Once again, Georgia just makes me shake my head. Â The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled that:
there were no racial overtones when a white supervisor called an adult black man “boy.â€
“The usages were conversational,†the majority explained, repeating what it had told the trial court after the Supreme Court ruled, and “nonracial in context.†Even if “somehow construed as racial,†the unsigned 2-to-1 decision went on, “the comments were ambiguous stray remarks†that were not proof of employment discrimination.
I’m thinking the majority hangs out in the same places that Rep. Lynn Westmoreland does.
James Young
I guess it depends on context. For instance, I once used the phrase “local boy made good” to refer to the appointment of my County’s first black judge, a man who had been raised in the County. The fact that he is my best friend and my son’s godfather insured, however, that he understood the context. Particularly since I would have used the same phrase about a similarly-situated individual, whether white or black.
On the other hand, from the report to which you link, it appears that the jury had a different view, and it sounds a lot like a jury question to me. Kinda surprised that the court reversed.