There is a statement attributed to former First Lady Barbara Bush that is circling the airwaves. I quote it as it arrived in my email box. I have tried to ascertain its accuracy, but so far the only barometer I have is that other people whom I’ve emailed have also heard this comment from various independent sources.
Nevertheless, Mrs. Bush is documented as saying: “And so many of the people in the arena here, (meaning the New Orleans Superdome) you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.”
Excuse me?
How is it working very well for them? They’re destitute.
I checked my dictionary for a definition of underprivileged and learned that there is really no such word. Yet Mrs. Bush’s statement suggests that anyone in that so-called classification has no memories, no photographs, no family members who are gone missing. They have no attachment to where they lived, no roots, no desire to make it on their own.
If the word existed, underprivileged would not mean lacking in self-respect or lacking in memorabilia or lacking in family closeness. Rather it means being less privileged than the privileged. Maybe that’s why Mrs. Bush used it incorrectly; the meaning is beyond her personal comprehension.
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