A lawyer for the NAACP says that Attorney General Jeff Sessions used “racially charged” language in a meeting with civil rights groups on Thursday.
Attorney Sherrilyn Ifill says that Sessions “listened respectfully” to her presentation on why the Department of Justice should maintain its focus on voter rights during the Trump Administration. But following her speech, Sessions told Ifill that she was “articulate,” a statement (likely meant as a compliment) that Ifill and others seem to believe was a racial slur.
Ifill, who is a cousin to the late journalist Gwen Ifill, runs the NAACP’s legal defense arm, and previous worked for the George Soros-backed Open Society Foundation, making her no fan of the Trump Administration from the get go.
The term “articulate” does have a racially charged history. It has often been used, according to the New York Times, to express “amazement, even bewilderment,” at a black person’s intelligence. Although the incident has long been washed down the memory hole, future Vice President Joe Biden caused significant controversy in 2007 when he used to the word to describe Barack Obama on the campaign trail.
Sessions, progressive journalist Oliver Willis claims, is already treading on thin ice, having been accused, in his confirmation hearings, of expressing support for the KKK, and, now, being opposed to a comprehensive effort to head off state voter ID laws.
Of course, saying someone is “articulate” could simply be a compliment, devoid of any racially charged connections. The Internet may have jumped to the immediate conclusion that Sessions is an “old timey” southern racist and an “atrocious human,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Sessions meant to give Ifill a backhanded compliment in the middle of a meeting with black civil rights leaders, headed by the NAACP.
Heat Street requested a comment from Sessions’ office but we haven’t received a response.