Tennessee Republican Rep. Diana Harshbarger has come under fire for referring to Texas Democrat Al Green, a 77-year-old Black man, as “boy.”
Green generated headlines for interrupting and pointing his cane at President Donald Trump to protest proposed cuts to Medicaid during his annual address to Congress in February, which earned him a censure from the House of Representatives.
“Al Green was over here with his cane and I’m like, ‘Gosh dang it, boy,’” Harshbarger said, recalling the moment. “He does not need that cane. That cane is a prop. I swear it’s not real.”
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The use of “boy” in reference to a Black man is widely regarded as racially coded (depending, of course, on the speaker and tone of voice). Courts have ruled as such, and civil rights groups have said, “If not a proxy for ‘n----r,’ it is at the very least a close cousin.”
Harshbarger’s remarks came during an interview with Johnson City, Tennessee, Christian group F.A.M.E. Ministries.
“I’m wondering, one of my colleagues said, ‘Unscrew the gold part off of it and see if there’s a gun in there,’” she continued. “I’m, like, ‘I don’t know about that man. He’s just Weird Al.’”
A representative for Harshbarger did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Green’s office also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Harshbarger’s remarks echo what some other Republicans said in the days following the Democrat’s protest.
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, for instance, not only said Green doesn’t need the item, but called it a “pimp cane”—another racially coded comment.
