In this electronic image of a poster with head shots of U.S. Presidents, take a look at the "photo" that was selected for Obama. Let me help you. Check out the lower right-hand corner. The image was a joke sent out in an email by an aide in the Tennessee state legislature. I think you can assume that the aid was a GOP staff member--but don't be fooled to think that there are no Democratic aides that would make a similar blunder.This goes into the file labeled, "What in the world were they thinking?" I'm torn between assuming, on one hand, that the people who end up in this file are just a few knuckleheads AND that this is emblematic of the depth of racism in our society on the other. (People really do seem to make a lot of racist jokes...or so I've heard.)
Here's another one for the file.
Shortly after the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a Boston police officer and member of the Massachusetts National Guard sent out an email--and to lots of people, I should add--in which he called Gates a "banana eating jungle monkey." Ouch.
By the way, there is a sub-folder in this file that is titled "What the F are they thinking?" and this one probably goes there. The police office, Captain Justin Barrett (he's not a twenty year old rookie), asserted that he felt remorse and was sorry for the email and that he is not racist because, afterall, he has friends from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. "It was a poor choice of words," Barrett said. "I didn't mean it in a racist way. I treat everyone with dignity and respect."
Can I disentangle this just a bit. It seems to me that if I went to a KKK meeting and asked someone in a hood to define "negro," they just might say something like, "Negro? Why yes, son, that would be a 'banana eating jungle monkey'." What else would they possibly say that would be acceptable to the racist hoards waiting to reclaim the country from the brown skinned barbarians?
Here's another one for the WTF file:
Unfortunately, this guy only had the funds to pay an entry level, mail order public relations clean-up person and so he couldn't come up with something more convincing than blaming it on supporters of Charles Darwin. That was a pathetic attempt to spin this slip and it went nowhere. My god, brother, have some respect for our intellect.
I find myself saying some pretty off-the-hook things at random moments and yet I never seem to slip into this level of racist banter. I guess since I don't have the thoughts, the words never leave my lips. But I have to wonder if this how many of us think in our private moments. And then when these private moments get loose in the public domain, they spin about until we're all dizzy with the feeling of impending dread of having to suffer another media circus.
Sometimes the "attack of the racists" goes a bit too far -- like the condemnation of the poor schmuck who a few years back correctly and unwisely used "niggardly" in a meeting among colleagues. He got hammered pretty hard because his office mates didn't know what the word meant. (Of course, he might have been baiting them because without the "dly" the word is pronounced just like the N-bomb.)
Other times, however, I suspect that people who engage in what is so obviously offensive and racist behavior clearly deserve what they get. "We don't give a damn if it's part of your cultural heritage; we don't do that any more." Sure there can be a very fine line between these two reactions, and I don't want to be the judge of who crosses it. But sometimes enough if enough.
312 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 312 of 312I am not quite sure where to start on the “What Are They Thinking?” Blog entry. To say I was a little taken by the blatant racism these images and remarks exemplified is an understatement. Let’s start one at a time. The first image, a very nice collection of past presidents’ photos becomes apart of a very unfunny racist joke. To put a black box and only eyes as a representative of the present President Obama crosses a controversial line in a large way. We all poke fun at people in politics and in the media, but I am left feeling guilty rather than entertained by this “joke.” Isn’t “the President is black” joke getting a little old? How far have we really come if the President is recognized more for his race than his actual politics? What was even more jaw-dropping was who created and spread this image around, a aide in the Tennessee state legislature. Really, how do you think that would not make news? Being governmentally employed I think that you are even more responsible for the way you conduct yourself. I don’t like when there are nasty and disrespectful comments made about anyone; even with President Bush, I felt that unnecessary comments were always passed and it showed a general lack of respect. There are certain policies under the new administration that I personally do not agree with, but I feel like it is important to still show respect for the President, which this image does not do at all.
At least once in your childhood, you have probably heard your mother say “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all.” Well obviously a Boston police officer and some GOP activists didn’t heed these words wisely. While commenting on the Gates arrest and the negative publicity it brought, a Boston police officer claimed that Gates was a "banana eating jungle monkey." Saying that was a poor choice of words is in itself a poor choice of words. The negative image that this whole issue brought up was definitely not alleviated by this comment. This brings me to the question of why would you say something this offensive when you are a public figure? Similar to this was the comment made by the GOP activist about Michelle Obama being related to an escaped gorilla in North Carolina. Not only was this really a bit of a stretch, but it was also really unnecessary. I am not quite sure what sparked the nature of this comment, which leads me to believe that there was no specific reason for it. By saying this statement so out of the blue it makes the prejudice even more apparent and spiteful; I think that people need to really think long and hard of the meaning of their statements before they say them, if it feels wrong to you, then it probably is.
Racism is like an incurable disease. It spreads from person to person, but there is nothing available to heal those affected by the disease. Racism will never cease to exist. The most we can do as a people is mitigate and subdue the blatant racism that exists to this day. Despite it being the 21st Century and nearly 50 years after the civil rights movement, ignorant people still can’t accept the fact that this world is composed of color. In my eyes, I see no color on the skins of the world population. I only see different ethnicities and various cultures. I learn to either accept them or maintain a neutral stance. I wouldn’t be as ignorant as the Tennessee legislator or Rusty DePass and disrespect the person or race. The Tennessee legislator and Rusty DePass are both racist and unpatriotic in my opinion. So what if Barack Obama is Kenyan and Michelle Obama is black. They are the leaders of this wonderful country I like to call the US of A. Mr. Obama is the President and his wife the first lady; these titles alone demand a certain amount of respect.
People that are racist are just plain stupid. The reason why people are racist are because they are either jealous of a person that is of a different race or the person of color did something to tick the racist person off. However, when the racist wants to speak his/her mind they immediately attack the person’s skin color not the issue that is bothering them. The reason for this is that the racist does not have the intelligence necessary to formulate a sensible and feasible argument against the person of color, so he takes the easy way out and attacks their skin color. Currently, there a quite a few people that disagree with President Obama’s policies. Some examples include the Tennessee legislator and Rusty DePass. As you have noticed they attacked the Obamas’ race. They didn’t develop some sort of sensible argument. Instead the merely began to poke fun at the Obamas’ race. Even if they were just trying to have some fun, there is a thin line when it comes to making jokes about the President especially if the joke has racial undertones. Obviously Rusty and the Tennessee guy were oblivious to this line and had no inhibition. Acts like these can ruin a politician’s career. A couple months ago, George Allen, a senator from Virginia was annoyed with the an Indian person who worked for the opposing candidate. At one of his speeches, the Indian guy was there listening to what he was talking about when the candidate called him out by saying, “This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, Macaca or whatever his name is, he's with my opponent,” Allen said. And later, “So welcome, let's give a welcome to Macaca here! Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia!" The video clip has been viewed 320,000 times.
I was completely shocked when I first saw the head shot picture of all the presidents. I mean president Obama portrayed as two eyes in an otherwise completely blackened picture… What we’re they thinking!? It really doesn’t surprise me that this came from some politician in Tennessee. He probably figured his white friends would get a kick out of it huh? It’s amazing how absent minded some people can be. And sadly, it gets worse. Boston police’s Captain Justin Barrett calling Henry Louis Gates a “banana eating jungle monkey” is one of the most blatant cases of racism I have ever seen. Are you kidding me? Being from Boston, it makes me angry that members of our police force could act in such an unprofessional and downright racist manner. I really don’t care what excuses Justin Barrett wants to give because there is absolutely no way that “banana eating jungle monkey” could not be considered racist and offensive. Although I don’t really know how I feel about the entire situation with Mr. Gates (I’ve heard he’s quite the arrogant asshole) no one deserves to be treated with such disrespect and racism.
When I watched the video of GOP Activist Rusty Depass who commented that an escaped Gorilla was probably one of Michelle Obama’s relatives, I couldn’t help but laugh. Not at the joke, but rather because I really just could not believe Mr. Depass actually tried to blame his way out of it. Listen Rusty, you called our First Lady a Gorilla. There is no way you can say you didn’t, and there is no way you can talk your way out of it. It was racist and you deserve anything you get out of it. I mean what were you thinking?! He then tried to blame the comment on the fact that Michelle Obama one time spoke about evolution. Wow. This story is really incredible. I mean, at a time when we have just elected our first black president and our society is moving forward, people like Rusty Depass need to make dumb, racist comments and prove that racism is still prevalent. I think that’s the most sobering part of hearing any of these stories. We all love to believe that true racism is a thing of the past but the truth is it’s not. I mean, apparently phrases like banana eating jungle monkey exist right? So while I do believe our society is definitely moving forward and people are more accepting than they were in the past, there will always be a group of people who set us back. As State Radio says in their song Evolution, “The tie that binds us must be stronger than what our differences allow, see the good in a passing wave, that is evolution.”
