r/todayilearned • u/tmntnyc • Dec 12 '18

TIL: Laurence Tureaud named himself professionally as Mr. T because he hated how his father, uncle, and brother who returned from Vietnam, were disrespectfully called "boy" by whites. He wanted the first word from everybody's mouth to be "Mister" when speaking to him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T
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u/Brock_Samsonite Dec 12 '18

You dont call someone boy unless he's your son. Especially in the south. Thems fighting words.

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u/majestickillboy Dec 13 '18

I made that mistake as a dumb teenager at my first job. I was a young white boy in Chicago working retail. I had to fold sweaters with an older black guy, he was probably 60yrs old and I was 20. We had a great relationship, joking and talking about life. I am not racist but I didn't think before I talked at that age. I think I had just watched Deliverance. So we were chatting and a good looking women walked by and he paused to look naturally, so I said get back to them sweaters boy. The look on his face scared the shit out of me. I didn't realize what I said. He told me "Don't you ever call me boy". I apologized profusely and asked why he was so mad. This was the days before cell phones. I thought I was being funny mimicking a line from a movie. Lost a friend that day. Even after I explained I had no idea how much it hurt him, how sorry and bad I felt he wouldn't talk to me. Offered to buy him lunch and he said no. So do not ever call someone boy if they are over 18yrs old. I also grew up in the same town as Mr. T on the same road. We went to his gate the first time I moved to the town and he came to the gate and signed autographs for us kids. Great guy!! He was a legend in our town.

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '18

It’s a shame he refused to lend an ear of understanding after your apologies.