GOP Congressman Calls Barack Obama "Boy"

Photo of Rep. Geoff Davis from source, Raw Story

When you have a woman and an African American candidate in the race for President for the first time, language is bound to become a minefield. In both cases, there are word choices that could be made about a white man that wouldn't raise an eyebrow, but could get you into deep trouble referring to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Unfortunately both women and African Americans have been treated poorly in many cases in our national history. Derogatory words and phrases have been used in the past (and much less publicly in the present). Many double-entendres and code words are out there. Because of this, countless words and phrases can have unintended meanings.

But even if Representative Geoff Davis (R-Kentucky)--and can you believe that name???--uses "boy" in his daily speech about all sorts of people, even he should have known better than to use it when referring to Barack Obama. I get irritated when misstatements get blown into huge scandals, but this one was just plain stupid. And I'm sure it won't be the last.

[Excerpt]

Obama hits back at inexperience charge from GOP lawmaker

A Republican congressman used some of the most racially charged language of the election season to attack Barack Obama's fitness to be president, causing the Illinois Senator's campaign to issue a sharp rebuke Monday.

Rep. Geoff Davis was speaking to about 400 donors at a fundraiser in Kentucky, when he said of Obama, "That boy's finger does not need to be on the button. . ."

Read more at: Raw Story