I find that poster to be complete outrageous. Yeah sometimes we all have a giggle at the expense of other races but you have to remember who you are and where you make the joke. Maybe if some teenage kid in computer class did this then it would be amusing. However,this was a GOP staff member. What was he thinking? Hello you're a professional. Therefore, you should act accordingly. When you're in a position where you're in the public eye there's just certain things you cannot do. It's just that simple. Even if this guy didn't make the picture he should have known better than that. He certainly should not have sent it to other people. Again people make jokes at the expense of other races all the time. We just need to watch that. What you might feel is a harmless joke others might take it to be extremely offensive.
The "banana eating jungle monkey" comment is just ridiculous! First of all how could you be so dumb to post this on a public website where anyone can see. Second of all what is wrong with the leaders of our nation today. Are the insane? or are we insane for putting them in these positions. It's completely absurb and unneccessary for him to make a comment like that. Him saying he has friends of all racial and ethnic backgrounds in no way makes up for what he said. If anything that makes it even worse. He should know not to say ignorant things of that nature especially since he's so ethnically diverse. This is not an example of someone making a "poor choice of words". Is that really his excuse? Then what exactly was he trying to say then. That's what I want to know. Lets hear it and get this whole thing cleared up.
Wow another ignorant GOP person. I just have no idea what these people were thinking. Newsflash, ifyou're in any way, shape, or form in the public eye you can't just say or do anything you want. There's always going to be someone there to ridicule your actions. In this case he absolutely deserves every negative comment he receives. He completely disrespected our first lady. He's a gron man who needs to grow up and show some respect. He insane to think he could say something like that and assume nobody would say anything about it. His comment was completely outrageous, disrespectful, and racist. It's so sad to see someone disrespect our first lady in such a manner. What's even more outrageous is how he tried to cover himself. The way he tried to make what he said okay was just ridiculous. He has a lot of growing up to do. Perhaps a lot of us has growing up to do. I'm sure everyone has snickered at a racist joke or even made one ourselves.
Reviewing these stories was honestly unbelievable. I haven’t seen these newspaper articles around so it was sort of a shock for me. At the same time, it made me realize just how much racism is going on in America today and how much is being publicized. What stands out in my mind that went public really fast was the black man being arrested outside his own house for no reason and Obama’s response. This poor guy was arrested outside of his own home because he was perceived as a robber. He lives in a predominantly white area and even those he has been living there for a number of years, the police were called and he was arrested. Not questioned, not given a chance to say it was his home, or anything. Unfair, unjust, and absolutely racist.
It seems that ever since Obama became president, racism has been a top issue in America- not just within the public and surrounding areas, but also with politicians and important figures as well. It sets a bad example for everyone and makes it appear okay.
I just can’t believe what Rusty Depass said about Michelle Obama. It’s disgraceful, disrespectful and just straight up rude. He really is a racist despite his “sincerest” apology to the public. He definitely meant what he said but in his opinion, it was unfortunate that it got out. As for the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. debacle, the racism is seen in extreme forms there as well. Calling someone a “banana eating jungle monkey” and then apologizing for it doesn’t make it right. Like I said before, they mean what they say, it just makes it worse that it is now seen by everyone in the U.S. My favorite part of this article is the “What in the world were they thinking?” category that this was placed in.
The portrait of all the U.S. presidents with President Obama on the bottom right corner with only eyes appearing is the top most disrespect to the president who is trying his best to get us out of this modern day depression we are in. If I was from Tennessee, I would be extremely embarrassed of what my own state legislature did to the state. That makes the entire state look bad regardless if it was only him.
What bothers me a lot about racism is everyone pointing the finger at someone else. I’ve been raised to treat everyone with respect and to not judge a book by its cover. I don’t like when people make excuses for their actions. Using the excuse that you have friends of many different races or that you don’t mean what you said isn’t valid. What comes out of your mouth are your own thoughts. You don’t announce it publicly just for jokes. That’s how problems like this in the world arise.
These news stories have had a significant amount of play in the media, and I have heard about these tales. Although the stories are troubling and bring up scares of racism, I think that this is nothing new compared to previous years. Racism will never go away. That’s a fact. But racism does not become prominent unless there is a reason. I think, and it is possible that I am wrong, that these stories are only getting this significant media coverage because Barack Obama is our president. Being a minority, black or whatever race he is, if anyone knows, he put race back in the spotlight in such a way it hasn’t been since the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s.
Politicians, police officers, and community figures have been what some people call “racist” forever. The incidents regarding the politician calling Obama a gorilla, or the email calling Professor Gates a “banana eating jungle monkey” are inexcusable (Although isn’t it interesting that a National Guard member from Massachusetts, arguably the most liberal state in the union, sent this email?).
Regarding the police officer incident, the officer was following protocol, so for the professor to respond in such a irrational, irresponsible, and offensive manner was terrible. In a sense, he is a “reverse-racist” because he automatically assumed that a white police officer was arresting him because he was black. Anybody who is shouldering in a door, then becomes belligerent when approached by a cop, and refusing to show identification is going to be put in handcuffs, regardless of what race he or she is.
Before people stop calling people racist, and Sam is correct when the most offensive name anyone can call a white person is “racist”, they must step back and observe the facts. Was the politician who called Obama a gorilla inherently a racist? Probably not. Was his statement racist? Absolutely. Was the National Guard member who sent the email calling the professor a “banana eating jungle monkey” a racist? Again, probably not. Was the statement racist? Again, absolutely. Was what the police officer in Cambridge, Massachusetts racist? No. Was what he did racist? Absolutely not.
The media played out the police officer/professor incident to make it appear as if the police officer was the chief of the KKK, and the professor as Rosa Parks. It bothers me, a conservative white male, that anytime a white person interacts with a black or African American person in such a way that the minority is the “victim” or ends up on the losing end, the white guy is a racist.
In New York City, police officers are instructed to fire their weapons when a suspect is pointing a gun at them. When a white cop shoots a black man pointing a loaded gun at him, the cop is a racist. When a black cop shoots a black suspect in the same situation, the cop is a hero. When a black cop shoots a white suspect pointing a loaded weapon at him, again the cop is a hero.
WTF
When I first saw this portrait, I couldn’t help but take a second look. I believe whoever saw this painting would just cover their mouths and would be speechless. Seeing just a black background with two big, bold eyes, that is simply ridiculous. I find this to be very offensive and intolerable. Barack Obama is our first African American President and people have to realize that he should be respected. This is supposed to be the beginning and first step to stop and resolve these racial issues that the nation has upheld for all these years. Yes, racial problems are inevitable and it just happens. But with this painting, people now are just taking this too far. Some might find this a joke but what if the script was flipped? What if, you were the only one of your race in the group, it would feel awkward and jokes would be made, I bet anyone would feel offended in some sort of way. In addition, these are adults from the Tennessee state legislature, do they have no shame? This is very immature and on top of that, not only the Republicans find this funny, Democrats isn’t defended Obama and this situation but laughing at this also. I guess some people just can’t face reality that our president is evidently, black. If many people have accepted that already why can’t others? I feel so strongly about this because some people are just “knuckle heads” and they don’t realize that Obama won majority of America’s votes not just because he’s black. America believed that he can get things right, to get everything straightened out, not because he’s a different race and we needed a “change”.
“What are you thinking?” was my reaction to the comment made to Michelle Obama. He had no right or reason to be saying those words. It can’t be a “mistake” because there’s no way; a person can say those words without it being a racial comment. I mean “banana eating jungle monkey” how can you even come up with such a phrase? Michelle is the First Lady and should be treated with respect; she has done so much and does not deserve to be called that.
I agree with Sam, enough is enough. I’m sick of seeing racism everywhere I go. I experienced it every day back at Philly simply because I grew up around majority African Americans. I ask myself and other people the same question almost every other day “Why do black people get offended when the N-bomb is used by a different race, but yet they can use the word among themselves.” In my opinion, that is very hypocritical. No one gives an honest answer because no one knows. So many people fought against segregation so that African Americans today can have an equal opportunity, so that the N word cannot just be thrown around with any and every sentence. All that hard work went to nothing.
