GA-03, GA-08: Uppity Georgia Republicans?

What is with the recent spate of Georgia Republicans using the word "uppity" to refer to black people? First, it was Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia's 3rd congressional district who called Barack and Michelle Obama "uppity". Even after a media firestorm, Westmoreland stood by what he said, again saying that it "accurately describes" Obama. Oh, and get this, he claimed that even though he grew up in the segregated South, he had no idea that "uppity" was a derogatory term for blacks who sought equal treatment. The Washington Post's Jonathan Weisman, who also grew up in Atlanta, did not buy Westmoreland's excuse for a second.

This led to Stephen Colbert doing an update of his Better Know a District series. You'll recall that Westmoreland is also the guy who wants to put up the Ten Commandments in public buildings, but when asked by Colbert, could only name three (his staff says that he was finally able to name a fourth one, but that Colbert edited that part out).



And then, to follow that up, Rick Goddard, running for Congress in Georgia's 8th congressional district, called MSNBC's Ron Allen (who is black) a "very uppity newscaster" because he dared to question Newt Gingrich on Sarah Palin's experience. You can watch the clip for yourself to determine if Ron Allen was being "uppity" there in letting Gingrich talk for 40 seconds without interruption after posing the same question many in the media had been asking.

Stephen Camp is the Democrat seeking to unseat Westmoreland, and Jim Marshall (D) is the current Congressman that Goddard is challenging.