Being of Caribbean stock, I tend to use ‘boy’ a lot. To people I know. Even when I’m in a hot and heavy debate, cultural habits sneak through in the heat of the moment. Black American males don’t like it when I call them ‘boy.’ So far, no white males have objected. It’s not that I don’t know the person’s name, it’s that I feel comfortable enough with someone I know. Younger men I call ‘babe,’ ‘sugar’, especially when they’re about the same age as my nephew.
Obama neither knew the reporter, nor was comfortable with her, nor is he old enough to have enough distance so that ‘sweetie’ is perceived to be avuncular. I’m inclined to think that perhaps Obama uses ‘sweetie’ as a way of obfuscating the fact that he doesn’t know the names of a lot of the women with whom he interacts. Worse yet for him is his inability to distinguish the propriety of the term’s usage. That tells me he’s indifferent: he doesn’t care to know the women’s names, and he thinks he’s charming and cute enough that women will give him a pass. After all, it’s BARRY Obama who’s calling ‘em ‘sweetie,’ doncherknow!