I have very mixed emotions to this post. I consider myself to be a very open and accepting person, but that in no way means that I don’t appreciate a racist joke. One of my favorite jokes of all time is “What do you tell a black jew?...Get in the back of the oven.” As someone who is Jewish myself, I hear anti-semitic jokes frequently, and they don’t bother me in the slightest. I simply consider it another area of language and society which can be twisted around to turn into a joke. If the joke is told for the specific purpose of insulting or bothering another person, or group, then I believe the joke to be inappropriate and in bad taste. I do believe, however, that in many cases a racist joke can be simply that, a joke. The situations given in the post may have been intended as jokes, however for a person of political importance, even just a police captain, to make a racist joke in a public forum, is just stupid. My reasoning for this is that while any of those jokes could easily have been made strictly for comedic entertainment, but when seen out of context there is no possible way to know. Not to mention that someone in politics always has enemies, and these enemies are always looking for something to use to make them look bad. How any of these people could be stupid enough to post something of this nature, particularly on Facebook, I have no idea. In the case of the police officer who sent the email, I can not find a single possible explanation for that beyond blatant racism. Then again he is a cop you can’t expect them to be overly intelligent. If they were, maybe they would have real jobs. However, the purpose of this response is not simply to discuss my contempt for the police department, it is to discuss my feelings on the general lack of intelligence among our government. In the case of the aide who sent out the picture where President Obama is represented as nothing more than a shadow with eyes, I wonder whether he honestly thought that nobody would find that offensive, or believed that nobody who would care would find out. The reality is that any intelligent person would realize that neither of those are even remotely possible options. This is the government of the United States of America we are talking about. You should know, YOU WORK FOR THEM. It is very hard to decide where to draw the line between comedy and racism, but the line has to be drawn somewhere, and something has to be done about the cases that are obviously not simple comedy.
I found the photos of presidents very offensive when I myself am not even black. I am very well aware of those of people who are very surprised and not happy perhaps, about having the first black president. However, can their personal opinion stay personal as it is called, especially, an aide in the Tennessee state legislature? Not everybody was happy with past presidents, somebody was but others weren’t. And couldn’t Obama taken as who he is not what he is? This topic always bugs me out. I myself am what people call minority. It seems like nobody takes nobody as who they are but what they are, and what they are as in what color they are. I truly believe that the time has arrived which individuals should be taken as the characteristics of the individual not as their races. Maybe it’s little too early for some people, but I’ve been noticing the crossover between groups of different people such as music and fashion. I wouldn’t call myself being interested in politics and current issues, but I believe that being the President should never be judged by one’s skin color, Obama being black in this case. As a matter of fact and we already have discussed in the class, Obama himself is not even black or the word that people commonly use, African American. Even if he was, race is not the sum of individual; it’s only a fraction of oneself. And the gorilla comment should never be taken easily. It doesn’t matter how many good things the GOP activists have done or are doing currently. How could they say that was a joke? Their excuse made themselves look even more pathetic. They shouldn’t have said anything but apologized.
I may be a hypocrite but I believe that Microsoft’s advertisement directed at Polish consumer was different case. This case was viewed firmly by American perspective. It wasn’t the right thing to Just photoshop the black person out of the picture, but I believe that people in advertisements should vary depend on the location. Advertisement is meant to draw attentions of consumers as well as their needs. For example, let’s say one of those advertisements full of white people and an advertisement of Asian people were used in Asia. And they both were advertising the same product. I could be wrong but I believe that the advertisement with Asian people would sell more product than the one with white people. It is more about sympathy than the race or they both are in the same context. As it is mentioned on the blog, parts of Poland are mostly populated by white people. I believe this advertisement was Microsoft’s strategy to sell more product rather than racism. However, I still believe that just photoshoping the black person was wrong, they should’ve made the whole new advertisement.
This blog was really interesting, because it shows just how much racism still exists in our world today. Yes, Obama is our first (half) black president, but there is no need to highlight this difference in a negative light. The photo of all the white presidents preceding Obama’s term portrays Obama as literally, the color black, and a pair of eyes. Diminishing someone down to the mere color of his or her skin is tasteless, ignorant, and immature. What makes it even worse is that it was sent out by an aid in the Tennessee state legislature! Someone who works for the government is distributing demeaning portrayals of our president out on the Internet! That is not right.
As for the case of the police officer Captain Justin Barrett’s comment about Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Sam makes a perfect point in asking, “What are they thinking?” A “banana-eating jungle monkey” is NOT synonymous for any person in any way, shape, or form, let alone a black person. Barrett clearly holds racist beliefs if he justifies his comment by saying he has friends from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. That doesn’t make sense AT ALL! That’s like someone using the N-word and defending their argument by saying he or she has black friends. “It was a poor choice of words…I didn’t mean it in a racist way. I treat everyone with dignity and respect.” Bullcrap! You can’t be dignified if you are calling people monkeys. AND he’s a police officer! What does that say about our country?
Long-time Republican Rusty Depass, a former state Senate candidate and former state election commission chairman had the audacity to comment on a gorilla that escaped from River Bank zoo, saying, “I’m sure it’s just one of Michelle’s ancestors – probably harmless.” He then tries to pin his reasoning on Michelle Obama’s previous comment about how we all descended from apes. That comment was never proven to have left Michelle’s mouth, so…fail on his part. He then tries to get away with saying it was just a joke, but clearly, comparing the First Lady to a gorilla is no laughing matter.
As for the man who got in trouble for saying “niggardly,” people just need to expand their vocabulary…and stop creating words that are made up of derogatory words. Our society has become so quick to jump to conclusions and “racist” labels, so people do not even know if their accusations are reasonable. I think everyone has a hint of racism in them, and racist thoughts may come to mind every once in a while, but having social cues and knowing when to voice them or not is crucial. I think a lot of people feel that they can make these racist comments when they are in a more safe and secure environment, but they must realize that a Facebook comment is still public domain, especially if you are a former state Senate candidate and former state election commission. Good thing he didn’t get elected.
In regards to the picture with the presidents I think it was actually kind of funny. Being a person of color my first reaction wasn’t "omg my god this is so racists I can’t believe this". I thought of it as just being one of those political jokes they have about politics. I mean presidents have always been made fun of. For instance, former president bush was always made fun of for some of the "stupid" things he would say. President Obama on the other doesn’t really have much to make fun of so someone resorted to the one thing that made him most popular.....his skin color. Of course going after someone’s race isn’t the best idea or safest thing to do, however some of the best jokes are in fact racial ones.
Next as far as for the Boston police officer that referred to Henry Louis Gates as a "banana eating jungle monkey" there’s not much he can say for that remark. There is obviously no other way to take what he said other than it being racist. Calling a black man something as in regards to them being a monkey of any kind can only be racist. I believe he only apologized and felt sorry because he got caught. He probably sent the email to his friends and colleagues as a joke and somebody saw it that he probably didn't intend to see it.
Similarly, racist can be the only reasoning in the report about Rusty DePass comparing Michelle Obama to a gorilla. He wrote the comment probably thinking that it was a joke between two people and didn't think he would get in trouble because of it. Maybe he didn't mean any harm by it, maybe he did, but if you are going to use a racial statement like that, especially towards the first lady, you should be prepared to deal with consequences.
Finally as far as the poor schmuck who used the word niggardly a few years back during one of his meetings is just a victim of people just being plan old stupid. Niggardly means someone who is petty or reluctant in giving or spending. It has nothing to do with any racial slang or meaning anything racist. From what I heard he used the word correctly, it’s just the mere fact that the way it sounds makes him look bad. Also for the fact that nobody knew exactly what the word meant.
All in all I agree professor Richards, if you’re going to engage in racial and offensive behavior you do clearly deserve what comes to you. However with that said some people on the other hand just need to open up and learn to take a joke before jumping to conclusions right away.
What were they thinking well they thought they were being funny and at that moment didn’t consider the thoughts or feelings of others when they produced and made their racial slurs? Without thought they admitted to their hate or dislike for other humans beings; humans whom they consider to beneath them or to be persons of less value. They publicly displayed their true feelings and made a point to spread the word. How terrible and disappointing it is that such slurs, such feelings, such forms of hate could be brought up, made by, and sent out by high standing officials. These are men that are supposed to hold up to certain standards, be examples, and represent the great country known as America. These Americans are supposed to be those that hold true to the American principles and beliefs. How is it that these men of such a nature could defile themselves and their name especial on the bases of race? Humph, well let’s thank them for opening the eyes of those that were blind to the true beliefs of most governing officials. These men our creating opportunities for Americans to see just how flawed the American government really is. Who amongst these men really believes in equality when there are so many systems to keep people from being on the same level as one another? These are systems which they are trying to keep in place however, Obama poses a threat at ending these systems of oppression and people go crazy. They allow their true colors to show metaphorically speaking. People believed that we came such a long way and racism barely exists. Please! With out- burst like these people can stop ignoring the truth and fight the still current existing problem. And, yes, it’s a major problem when the first lady is being publicly attacked with racial slurs. Where is the respect?
Oh and let me not forget to get on the dude that tried to say he wasn’t racist because he has different friends of other ethnicities. Please! I hate when people try to say that. That is no type of excuse. Having a friend of a different nationality makes you an opportunist. That means you are someone willing to try new things. However, it does not erase any stereotypes, prejudgments, or feelings you may have towards that group. Yes, of course you can become enlightened over time and except some things to be true or false about that that group, but yet and still most beliefs you have towards other people of that same race other than your “so-called” friend will most likely remain. Therefore, the friend that is a different race doesn’t hold up in this court, honey! Such inferences like those above just make you a hypocrite. People sometimes think they can get anyway with anything. For example, you can make jokes about the president, but racist comments aren't considered jokes. You don’t jokingly demean the first lady. That is like calling Eleanor Roosevelt a feminazi.
