Augusta supervisor calls black reporter 'boy'

VERONA – At a staff briefing Monday, while loudly voicing his disagreement with an article written by a News Leader government reporter, Augusta County Supervisor Tracy Pyles said to him, "You got it wrong, boy — uh, son."

Although Pyles tried at the last minute to take back his use of the word "boy" by replacing it with "son," the word slipped out.

Four additional supervisors were at the meeting and either said they didn't hear Pyles or wouldn't comment. However, Pyles admitted to calling Calvin Trice, a 43-year-old black reporter, "boy" and called it an "error."

"That has bothered me," Pyles said of what happened. "It certainly came out, and then I went to 'son.' "

The Rev. Mildred Middlebrooks, a Waynesboro NAACP president for 27 years, said the slur by Pyles was a poor choice and an example of how racism is still alive in this country.

"The term 'boy' has been in usage for such a long time," she said. "There are some things that die, and there are some things that seem to be like the phoenix bird that have a rebirth whenever the person using the term … has a sense of big-headedness, power."

Middlebrooks said that for a black man to be called "boy" in 2015 begs the question of how far we've come in racial relationships.

"Especially if an elected official is harboring these kinds of thoughts," she said.

Pyles: I talked to him like my own kids

The supervisors meet monthly for a staff briefing to hear from county departments and to discuss topics of interest. It's a less formal gathering than the supervisors' twice-monthly meetings, and audio is not recorded.

With about 30 minutes left of the three-and-a-half hour meeting, Pyles addressed the board and Trice, saying that an article about a closed meeting "defamed him" and that he was reacting to being called improper and having his picture on the front page.

"Made it seem as if I'm unethical, and I'm trying to tell them that they shouldn't have done that," Pyles said of his reaction Monday. "So, it came out and it was immediately followed by 'son.' "

When asked why he used the words "boy" and "son" to address Trice, Pyles said he talks to everyone like his sons, including colleagues and reporters.

"It's the way I talk to my sons here and say that," Pyles said. "That was, as soon as it left my mouth, I knew it was going to be misinterpreted."

Pyles said that even as an elected official he has no problem talking to people the same he way as he would his children.

"I have boys. 'Listen boy, you can't do that,' "Pyles said. "That's the way I talk to them. The fact that I think of Calvin no differently than I do anybody else, it came out, but I know the world looks at things differently."

Pyles said that he understands that the word "boy" has historical significance in how it was and is used as a derogatory way to address black people, but that was not his intention.

"I understand how people take that," Pyles said. "And it's because how I talk naturally, you know to everybody or anybody who would be of about that age. And I followed it up with, as soon as it came out of my mouth … I immediately went to 'son.'"

After four years covering the supervisors, Trice knew Pyles was going to say something about his article on a closed meeting about the courthouse that was held improperly.

"It came in the middle of a tirade against my report ... that was expected," Trice said. "But when that word came up, that's the only thing about that whole scenario that surprised me. That one word. It's the first time it got uncomfortably personal."

Trice said that "boy" is a racially charged word and that he was offended by the use of it by Pyles.

"The context was obviously angry and that's a term that when its been used against me was a racial slur, a put down," he said.

Historically offensive word

American history records a heavily freighted meaning for the use of the word "boy."

The racially coded term for an adult black man was an incendiary topic during the civil rights movement, as generations of context going back to slavery were loaded into the term.

It even became the topic of a widely publicized national court case in 2010 when a black Tyson Foods plant worker in Alabama sued for being passed over for a promotion. Part of the evidence presented included his white boss' habit of calling him "boy."

Prominent civil rights leaders filed an amicus brief in the case, saying "use of the term 'boy' to describe an African-American man is deeply offensive and that its use reflects discriminatory intent."

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals brief explains: "Most (of the leaders filing the brief are) also native sons of the South who experienced firsthand the racial indignity of being called 'boy' by whites or having their loved ones and friends demeaned by use of the term.

"…If not a proxy for [the 'n-word'], it is at the very least a close cousin."

Whether said accidentally or on purpose, slurs cannot be removed from the context of how they have been used historically and are still used, Middlebrooks said.

During the late 1700s, black men were counted as three-fifths of a white man when determining a state's total population for legislative representation and taxing purposes. Middlebrooks said this mentality gave others the idea that they could say whatever they wanted because black people were considered less than a full person.

"We often want to think that racism is dead, but it is still alive and well. We have some people who have been brought up in a manner — who are in power and authority… and it has been a part of our lives," she said. "It doesn't go away, and sometimes emotionalism does get the better of our judgment, and we go back to things that are hateful and hurtful."

She added that she can understand why the use of the word, even if an attempt is made to correct it, would offend someone.

"If you're going to make positive change, you need to put yourselves in other people's shoes," Middlebrooks said. "How would I feel if I were addressed the same way?"

Reaction from other supervisors

Despite his loud and accusatory comments, a number of supervisors present Monday night said they didn't hear Pyles call Trice "boy" and "son."

Former chairman Larry Wills said he often tunes Pyles out.

"A lot of what Tracy says I don't pay attention to," he said. "I know he was going off on Calvin, I heard him saying the article was wrong."

But Wills denies hearing anything more than that.

"I'm not the kind of person who is sensitive to that type of thing," he said. "I'm sure it wasn't meant in a derogatory manner if he did say it."

Vice chairman David Karaffa denied hearing Pyles call Trice "boy" or "son."

"I'm sorry?" he said. "I don't remember him saying anything like that."

Like Wills, Karaffa remembers Pyles yelling, but not what he specifically said.

"I guess I'm kind of thrown off right now," he said with a laugh. "I don't remember him saying anything derogatory."

Supervisors Jeff Moore and Carolyn Bragg refused to comment on what Pyles said at the meeting. Supervisors Marshall Pattie and Mike Shull did not return phone calls, nor did Pat Coffield, county administrator and person in charge of taking minutes at staff briefings.

Staunton attorney Douglas Noland was in the audience Monday and heard Pyles call Trice "boy."

"I think Mr. Pyles represented the error of his way," Noland said. "He quickly tried to change the wording."

When asked if he was surprised that Pyles called Trice "boy," Noland said: "We don't generally hear that in a public forum."

An apology

Later in the day on Tuesday, after The News Leader called him for comment, Pyles sent an email to Trice apologizing for how he addressed him the day before.

"I really appreciated it," Trice said. "He did mention, and he seemed to be sincere, that he hoped I haven't felt any different from any other member of the media ... and honestly that's true."

"It meant a lot that he said it," Trice added.