All the World’s a Slur
Former Governor and GOP stalwart Haley Barbour was (partially) hung out to dry last week over employing the term “tar babies” in describing some of President Obama’s policy positions.
Similarly, Ray Allen, a Virginia GOP consultant was called out when he said that Virginia House Speaker Bill Howell would beat his opponent like a “rented mule.”
Barbour’s choice of words was thought to be racially insensitive and Allen’s a shot at women since Howell’s opponent is female.
The political correctness police are out in force.
In both instances the phrases are historical references which are neither racist nor sexist though PETA would be riled at the mule reference.
Making them out to be examples of bigotry erodes the power of language and stifles political dialogue as each word must be torturously analyzed by the speaker prior to being uttered.
It’s also intellectually lazy to glom onto reckless conclusions.
A tar baby is an ageless reference found in many cultures referring to a situation where you get stuck to something you can’t detach from, often as part of a clever ruse.
The American derivation is from the tale of Br’er Rabbit by Uncle Remus though other cultures employ a very similar idea using tar as a metaphor for sticky.
Br’er Rabbit and Tar Baby
In “Beat them like a rented mule” the issue is not with the mule, but rather with “beat.”
Mules, of course, are stubborn and there are all manner of ways to get them moving. You might employ harsher methods to a rented mule, being not your own property, that you will return at the end of the work day.
It implies a lack of mercy if whipping is the object.
It’s just as likely that Allen was sloppy with his metaphors using “beat” as a synonym for “win” but confusing when yoked to the mule and a pending political contest.
In either case it’s beyond a stretch to to see it as a shot at women.
We should save our collective outrage for behavior and symbology which are overtly bigoted rather than attempting to purge our language of any reference that can be tenuously and recklessly interpreted as having some remote and nebulous connection to a perceived and vague historical insult.