In an ideal world, the people who make the most decisions that affect the most people would be the most intelligent and caring for the individuals they make decisions for. Unfortunately, in these great United States of America, that is not the case. In the case of the particular “joke” mentioned in this blog post, I have to agree. What were they thinking? I mean really what were they thinking?
So, instead of showing our current President, Barack Obama’s face, you decide to have a black box with goofy eyes on it. That was quite a funny joke aide of the esteemed Tennessee state legislature member. Barack Obama is half-black, and in the e-mail you posted around the spot where his face should be is black. That’s very clever. Here’s a slightly different idea. Why not put a black box over the faces of presidents who did a terrible job as president. For instance, Andrew Johnson, our seventeenth President, was the only one who was so bad that he was thrown out of office early. How about the presidents who got us into wars or broke our constitutional rights? According to the genius in Tennessee, they shouldn’t be blacked out.
Why not black out the presidents who had extra-marital affairs. I know a President who owned slaves and more than probably had a child with one. The thing is, I can see Thomas Jefferson’s face on this poster, but I cannot see Barack Obama’s. People in Tennessee do the quirkiest things.
Sure, I’ve seen the other side of the coin. I’ve seen a white person make a perfectly innocent statement with no racial undertones that eventually turned into a bigger apology than Michael Vick gave to get back into the NFL. I’ve also heard people say completely idiotic things to and about black people and others of color. Although, I have never heard anyone call someone else a “banana eating jungle monkey”. That statement definitely gets filed away in the new category. For instance, I was at a friend’s house, and his roommate was flipping through the channels. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece was being interviewed on some channel. She was saying that we’ve come a long way as far as racial equality goes in the United States, but we still have much progress to make. To which, my friend’s roommate, a white Jew by the way, promptly switched channels calling her a black bitch then complaining that they already have a black president why are they asking for more. Statements like these are just irritating to me for many reasons. One, not all black people voted for Obama. Two, Obama doesn’t favor just black people. Three, that statement is completely ridiculous. There is still an equality gap in the U.S. between whites and other races, and statements like these just further the gap. I would like there to be a day where we can no longer comment on stories like these, but it doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon.
I’m not going to lie I do enjoy the occasional racial joke. I have heard a lot of them, especially Black jokes and Mexican jokes. I am half Mexican and I think many of these jokes are pretty funny, but a lot of them are blatantly racist and inappropriate which I don’t like. When a joke is made in good, innocent fun I understand and those are the jokes that I think are funny, but when someone makes a joke just to be rude then I do not like them. I think that the poster of the presidents is a joke that was made in bad taste. Personally I don’t like the joke. I would be a hypocrite if I said that public officials should not be made fun of because I criticized and made fun of George W. Bush all the time. Maybe I just feel sorry for Obama because he was put into a bad situation that was ultimately created by George Bush. He did eliminate a huge economic surplus we had before he got into office and created one of the biggest deficits in United States history. I just don’t understand how someone messes up everything the way he did. I do however believe that public officials should be held accountable for their actions and if they mess up really bad, like Bush did, then they deserve to be criticized and made fun of. I don’t think that Obama has done anything that is worth criticizing him about, yet. I understand if someone wants to joke about the job that someone is doing, but not to joke about their race. I guess it just goes to show that some people only see race when they look at other people. They don’t see Obama as just a president, but a black president. I understand that he is the first black president of the United States, but couldn’t he just be seen as a president without his race attached to it?
The comment that the police officer made about Henry Gates was extremely inappropriate and absolutely unnecessary. I can’t believe that someone would call anyone, especially a black man a “banana eating jungle monkey.” There is no context where calling someone that is appropriate. I don’t care if he was trying to make a “joke” because someone would have to be messed up in the head to think that that is funny. I also can’t believe that he tried to use the excuse that he has friends of many different races to play off the racist comment that he made. I also can’t believe that De Pass made the comment about Michelle Obama relating her to a gorilla. This is extremely inappropriate. Once again it’s a shame how people can only see things that are on the surface. His excuse to justify the comment he made was almost as bad as the police officer’s excuse. De Pass tried to justify his inappropriate comment with Darwin’s theory of evolution. I personally can’t believe that even in today’s diverse world racism is still a big problem.
I really had no reaction, either good or bad, to this article. I’ve seen so many of these jokes that I’m unperturbed by them. The picture of all the presidents actually made me laugh a little. If that makes me a racist, then so be it. But come on. It’s obviously a joke. People joke about this stuff all the time and it doesn’t make big news. People make jokes about rednecks, Asians, little people, Europeans, schools and pretty much everything there is. If the President was Asian, there would be a problem with Asian jokes. Same goes for all the other things being made fun of. It just happens that our president is black and that just brings to light jokes that were once okay are not anymore. I think it sucks that we have to watch what we say, do, or even just find funny. We’re not allowed to really be people anymore. Just because we think something is funny, doesn’t mean we think its true or right. For example, I’m a blonde. I laugh at blonde jokes. Do I think they’re true? No, but I still find them funny. I’m not going to freak out at anyone for cracking a blonde joke or a joke about Germans because that just happens to be what I am. I do think its different when it comes to race but people have to loosen up a little. That poster was obviously meant to be funny. In comparison to all the stuffy white men in the rest of the picture, it draws humor. However, what the man in the video said was not a joke. I don’t feel like that was meant to be a joke. And to pass the blame on someone else is cowardly. He should have at least owned up to it. It might have been better if he had just totally embraced it; used what he said to downplay the situation. But to blame his “gorilla” comment on Darwinism? Darwin says that we were evolved from monkeys. A gorilla is not a monkey. We come from chimps, not Gorillas. Chimps and gorillas aren’t even in the same group. A gorilla is a great ape, not a monkey. It was a stretch for him to connect his comment with the supposed “false teachings” of Darwinism. He shouldn’t play off his stupid comment on an issue bigger than racism. It said that there was no record of Michelle Obama even making a statement like that. And why would she? Why would the president’s wife make comments about a very controversial subject so early in Mr. Obama’s presidency? Most people don’t really touch on the religion vs. evolution argument. It wouldn’t make sense for her to say something on it. I guess, for the most part in this day and age, people need to watch what they say. It sucks that our freedom of speech is being infringed upon but I think some people are stepping over the line.
What are they thinking?!
Forty-three presidents photographed in their best attire and only Barrack Obama, our newest president is being singled out and made fun of. How could someone be this ignorant or just this racist? Didn't he go through the same process as every other President to get elected?
Didn't he work just as hard to get into office as any of the white presidents? Exactly, then why make fun of only him? Is it because he's black? What in the world were they thinking? This folder label seems to adequately reflect my thoughts on the matter. How could someone in such a high government position be so stupid as to go out of their way to make a poster that bashes the president of his own country. This man needs to have more respect for the ruler of the government that keeps him employed. We voted for him I don't think we need a reminder that he's black. The Tennessee state legislatures aide makes skin color a joke, but what does color have to do with anything? Does it make him less intelligent? Does it mean he makes bad decisions? Does this make him incapable of running a country? Of course not, if it did then why would we vote for him. This is usually behavior exhibited by immature people; I’d hope this aide in the Tennessee State legislature isn't this immature while at work. Not only is he being immature, but he's setting a bad example for everyone else, he's making it seem like it's alright to be racist and disrespect the president.
The statement made about Henry Gates Louis is also very distasteful. I'm not sure what was going through his head, emailing people, calling gates a "banana eating jungle monkey". First off why email everyone publicly humiliating this person, and secondly why use such terms when talking about anyone? Clearly this officer has something against people of color. To add to it, he goes on to justify his comment by claiming he's not racist because he has friends of many different ethnic backgrounds. How does this make any difference at all? Just because he has some friends of ethnic backgrounds doesn’t give him the right to put down anyone! This article is very similar to the video in which the SCGOP activist relates Michelle Obama to a gorilla from the zoo. Once again he goes on TV to apologize like he didn't intend for it to be disgraceful to her and it was all in good fun.
Here we are in the year 2009, about 144 years after slavery was abolished and still we can't get along. It's unfortunate that there are still people out there that believe they're superior to people of different ethnic backgrounds. They believe the color of their skin gives them the right to oppress or make fun of each other.
I feel like politics was literally just created to cause controversy. It just goes to show you how immature and ridiculous even grown adults can be. As for this aide who created this montage of presidents, we now have a black president. It’s time to embrace it and get used to it because after all he is leading the country you live in. Shouldn’t you have a little respect for him? There is a reason he won, and a reason he was inducted so it’s time little aide to accept his skin color and move on. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and is very well allowed to voice it, however this is blatant disrespect.
