LA’s Jive-talkin’ Mayor

Mayor Villaraigosa, Jamie Foxx

Hey brotha! LA’s first Latino mayor since 1870 is actually a black guy? You’d swear Antonio Villaraigosa was straight outta Compton as he lapsed into jivespeak while presenting awards to Jamie Foxx, Chaka Khan and Tavis Smiley at African American Heritage Month celebrations at City Hall. Say what?

Hear what the mayor had to say — and how he said it — in a delightful little segment from John Phillips’ show. Was it outreach or outrage? You make the call.


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LA’s Jive-talkin’ Mayor
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South Lawn, City Hall

Audience reaction ranged from giggles to amazement. Hundreds of African Americans who packed Council chambers or watched video projections on City Hall’s south lawn seemed slightly startled as hizzoner rapped on — not shuckin’ or jivin’ as much with the drop-dead eloquent Tavis Smiley as he did with entertainers Kahn and Foxx. LA’s mainstream media took no notice. Not even the Militant Angelino who took the crowd pic above took exception.

Younger blacks seemed more amused than their civil rights-era elders or those from the Afro-centric generations of the 70s and 80s.

But imagine the reaction had former mayors Jim Hahn or Dick Riordan lapsed into Ebonics at a celebration of black achievement. A conversation at DiversityInc offers a clue…

Question
I am a well-educated, middle class black woman from upstate New York. Why do some white people speak to me in slang? It’s as though they think they need to talk “cool” (in their perception) to be understood by me. Also, why do some white people appear surprised when they first see me after having spoken to me on the phone? Why, why, why do some white people think black people don’t speak the king’s English?

Answer
Almost everyone has to deal with white people, but most white people live a highly segregated life — especially socially. This leads to discomfort in business and social interactions — that’s where you’ll hear dumb talk and stupid “accents.”

Villaraigosa, Chaka KhanDifferent rules seem to apply to LA’s highest-ranking elected official, seen here smooching Chaka Khan who, like Foxx and Smiley, didn’t speak in the vernacular voiced by the Mayor of Color.

Regardless, his ratings seem solid in the African American community.

In a 2009 Los Angeles Times poll taken before Villaraigosa pulled out of the governor’s race, African Americans gave the mayor a 63% approval rating and clearly preferred him as their choice for governor (39%) over Jerry Brown (27%) and Gavin Newsom (4%).

Still, Villaraigosa never ceases to amaze. And it was something of a stunner to watch the mayor of Los Angeles morph chameleon-like into a black dude.

Leonard Zelig lives.

Posted by Michael  January 31st, 2010
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