Rude About Obama: …”He Is A Local “Boy”

When I first heard it, I did a double take.  I had to know if what I heard was what I ACTUALLY heard…and it was.

Now before I get into this topic,  I want to thwart the commentary all of those who will try and say that I am nit picking.

Say what you will, but I view this as I viewed the Janet Jackson “Wardrobe Malfunction”.   So in your face and shocking thatI had to ask myself, “Did I experience what I just experienced?”

I was listening to to a report on the CBS Evening News on 12/29/08.

The report was called:

“Riding The Obama Wave In Hawaii

CBS Evening News: A Cottage Industry Centered Around The Hometown Hero Has Emerged In The Aloha State.”

Click here for the  CBS video and the report.

Here’s what my beef is about…

“Since he is a local boy, he understands the islands and gets out and does the things locals do,” says John Monahan of the Oahu Vistor’s Bureau.

Could it just have been an innocent statement?  Could it just be me?

John Monahan, of the Oahu (Hawaii) Visitor’s Bureau couldn’t have stuck his foot and shoe in his mouth any deeper than he has.  Tasting any leather, John?  What about sucking on your flip flops….?

Well, here’s my problem.  Obama endured being called everything in the book, mocked and completely degraded because of his race and this just seems like an insensitive and certainly unthoughtful comment.

I am sure that you know using the term “boy” to describe a black man is using a term of disrespect.  It was (and still is) used to separate the masculenity of a white man from the maculenity of a black man, in that, a black man is nothing more than a “boy”, never to reach a level of respect in any way to actually be considered a man.

Just watch an episode of  “The Jeffersons” where George is called a “boy” by racist characters in the show.  As I recall, it happened in several episodes.  Of course, George’s quick wit and sharp tongue usually told the racist character where to go, followed by a foot in the butt and a door slammed behind them.

Obama has been cool through is all.  He would almost seem aloof to the whole issue of his race.  But we know that he knows.

It was just a rude call for this guy to say that about Obama.  Don’t call anyone a “boy” unless you are talking about the sex of an infant or a child.

Even CBS knew to call Obama “The Hometown Hero”, not “The Hometown Boy.”