In regards to the Boston Police Officer, he obviously has no idea what the words dignity and respect mean considering he has none for those who may be different from him and he compromised his dignity when he sent out that e-mail. It baffles me as to how people think they can get away with calling others by such hurtful and condescending names. Maybe white people need to get a taste of their own medicine—there has never been an anti-white movement in the US. I mean think about it, the biggest genocide to have ever occurred targeted Jews. After the Holocaust, as a whole, we swore it would never happen again. But it did and it is, it’s just not as big of a deal because we are indirectly allowing the oppression to happen.
If Captain Barrett has friends that are of “all racial and ethnic backgrounds”, how do you think the Black ones feel now that they too are banana eating jungle monkeys. I mean hey, my friends would LOVE if I made a crack at their race publicly…not.
Criticism and racism are two completely different things. If there was a group of people practicing a morally unacceptable ritual and being condemned for it, that would be criticism. If there is a group of people criticizing another ethnic group or race for no reason, because they are fearful of those different from them, then that would be closer to racism. By all means have your own opinions, but respect the feelings and beliefs of others when you voice them. For most people, they ignore racism when they see it if it doesn’t pertain to them. I mean we’re all a little racist, we’ve all laughed at a black joke or a crack at the overwhelming number of Oriental students on campus. In reality, we need to be mindful of other people’s feelings… and like Sam made reference to the “entry-level” PR guy, I think it make sense to be respectful. Chances are you’re not going to do a good job of covering it up anyway.
In this post Sam chronicles numerous incidences where blatantly racist “jokes” and comments were described and left up for discussion. The first one was the picture of the presidents and the picture of just Barack’s eyes where he should have been. There was a video posted of where a Senator from South Carolina called Michele Obama’s relative’s gorillas and yet another one where someone during a staff meeting called someone’s actions “niggardly”.
It has been apparent within the first six months that Barack and Michelle Obama have become target for jokes and comments that other presidents and their wives didn’t have to go through. No one would ever have the guts to make jokes or Photoshop pictures like the ones that have popped up about Bush. This picture was supposed to be a momentous and commemorative picture that people can look back on and see many years of history at one time. But with this version it has been tainted forever. It by no means is funny, it doesn’t make any sense since Barack is half white, and is light skinned. I’m not against joking and having at good time as long as they are in good, intelligent taste. This was a failure on intellectually, mentally, and politically. I hope that aide is searching for a new job. If not, this brings about the topic of personal responsibility, which is my problem with the next comment.
The comment Senator Rusty Depasse made about Michelle Obama’s ancestors being Gorillas literally made me nauseous. How racist, and completely insensitive can someone be? What infuriates me the most is his “apology”. I put apology in quotes because I highly doubt the validity and sincerity of it since he said that he was “Sorry if he offended anybody.” No where did I hear that he was sorry about what he said or of the implications that it implied. He was merely sorry that it hurt any one and that he got caught. Nearly three-fourths of all apologies of things that come under scrutiny are real, heart-felt, or sincere. Another thing I’ve noticed is that there is a gap the size of the Grand Canyon between the older generation politicians and then new thought political crowds. The older people use this gap as an excuse to continue making these remarks blaming the old school for their remarks not their mindset. Senator Depasse took it one step further and blamed the victim by providing unsubstantiated excuse that Michelle herself referred to her distance relatives as monkies. People should and must change with the times and understand that what was ok for the majority in the pass is not okay in today’s world. And as for the GOP candidate, do we really want our next president to be someone who blames the victims when something goes wrong? Do we want to have a staff managers calling someone’s action niggardly. These are the leaders we have chosen and elected to be the leaders of today.
Honestly, what are they thinking? Coming from a mainly white neighborhood, I am sorry to say that I am no stranger to such racist-like banter. There is, however, a difference between a high school teenager speaking those words and a publicized professional spouting out racial slurs. I was raised in a way that your opinions, thoughts, and judgments should be kept to yourself or at least in the household. When reading this post, I thought back to an idea that was thrown out in class one day. Is racism only as real as the effect that it has on another person? I mean, it is completely immoral to consciously attack someone based on the way that they look. I look at it this way; I feel that there are no race related words that can honestly offend me. They are words to me. I’m pretty sure that while I was going through my awkward chubby middle school days, I was called much worse than a relative of a gorilla, and I didn’t have a publicity group to jump down the throats of my numerous attackers. I grew the skin, and it is tough. In regards to the first case in the posting, that embarrassingly stupid excuse for political humor is nothing more than that, humor. It’s the material that is found on stupid, dumb joke websites. Playing the devil’s advocate, what if our current president was albino? What if he was the whitest man that ever existed, and instead of the picture that is currently replacing Obama’s spot, what if there was a picture of the new albino president? But instead of a real picture, there was a picture of a ghost, and that caricature was somehow traced back to a black author? Our society is full of double standards, and I am not ever supporting racism, but what can be considered racism. Is a joke about color racism, or is it just a joke? In the second case, however, calling a respected professor a “banana eating jungle monkey” is just a sign of ignorance. I further believe that racist remarks directly stem from the insight and overall intelligence level of the speaker. Was Gates a “banana eating jungle monkey?” My guess is no, and even if he does have most of his DNA in common with some species of banana eating jungle monkeys…the truth is that us white people have the same DNA in common as well. You see where a thorough education and an open mind gets you? So before you jump to the racist card, explore other avenues first. Educate yourself, and then form your opinions. Remember that what you think is funny may not be universally funny.
The level of stupidity and ignorance shown by these people is absolutely shocking. Did they not think that offensive remarks and pictures such as these would not draw any attention or that if it did a simple apology would suffice? I am all for joking around and poking fun at my own race if it is all in good fun. I mean, you only live once and can’t take yourself that seriously if you’re going to enjoy it. But these remarks were not made in good fun; instead they were quite the opposite. They were harmful and disparaging; at least that it is what it seems like on the surface. Maybe Mr. DePass and Cpt. Barrett are indeed telling the truth when they say they are not racist, but that is not an excuse for the comments they made – in a public forum no less.
Maybe it is just me, but it seems like politicians and others holding public office are getting out of hand with some of the remarks they are making. Maybe somebody needs to explain to them that just because you make a racist comment of Facebook is not a justification for saying it. What may also be more shocking than the racist comments themselves, is the fact that public perception for these individuals is paramount. What makes somebody risk their livelihood just to go out of the way to call Michelle Obama or Henry Louis Gates, Jr. a “banana eating jungle monkey?” We may never know the answer, but we as citizens should take a stand against these intolerant comments. We control their destiny as voters, so in the end it is up to the common citizen to show that this is not acceptable behavior by voting them out of office or forcing them to resign. I’d imagine that politicians these days may have some more important business to attend to instead of forwarding emails with the 44th U.S. President “missing.”
The sad fact of the matter is that there will never be a shortage of people who refuse to stop making inflammatory comments such as these. It is just reality that there are always going to be groups of people who believe they are better than other people just because the tone of the skin or the shape of their facial features is different then what they are familiar with. Like Dr. Richard’s said, humans are 99.9 percent identical at the genetic level, so it is hard for me to picture why racism should even exist today. Maybe as punishment, or reform, for these people who feel like they have to come out and say idiotic things, they should be required to take a class on race relations, just to see how hateful comments like their own negatively effect others.
As a “white” person, I am absolutely appalled at what I read in this blog entry. I don’t see myself as being a racist, and although racist thoughts may pass through my head from time to time, I have the wherewithal to curb the thoughts and not let anything inappropriate slip out. Unfortunately, as shown in this article, and basically wherever you look this year, other White people can’t do the same thing. This gives a bad image to all White people, even those who are by no means racist. It seems like now matter where you are, Massachusetts, South Carolina, or anywhere else in the United States, someone is making a racist comment.
It may seem to some that since Barack Obama has become our President, racist comments have increased. This is false; these comments have always been made, it is only since he became President that the comments have become the object of media attention again. The fact that “leaders” and people who are looked up to in the community, such as police officers and politicians, are the people making such racist remarks. These are not people who I would want my kids to look up to, especially because not only are they racist, but they lack integrity. To refer to a Black person as a “Banana eating jungle monkey” and then state after your apology that you didn’t mean it in a racist way is absolutely ridiculous, just keep digging that grave Captain Barrett! The only way for that not to be a racist comment would be if you actually were talking about a Monkey eating a banana.
It is unfortunate to see the level ignorance and hate between races and cultures that still exists in the United States today. The only way I really see this problem getting any better is if it starts with the leadership and public figures. We have made great strides towards this by electing a non white president, but without backing from his colleagues he can only do so much. Change begins with the youth of our country and the youth of our country look up to figures in the media, be them politicians or celebrities. Comments like those of Rusty Depass and Captain Barrett, and posters such as the one picturing Obama as a black square with eyes are telling the youth that it is okay to be racist.
We have come so far as a country that it is embarrassing to see that not as much has changed as we believed. Racism is still an issue and until we can figure out a way to find common ground between races and leaders who can set an example, racism will continue to be an issue in this country.
