“Boy.”

This isn’t a term regarding male minors. It’s the offensive and derogatory word used when shaming a male.

As someone soon turning 66, I often have heard this word used: “I can get a monkey to do your job, boy.” “Who you talking to, boy?”

The people who are misusing this term may not recognize how it brands someone. I have attempted to explain on numerous occasions how belittling it makes one feel. However, it doesn’t seem to matter. The response: “Oh, don’t be so sensitive,” or “Are you a man or a woman?”

Honestly, I thought this departed along with Jim Crow. But it still exists, perhaps not always in utterance, but in body language for sure.

Personally, when attending college later in life, I not only went to obtain knowledge, skills and a piece of paper, but to prove I was evolving beyond “boy.”

This was penned with those adolescent males in mind who have the opportunity to create a civilization representing personhood – not boyism.

RICK KNIGHT

Henrico County