Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) referred to Texas Democrat Al Green, a 77-year-old Black man, as “boy,” according to the Daily Beast.
In February, Green stood up and shouted that Donald Trump had “no mandate to cut Medicaid” while waving his cane at him during the president’s address to Congress.
Green was removed from the chamber after ignoring Speaker Mike Johnson’s calls for order. He was later censured by the Republican-controlled House.
Harshbarger recalled the moment Green stood up during an interview with Christian group F.A.M.E. Ministries, in which she referred to the senior Black Democrat as a “boy” and called his cane a “prop.”
“Al Green was over here with his cane and I’m like, ‘Gosh dang it, boy.’ He does not need that cane. That cane is a prop. I swear it’s not real,” Harshbarger said.
“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.’”
Calling an adult Black man “boy” is racist, in most situations. Historically, White people routinely described Black men as boys to suggest they are inferior.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) also used racially coded language to refer to Green after the lawmaker’s protest. Like Harshbarger, Boebert also said Green does not need the cane, but the Colorado lawmaker called it a “pimp cane.”