As messed up and racist these people are, its not surprising to see articles like this. Racist and stupid comments are made from famous and high up government officials all the time. Yes, no one is perfect but if you’re someone that high up and important in the United States, at least think before you speak. Thinking before you speak is something you learn in grade school. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” That’s a simple rule to follow if you have moral values. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that everyone has racist or mean thoughts that go through their heads immediately sometimes, it’s just an instinct that you automatically think. When you are walking down the street and notice a person in general, skin color and ethnicity is obviously the first thing you think of. Looks are the first thing you notice. It boggles my mind sometimes how stupid people really can be to SAY IT OUT LOUD. I saw a news article the other day about a member of Congress who thought he was off the microphone but forgot that he still was being recorded. He was having a conversation with the Congressman next to him talking about how he’s into “spanking” and is having an affair with another married woman. He goes on to talk about her panties all while this is still being recorded. Obviously embarrassed, he resigned. I’m sure his wife was humiliated. IDIOT. Sometimes I really wonder what our world is coming to. As sad as it is, I believe that racism will never be eliminated in the United States. We are all different from each other and like our own “kind”. It is just a natural instinct to flock with people who look and at like us. Racist comments are racist comments. Its unexplainable why people feel its necessary to make horrible slurs about people such as the examples in the article. Maybe its just because we know we’re not supposed to say things like that, that we do it. But for someone involved in the state or government, or high end official, its just not excusable. It’s also pathetic when they apologize because they only do it because they know they have to. If people find out you say it, it’s a give-in that you’re screwed and have to make up some BS. If you said it, you meant it. And whatever it was that you said, those racial slurs are going through your head when you have communication or talk about people of another race. My feelings about racism are that it is a never- ending problem in our country. But I do believe that if the important people that are supposed to be setting examples, as such the people in the videos were to stop and act mature, it would make a difference and be a whole lot easier for other people to stop also.
I am not really sure what to say about this poster. At first, I am not going to lie, I chuckled a little but then when I took the time to look at it, I was confused; it is just rude. Why would someone take the time to make a poster like this? It is insulting, not only to President Obama but also to our country. The reason someone is elected president is because people want to believe in the individual who is campaigning to be the leader of our country. By mocking our president, you are somewhat mocking the country for choosing this individual. Since I do not know the background of the poster and the individual that made it, I do not want to point a finger and say that they are racist. Of course at first look it seems very racist but no one can judge that person.
Throughout history, every president that we have had in the United States has been made fun of; not only by people that live in America, but also from people all over the world. Bill Clinton had an affair while he was in office and you still see spoofs of his press conferences everywhere. George W. Bush was made fun of every day while he was in office. Even though it is rude to say, but President Obama is our first black president, and I am not saying that that gives people the right to make fun of him, but it does cause some people to make remarks about it. It does not mean that they do not like him, did not vote for him or are racists, it is just a comment that they chose to make. I can say that I have received emails from people that where taking “comic” stabs at President Obama and never sent them out, because I think they are stupid; but then again I also received them about George W. Bush while he was in office as well. I think those types of emails are for people with nothing better to do but then send out emails that put other people down. How would they feel if I made an email about them and sent it to everyone I know? And that fact that an aide in the Tennessee state legislature made it and sent it out, over email, where anyone could get a hold of it, is in very poor judgment. Sometimes I wonder if people really think. Did they not think that it would be brought to media attention for other people to see?
“What were they thinking?” was exactly what was going through my mind when I read this entry. I do not understand how people can do or say some of the things that they do. How can people say such blatantly offensive things or make such obviously offensive mistakes such as these and not think there will be any consequences? First of all, the photo is completely ridiculous. I am not sure how someone could miss that. Second of all, that is extremely offensive. It was probably meant to be a joke, but really is just kind of uncalled for.
This entry was just full of ridiculous racist behaviors. I could not even believe it how the list kept going and going, on and on. The fact a Boston police officer and member of the Massachusetts National Guard called Henry Louis Gates, Jr. a “banana-eating jungle monkey” is again, completely ridiculous. He can claim not to be racist all he wants; but no matter how you look at the matter, the comment was extremely offensive and the man should know better than to be so distasteful. Another very distasteful comment was made by Rusty DePass via Facebook. His comment referring to the First Lady was extremely rude and very surprising. I seriously cannot understand why anyone would make a comment like that, lead alone publicly over the internet. His comment was made in response to a gorilla that had recently escaped from a zoo. He said, “It’s probably just one of Michelle’s ancestors-probably harmless.” I was completely shocked by this statement. DePass says that he said it in response to something Michelle Obama had recently said about everyone being descendent from apes. If this is true, then the comment is basically harmless. However, if no one knows what he is referring to, Depass should probably learn to keep his mouth shut so no one can be offended by his comments.
I do agree with the fact that a lot of the time, people are not actually racist when they make a remake that is taken that way. I’m sure people don’t even mean it that way or realize they are saying something that would be considered racist a good portion of the time. I guess nowadays it’s something you always have to be conscious of. Along with that idea, there are also people that claim not to be racist, but their comments are blatantly offensive. Whether someone meant to be racist or not, it is never okay to be that rude intentionally. For the most part, people just really need to be aware of what they’re saying and of what they’re putting out there, especially people in the public eye. It is never good to be acting racist in the first place, but if you know people are paying attention to you then it’s a really good idea to just keep your mouth shut.
“What were they thinking?” is honestly a question I ask myself every day. I see/hear/read so many different news stories, where I am just completely baffled to why people do the things they do and say the things they say. It is fine to have your opinions and thoughts, racist as they may be, but you don’t need to display it to the public. Especially if you are going to make a rude comment about the First Lady. I mean, really? That’s just stupid. Seriously, what was DePass thinking? There are obviously going to be some pretty big repercussions when you compare Michelle Obama to a gorilla. And then DePass basically says that he is sorry for the comment, although we must be the stupid ones if we didn’t realize it was a joke. Oh, okay… our fault. People in a position of political power are always going to be scrutinized for everything they say, so I feel as if they need to be able to always stand behind whatever it is they say. But that is never the case. Officer Barrett got caught saying something completely out of line, and straight up racist, yet when trying to save face, he says that he treats everyone with respect and dignity? Yeah, okay. Somehow I don’t think the “banana eating jungle monkey” feels as if he was treated with respect or dignity. People really need to stop making all these rude, racist comments and try to pass them off as jokes. I feel like when a grown adult claims, “I was just kidding!!” they sound like a 7 year old who just got in trouble. Take responsibility for your stupidity, man up, and apologize.
I must say that while I find the term, “banana eating jungle monkey”, completely racist, I didn’t really see the issue with the Presidents’ head shot email. Think about this… SNL has for years made fun of our countries political leaders. It doesn’t matter if they are white, black, male or female. They are going to make fun of the President, First Lady, Vice President, and the list goes on. Whenever George W. Bush was portrayed, they would make him seem like he was an incompetent idiot. Same deal with the sketches involving Bill Clinton, Sarah Palin etc. But I feel as if the public took it for what it was – a joke. There is no question that email was definitely poking fun at the fact that Obama is half-black, but… this isn’t breaking news. With all of our previous white presidents, their skin color has never been a cause for jokes, but that certainly doesn’t mean that there were no jokes at their expense. There is always going to be someone who doesn’t like the President, or someone who is going to say a derogatory statement. That’s just the way it is.
As long as humans exist on this earth, so will extremely ignorant people. This Boston police officer is the type of person you can not even use when accessing the average human. As Dr. Richards said towards the bottom of his blog “I find myself saying some pretty off-the-hook things at random moments and yet I never seem to slip into this level of racist banter”. I could not agree more with that statement. Whether we will admit it or not, we all make racist comments or at least think racist thoughts. I know I do, but I don’t truly mean it. The thing that separates me and someone such as the Boston police officer, is I know my boundaries. The most ridiculous part of this whole story is that the officer showed no signs of remorse after the incident. When interviewed afterwards "It was a poor choice of words," ,"I didn't mean it in a racist way. I treat everyone with dignity and respect." You didn’t mean it in a racist way? Is this guy serious? I would like to know the way in which he meant it that he was not racist. In fact, this may be one of the most racists slangs I have ever heard.
The Tennessee state legislature aide is just as ignorant as the Boston police officer. The picture he sent out of all the presidents which has our president Barack Obama as only eyes is inappropriate. This was most likely sent as a joke but nonetheless it should not be allowed. One of the main ideas of Dr. Samuels’ blog is, what were they thinking? That could not make more sense in this situation. As a member of the state legislature you must be professional and jokes like this truly are not funny.
As Barack Obama slowly works his way in to the role as the United States’ first African American President, there are many barriers he will need to break. The hardest thing he will need to do is to gain approval from everyone. This will never happen. Ignorant acts such as the one of the Tennessee state legislature are unavoidable. Some people need to grow up and realize that we are all equal, whether you think so or not.
