racism of older linguists

[Joel S. Berson]

At 3/7/2009 10:50 PM, Charles Doyle wrote:
>A probable point at issue (in Wilson's earlier communication) is a
>particular white stereotype of black folks:  That all back persons
>seem to know each other.
>
>Of course, there may be some substance to the hypothesis that many
>black people maintain wider social networks of personal acquaintance
>than their white counterparts do--for reasons that could be
>speculated about.  Or perhaps there's a difference in the style with
>which individuals are likely to greet one another in public places.

In 1775 John Adams was told by two gentlemen from Georgia, "The
Negroes have a wonderfull Art of communicating Intelligence among
themselves. It will run severall hundreds of Miles in a Week or Fortnight."[i]

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[i] Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, ed. L. H. Butterfield et
al. (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1961), 2:183.

Joel

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