliment any well-spoken human. No apologies.
And here’s another wayward thought.
The N-word is a terrible racial slur, and no person should ever use it, white or black.
Earlier this year, Rick Arnold, former Pevely alderman and Dunklin R-5 school board member, made Page 1 in one edition of the Leader for allegedly using a derivation of the N-word in texts to Pevely Police Chief Tony Moutray.
Arnold said his usage was not directed at a person, that he used the N-word as part of the phrase “N-word pie,” which he said is urban slang for “something good.”
A black friend of Arnold’s chimed in, noting that there is a difference when the word ends with an “A,” as Arnold said he used it, rather than an “ER,” and Arnold should not be tagged as a racist.
I’m calling no names here, but Arnold paid a price for his indiscretion. He was an incumbent who lost his seat on the aldermanic board to a write-in candidate, a historic slap-down. Veteran deputy clerk Jeannie Goff has a 32-year history in the County Clerk’s Office and had never seen that happen before.
The R-5 school board investigated Arnold’s texts and concluded it would take no action, but Arnold resigned anyway, although he said his decision was not tied to the public shaming.
In this era of divisiveness, words and reactions to them should be aimed at uniting rather than separating. Therefore, no one should take offense at being labeled a good speaker, and racial insults – derivatives, too – should be stricken from vocabulary.
To me, that means black people should refrain from using the N-word themselves. “We can say it, but you can’t” is an “us and them” attitude that perpetuates separate, opposing camps. A slur is a slur.
Virginia M. Jones died in 2004 at age 91 and probably still has a passel of relatives in the county.
They should be proud. Her obituary reveals there was a lot more to her than I knew. As a teacher at several small schools in the De Soto area before school reorganization, she came by her textbook-perfect handwriting honestly.
She was a minister’s wife who was active at the state level in her denomination, a choir director, an enthusiastic campaigner for her brother, the late state Rep. Bud Lewis, and a descendant of explorer Meriwether Lewis.
If the A-word made it on Mrs. William Jewell Jones’ list, I’m certain she didn’t mean to offend.