I agree with my fellow bloggers, who say they cant belive that these type of acts still go on in this day and age. It is 2009 and you would think people would get over racism at this point but I don’t know if we will ever be over it. Some people are always going to hate others for no reason that’s just the way some people are
Before Barack Obama was elected as president, it seemed like much of the country, including myself, thought that racism was a much smaller issue than it really was because our country really had not faced racism on a national scale. However, now that the face of our nation is a man who is half black, racism has become much more apparent than it was before, at least to me. Now, racist remarks are much more apparent since a majority of them are towards the President, whom with everyone is familiar. The fact that the most important political figure in the United States is half black stirs up unsettled racism in many people in the country.
Unfortunately, many people in authoritative positions have not been helping the country move to a less racist place. It is truly sad and upsetting when people, who have power and are in the public eye, not only make off-hand racist comments but also immortalize them into written documents. The fact that these comments are showing up online, through e-mails or blogs, including Facebook, is extremely upsetting. These people that post things online have plenty of time and opportunity to think about the fact that what they are posting or sending is completely inappropriate. It is different than an off-hand comment because the people that immortalize their words have as much time to think about them before others can read them or be exposed to them. Because of that, there is absolutely no excuse which could excuse the fact that these ridiculous comments were made or e-mail sent.
Another large issue, which is common in all of these occurrences, is the fact that all of the people who made these comments were of people in power AND part of the government which runs this country. The fact that these people make very stupid mistakes in making public statements or declarations of their racist thoughts only retards our country from getting closer to conquering racism. For people who are easily impressionable by people of authority, they are going to think that it is okay and acceptable to make these awful remarks when in fact it is certainly not. I do not want children thinking that this behavior is okay. I do not want my little cousins to grow up thinking that these racist comments are okay and that comments like that are just a standard part of American society. Slang terms and comments, like comparing people of color to monkeys (which apparently is a common comparison) should not be considered acceptable at all. Even the apologies from these people who made these comments have come with excuses, which to me says that they feel they are not responsible for their remarks and will probably make them again. Yeah, I know sometimes people misspeak and words come out that can be construed as bad even when they were not intended that way. However, these occurrences have been very deliberate, and there were many opportunities for the perpetrators to have stopped the spread of their racist thoughts all together. Unfortunately, they did not have the sense for that which only instills in people that racism is still an issue that is very deep rooted in our society, even today with a President that is half black.
Once again, a totally dumbass move on the part of staff in our government. Why would an aide to someone in a state legislature decide to send out an email like this, which is obviously a very hard bash at our President and an obvious racist act. This is one of those things where the person should have been quickly removed from whatever position they held and whoever forwarded this to other government-held positions. This is a sign of total lack of respect for the person who holds the highest seat in our country, and to have an aide for a state legislature go and disrespect him like this is very low class. Any poster put together of all the U.S. Presidents should be a very respectful object and I can not recall one other time where I have seen one of these where there is a blatant stab at one of the presidents on there, and then to go and disgrace it by doing that to Obama? Total lack of respect. Then on top of that, we have one of Boston’s finest and a man who serves our country putting together an email calling a Harvard Professor a banana eating jungle monkey? Once again what idiots. I can only imagine that both of these guys are in not only a area with a lot of people of race but in a profession with a lot of people of race, and then they go and totally punch them in the face with a comment like that. I totally agree that this would fall under the category of what a Ku Klux Klan member would describe a Negro. What are people thinking!? Both these men are going to be around different races all the time, this is something that if they pissed off the right person, they would get their ass kicked. Then, we have the Republican Party activist who decided it would be fine to say Michelle Obama is related to gorillas. What the hell are people thinking when they decide to slander the people who are at the head of this country with these racists comments? He says it is a joke; well of course he is going to say that, what else would he say? He doesn’t want an entire race of people reigning down on him, he might want to watch his back everywhere he goes because he put a bull’s-eye on it. Every democratic activists who blogs or is in the mainstream media will be ripping this guy apart. People need to start using their heads more before they just decide to knock out an email and send it around to everyone they know or post a comment on their facebook, twitter, myspace, etc. because it will come around and they will have to back up what they say when they slander an entire race or culture.
I realize that some of these racial jokes can be offending to black people but I don’t really think it is as bad as everyone thinks. I think the electronic photograph of all the presidents is just a harmless joke that a Tennessee man thought would make his friends laugh. Even if he is a racist, I don’t really think this picture does much harm to the black society. I understand to many African Americans that it can be offending, but who honestly cares. If there were a picture of all black people and one white guy getting made fun of, I wouldn’t even think about complaining. People these days need to chill out about this whole black and white thing. If America were so racist, Obama wouldn’t even have won the primary for the democrats. Maybe I’m the one who needs to start getting serious about this race thing, but I don’t think there is anything out there that would offend my white race or my ethnicity. Black people seem to be a little sensitive sometimes. There’s nothing wrong with being sensitive, but I just think that they need to lighten up. One thing I would like to hear is what Obama would say about this picture. To be honest I don’t really think he would be too upset, because he seems like a cool layed back guy.
Although I think the “attack of the racist” goes to far, sometimes racists need to cool it down themselves. The comment that Officer Barrett said about Gates being a “banana eating jungle monkey” may have gone a little bit too far. I personally don’t think anyone should get truly offended by it, but I can see why some people would. I think that he knew that this would offend a lot of people, but I’m not too sure that he knew it would get out to the public. To be honest I don’t even see why people are so racist. Sure they have different skin and different cultures, but why do we have to be so negative towards each other. We are all the same species. If only everyone realized that we all eat sleep and breathe the same way we would avoid situations such as these.
Now on to this “gorilla” comment. This guy was wrong and I think that he knows it. I don’t mind if people go after the president and say things about him, but going after the first lady is just ruthless. She didn’t do anything to deserve this at all. His excuse was pretty funny I thought actually, but still he should have never said it because of the political correctness of out society today. I think if a person is truly sorry for what they did or said, they should receive a second chance and be forgiven. If it continues then the hell with them.
Barack Obama had it coming... There are some many "unracist" people that choose to make jokes about the fact that we have a black president just because, not that they are racist or that they dislike our president Barack Obama. I feel that people make these stupid jokes and racial comments just to cause controversy. It is all ridiculous in my opinion. I really just do not understand why people cannot just get over the fact that we have a black president. How about we think about the more important things about our president. Why not consider the qualities that Barack Obama posseses and his character rather than his skin color, or race for that matter. But, more importantly, I feel that Barack Obama knew what was coming, he knew that these racial jokes and comments were coming for him, I think he prepared himself to be strong enough though.
Yes I said he had it coming, and everyone knows that he did, BUT, it does not make it okay. This world honestly needs to move past all of this. Why does skin color matter? Why does race matter? Why does your cultural background matter? These questions should not allow issues to arise! I really just do not understand why we cannot just move past these things. I am confused beyond belief. I think a lot about issues such as these, and simply wish that we, as the human population, never even thought about these arguments.
I honestly could go on forever about this subject, but I honestly feel that we will never move past all of this. As much as we may try, people always find ways to make more racial comments. But, I need to say again that I do not really believe that most of the "so-called" racial jokes/ comments are actually meant to be racial, they are just to cause controversy and make issues for the hell of it! I feel like I could really go on and on, and talk myself in circles because it all comes down to me feeling the same way in the end.
My final statement can simply state how I feel, but no one can ever understand how I really feel about this situation. It is entirely too difficult to express feelings completely when discussing issues such as racism, and cultural differences. But when it really comes down to it we all, EVERYONE in this human population, need to stop worrying about the little stupid issues that cause so much drama in this world! I am sick and tired of people complaining so much!!! I simply feel that we sit around and constantly think about how we can cause new issues at hand, instead of worrying about things that matter most in this world! Peace. Love and Happiness!
Early yesterday when I was on the blog searching for a journal topic I stumbled across the post entitled “What Are They Thinking?” I was immediately drawn to it and after quickly scanning over it I knew that I had to use it for my journal. I chose it because I think it brings up a valid point that isn’t often really discussed the way that it should be in our society today, racism. When most of us talk about racism we just think of the KKK or the civil rights movement back in the sixties. The fact is though that racism is much deeper than this, is still very prevalent in our society, and quite frankly most of us are guilty of it often times without even meaning any harm. As for the presidential picture the racism couldn’t be more evident. It’s sad that such a great accomplishment as becoming the first black president in the history of the United States has to be met with such blatant and crude racism as to reduce our black president to a set of cartoon eyes. I also agree with Sam’s point that although the act was committed by a member of the GOP party it very easily could have been done by a democratic worker as well which is very upsetting. What this tells us is that both sides of our political spectrum can be guilty of racism and not just the opposing political party. We need to rest assured in the fact that we a lucky enough to live in a country where we are able to choose our leaders and that when we do choose one instead of resorting to racism we should welcome the choice with open arms. As for the other point about Mr. Gates arrest I couldn’t believe the police officers response less. How in the world could he not know that calling a black man a “banana eating jungle monkey” would be considered racist. It has been long known that because black people are dark skinned they are often compared to monkeys. Instead of trying to talk around it he should have confronted it head on and just admitted he made a mistake and that the comments were racist and not just a “poor choice of words” as he described it. I was also quite disappointed to see the video clip in which another GOP worker was guilty of such blatant racism. Comparing Michelle Obama to an escaped zoo animal is hideous behavior and should result in severe consequences. People need to be held accountable for their actions especially when it comes to racism. By issuing swift and harsh penalties we can show people that this type of behavior is unacceptable and as Sam puts it “we don’t do that anymore”.
