Too Young to Know?

"Tar Baby"

Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, used the term in response to Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's decision to back away from his predecessor's unpopular carbon tax policy.
"On that side of the House, they have the man who fathered the carbon tax, put it up for adoption to his predecessor and now wants a paternity test to prove the tar baby was never his in the first place," said Poilievre.

I have not read nor seen this term used since I was a kid. I do remember it and believe that it ran its course even before political correctness began to take hold. I agree that it is a derogatory term and should not be used as a reference to people of dark skin.

Given the societal predilection to cry fowl when a public figure uses such terms, why on earth would Mr. Poilievre even think of using "tar baby"? Surely he would know that it would cast aspersions on both his and his party's name. I may have the answer. In seeing a picture of Mr. Poilievre, I see that he is a very young man. Could it be that he is indeed ignorant of the meaning of the term because of his age? He has grown up in a society that has been taught to watch its mouth when referring to other ethnic groups or cultures and if he has travelled in the politically correct circles all his life, it may be that he is sincere in believing that the term means only 'something that sticks', in this case, the carbon tax that sticks to all Liberals.