Gotta love those Kentucky good ol' boys! As has been pointed out elsewhere today, Northern Kentucky's 4th Congressional District Lincoln Day Dinner, that was held on Saturday night, was full of pot-shots taken at Hillary and Obama.
http://polwatchers.typepad.com/...
Mitch McConnell got to joke about the state of Hillary's campaign, ""I hear she hasn't been this worried since a new Hooters opened" (near her home with former President Bill Clinton). U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, a Hebron Republican, compared Obama, and his message for change, as being similar to a "snake oil salesman."
Davis, who is only three years older than Obama, also had another big line that night:
"I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button," Davis said. "He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country."
It may be surprising news to some that this is somehow offensive, but it is amazing just how different the connotations of "boy" can be. "Good ol' boy" as used in my opening line, is a term of inclusion, a reference to being part of the gang. But when used in refernce to a black man, the meaning skews to a polar opposite.
I think the first time I ever experienced racism up close was when I was in high school and worked at the John Deere dealership owned by my uncle's family. One of the guys who worked there was an 18 year old black man named Terry. I was a high school freshman that year, and he was senior. We became good friends that year, working on the farm and in the shop where they repaired the tractors and other farm equipment.
One day a semi-truck rolled in with some agricultural equipment on the flatbed trailer on the back. With a southern accent, the trucker looked at Terry and said "Boy, give me a hand here." And Terry shot back, "Boy? Who you calling boy?" and just stood there, staring at the man. The trucker then apologized, and Terry proceeded to give him a hand unhooking the tie-down chains and unloading the equipment, in silence.
I really didn't understand the situation. Later Terry explained to me that "boy" was the term that southern white men used to remind adult black males that they were still subservient, that it was a way to demean them and that it was a way to say that, even though they were adults and men, that they deserved no respect or honor. That whether you were ten, or twenty, or sixty years old, you would never be regarded as an equal to a white man. Being called "boy" was a way of reminding you what your place was.
In light of U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis' remarks this past weekend, and the fact that none of the 400 Republicans in the audience got up and walked out when he made this reprehensible slur, I can better understand why the poll numbers in Kentucky for Obama are so low. There are still many places in this country where the phrase "all men are created equal" still doesn't apply. In some parts of Kentucky, some "boys" are still not allowed to be men.
Reader Setrak has provided:
link to the Democrat challenging Geoff Davis in November. Meet Doctor Michael Kelle! http://www.kelley08.com/
And donate. Let's help remove Davis from public office.