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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 8/29/2010
Posts: 33
Points: 99
Location: Australia
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Dear all,
I am reading "FREEDOM", Jonathan Franzen.
Lines 6 o 8
"...even though 'boy' is not a bad word, you still can't say it to a grown man, especially not to a black man, but, of course, the whole problem with Joey is..."
Why "especially not to a black man'?
Is there any kind of discrimination implied if I use 'boy' to a black man?
Any kind of cultural or historical back ground?
Thanking you in advance.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/21/2009
Posts: 19,780
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Location: Helsinki, Finland
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I think someone of the American members can tell this with more exact nuances, but
in slavery time elder black men were called "boy" by white people. A 60-years old black servant was a "boy" to a 20-years old plantation owner's son or daughter.
So, to call an adult man a boy is an insult or downplaying.
I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 6/14/2009
Posts: 2,424
Points: 7,126
Location: China
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Yes there is. When African slaves were taken to America to work on the plantations many had their own names taken from them and were given Anglicised names, thus taking away their identity. However, due, I guess, to a lack of imagination, the same names were used over and over again. So the bosses used to just call many of them 'Boy'. As this was applied to any male from 8 to 80 it emasculated the adult men, reducing them to the status of children. (This was also the reason, in the 60s and 70s, that many women - black and white - started to rebel against being called 'the girls' or 'girl'. They felt it reduced them to the status of children)
This convention continued long after it became to illegal to keep slaves. A black man - regardless of whether he was 6 foot tall, built like a brick outhouse and possessed a College degree - was still referred to as a "Boy" by many, especially in the South, in America. If you have ever heard or read any of the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, the great freedom fighter, you will find he makes reference to this fact, as have done many other leaders of civil rights programmes.
So, that's an encapsulation of the cultural and historical background. While I have no idea if it is still true, in American movies at least racists will still deliberately use the word 'boy' if they want to antagonise or show their scorn of black men!
A thought: - This might be a reason for the way - again during the 60s and 70s, it became a convention to call everyone "Man" (Hey, man, wassup?) a word many of us still use unconsciously when addressing others...often regardless of gender?
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Yes, Romany, your thought is absolutely correct.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 4/22/2011
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Location: Japan
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 4/16/2009
Posts: 806
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Location: Alaska
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I've been around the World twice
I've got tomorrow's newspaper in my back pocket.
I've arm wrestled with Superman.
and you're calling me Boy?
"Always wash your hands and say your prayers for germs and Jesus are everywhere." -Naomi Judd
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 2/20/2011
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Location: Spain
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Downplaying -it always was; Mr Petrie made a good film in 1961.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 8/29/2010
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Location: Australia
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Thanks very much for your help, ladies and gentlemen!
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Rank: Advanced Member
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/11/2010
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Location: United Kingdom
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a good way to explain afb - a brilliant film
I live in my own little world, but it's OK - they know me here...
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