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Indeed, as one of the other comments says:

>>While I agree the question is basically idiotic, hopefully there were good intentions behind it. Case in point: I work in Virginia. A few years ago, I watched a young female co-worker, conversing with an African-American male co-worker, say to him (in jest), “Don’t give me any trouble, boy!” He immediately wheeled around, clearly upset, and said, “WHAT did you call me?” I had to explain to her that the term “boy” has a history as a racial slur, especially in the south. She had no idea.

An episode of All in the Family showed conflicting reports about what happened when the fridge broke down. The repairman’s assistant was either an Uncle Tom or a black militant with a switchblade depending on whether you asked Archie or Mike (Edith says the knife is question was a “pen knife”) In Edith’s account, Archie calls the assistant “boy” and he turns around and tells him, “Hey I don’t like what you called me. I’m not a boy, I’m a man.” He was played by Ron Glass who would later play Det. Harris on Barney Miller.