A Virginia public official is apologizing after calling a 43 year old black man “boy” during a public meeting.
Calvin Trice
Augusta County supervisor Tracy Pyles took issue with an article written by reporter Calvin Trice, yelling to him, “you got it wrong boy.”
Trice, a reporter for the News Leader, said he expected Pyles to be upset but didn’t expect him to go that far.
“The context was obviously angry and that’s a term that when its been used against me was a racial slur, a put-down,” Trice said.
Pyles said he understands Trice’s reaction, but speaks to everyone that way.
“I have boys. ‘Listen boy, you can’t do that,’” Pyles said. “That’s the way I talk to them. The fact that I think of Calvin no differently than I do anybody else, it came out, but I know the world looks at things differently.”
Immediately after Pyles called Trice “boy”, he corrected himself, calling the reporter “son” instead of “boy.”
“I understand how people take that, and it’s because how I talk naturally, you know to everybody or anybody who would be of about that age, and I followed it up with, as soon as it came out of my mouth,” he said. “I immediately went to ‘son.’”
Pyles said he emailed Trice to apologize for the remark.
“I really appreciated it,” Trice said. “He did mention, and he seemed to be sincere, that he hoped I haven’t felt any different from any other member of the media … and honestly that’s true.”
This is not the first recent incident of someone white calling a grown black man “boy” in recent weeks.
As BreakingBrown reported, a Seattle police officer was recently punished for calling a black suspect ‘boy.’
“You’re going to get your αss shot, boy,” said Officer Jennifer Hunt, after having chased the black suspect during a domestic violence incident.
The police union is fighting her suspension.
