> even though I knew that what they were really saying was that I was “articulate for being Black”
I can understand where this comes from, but I also wonder, how could one honestly compliment someone like the author for being articulate without it being taken this way? I sense it as someone having a chip on their shoulder (maybe for good reason), but it seems some folks are looking for offense when none is intended.
If you can tell someone has a chip on their shoulder, I'd just steer clear of them in general. It's not your job to carefully craft compliments so they don't get upset.
Generic praise is kind of useless in the first place. Make your compliments specific. "You said, '<something you enjoyed>.' What a clever turn of phrase!"
I can understand where this comes from, but I also wonder, how could one honestly compliment someone like the author for being articulate without it being taken this way? I sense it as someone having a chip on their shoulder (maybe for good reason), but it seems some folks are looking for offense when none is intended.