The jokes illustrated in one of the recent blog posts are rather disturbing. Not because of the content of the jokes, but the fact that many people in prominent leadership positions feel that these jokes are acceptable to tell in a public forum. Don’t get me wrong these jokes are not good told in private but few people haven’t not uttered something that could have been taken as racist during their private lives. Its just unbelievable the audacity of people in power when they feel that they can be blatantly racist and not pay some sort of consequence. I’m sure some racial jokes are fired back and forth between the different races working at a police station but the officer on the Gates case really stepped over the line and where they might be a little room for racial jokes in the line of duty for police officers these joke should not exist in the highest offices of our country, and politicians should be held to a higher standard. As far as the activist on the you tube clip, I feel that the guy is just a harmless idiot that made a really stupid and racist joke but has no real power and can clearly just be brushed aside. However, if I was a candidate and this guy wanted to help me in my campaign I would turn down his services and I feel that most politicians might find this guy to be radioactive at the moment and he certainly deserves to pay the price not for making such a comment but for making a comment like that public. Once again I’m sure everyone on the planet has made a racist statement at one time another, these people highlighted were just stupid enough to make a racist comment in a public forum. People such as politicians and others that live in the public eye need to realize that they are constantly being held to higher standards. But as the blog stated often the attack on people that didn’t even mean to be racist sometimes goes too far, like the guy that said “niggardly” Situations like this could be avoided if people just used proper judgment I feel that adults can determine if a comment is truly racist and mean spirited or just in jest or taken out of context. I agree that cultural heritage is no excuse to be racist, if this was the case then white supremacists could claim that the Third Reich was a part of their culture so they should be able to replicate it. Some think that these comments are small and trivial things that should just brushed under the rug, but comments like these lead to a climate where certain people are dehumanized and this can lead to awful things such as genocide.
The jokes illustrated in one of the recent blog posts are rather disturbing. Not because of the content of the jokes, but the fact that many people in prominent leadership positions feel that these jokes are acceptable to tell in a public forum. Don’t get me wrong these jokes are not good told in private but few people haven’t not uttered something that could have been taken as racist during their private lives. Its just unbelievable the audacity of people in power when they feel that they can be blatantly racist and not pay some sort of consequence. I’m sure some racial jokes are fired back and forth between the different races working at a police station but the officer on the Gates case really stepped over the line and where they might be a little room for racial jokes in the line of duty for police officers these joke should not exist in the highest offices of our country, and politicians should be held to a higher standard. As far as the activist on the you tube clip, I feel that the guy is just a harmless idiot that made a really stupid and racist joke but has no real power and can clearly just be brushed aside. However, if I was a candidate and this guy wanted to help me in my campaign I would turn down his services and I feel that most politicians might find this guy to be radioactive at the moment and he certainly deserves to pay the price not for making such a comment but for making a comment like that public. Once again I’m sure everyone on the planet has made a racist statement at one time another, these people highlighted were just stupid enough to make a racist comment in a public forum. People such as politicians and others that live in the public eye need to realize that they are constantly being held to higher standards. But as the blog stated often the attack on people that didn’t even mean to be racist sometimes goes too far, like the guy that said “niggardly” Situations like this could be avoided if people just used proper judgment I feel that adults can determine if a comment is truly racist and mean spirited or just in jest or taken out of context. I agree that cultural heritage is no excuse to be racist, if this was the case then white supremacists could claim that the Third Reich was a part of their culture so they should be able to replicate it. Some think that these comments are small and trivial things that should just brushed under the rug, but comments like these lead to a climate where certain people are dehumanized and this can lead to awful things such as genocide.
When it comes to "attack of the racists" I agree with the statement that these “attacks” have gone too far. From less serious incidences such as radio and television personality who are paid to flaunt their philistine ideals, to the much more serious occurrences like the beatings of unarmed black men by white police officers, the amount of racial out-casting in our society is appalling.
In April of 2007, while discussing a Rutgers women’s basketball game, Don Imus-a very popular radio show host-referred to the predominately black team as a bunch of “nappy-headed hoes.” And this was definitely not the fist time Imus has so calmly said racial slurs on his show. Rush Limbaugh is another hot-headed radio host who prides himself on making negative racial comments. While on national television as a commentator for pro-football on the station ESPN, Limbaugh took his racial attack too far after stating how black coaches and quarterbacks, such as Donovan McNabb, are given too much credit just because they are black. Limbaugh eventually left his job at ESPN, yet still repeatedly targets black men and women on his radio show. Granted every person living in the United States has the right to freedom of speech, and has every right to speak what is on their mind, it is just mind-boggling to me how people like Imus and Limbaugh have so much negative things to say about other racial groups (specifically blacks.)
Verbal racial attacks are definitely a serious problem in the society we live in, however; once these attacks become physical just because of the color of ones skin, these problems are on an entirely different level. In March of 2009, two white police officers were charged with multiple accounts of “official misconduct” and one count each of mob action, battery, and aggravated battery after their squad car video tape revealed the unnecessary brutal beating of a black man. The beatings occurred after a short car chase involving the victim Bryce Scott and the convicted officers was ended. All of the officers involved were white and were using an extraordinary amount of force for a man who was not resisting. A taser gun was administered three times, all of which were when the victim was already surrendered on the ground, as well as kicking and stomping on the victim more than twenty times. This is one of the very many attacks that, unfortunately, involve police, the very people who should be protecting us. It is all too often that I open a newspaper and find at least one article that pertains to a racially motivated violent act.
Racial attacks, whether verbal or physical, can never be justified. The fact that most of the people living in the United States are accustomed to racial attacks is extremely disheartening and nauseating. As a country, the United States needs to come to the realization that racial profiling is a disease that needs to be stopped immediately.
The issue of racism in America is such a complex one that a 450 word journal entry doesn’t come close to doing it justice. However, I think there needs to be made a few distinctions between racism and discrimination, and especially as it applies to the “photo” of Barack Obama in the email that has circulated.
First, I feel that jokes about racism can be made without a malicious spirit. When I’m with a group of friends, I’ll make jokes about any stereotype from black to Asian to Jewish, not because I don’t, but rather because I do have friends of all these races. As a jew, I don’t mind when anyone makes a Jewish joke. In fact, the hardest I’ve ever laughed at a joke might be at the old one that goes “What’s the difference between a jew and a pizza? A pizza doesn’t scream when you put it in the oven.” It’s a horrible joke, but to poke fun at the agents of intolerance who perpetrated such atrocities as the Holocaust comes with it an implicit rejection of their views. Just because someone makes that joke doesn’t mean they hate Jews. I’d argue that people who make these jokes are less likely to be racist, in fact, because they see race as something so laughable as to joke about it. You don’t see religious zealots making “a priest and a rabbi walk into a bar” jokes, but rather, it’s those who have no particular agenda who can make a joke out of such things.
Furthermore, in comedy, the only people who are allowed to poke fun at the cultural and society institutions of race are those who are minorities. You’d never see Jerry Seinfeld talk about the two kinds of black people, but for Chris Rock, it’s perfectly acceptable. That’s part of the political correctness that is hampering our ability to even discuss these issues out in the open such as we do in the class and in our discussion groups.
Hell, if you had the mass media watching our class, they’d probably call Sam a racist just by some of the jokes he makes. But with Dr. Richards, we know that’s it not made maliciously, whereas with these other personalities, we assume bad faith.
The mere fact that something is a joke doesn’t mean it’s not malicious. For instance, the Obama painting was probably made all in good fun, and wasn’t sent out by a Klansman, but there’s also the people who use a joke like that to fuel their own sick beliefs. However, we can’t assume that it is such.
I feel like the word niggardly, which I’ve tried to use in its proper context just to annoy the politically correct among us, is a perfect example of sensitivity taken too far. However, I believe that just about everything is sensitivity taken too far. I’m of the personal belief that nothing is in and of itself offensive, but that people themselves choose to be easily offended, and that those such people are more detrimental to our society than those who do the offending. Sure, there are some who preach hatred and intolerance, but those are far outweighed by the well-meaning and misconstrued. For instance, my grandparents would draw the ire of many an activist, because they use the word “colored” to describe black people. However, their best friends are black, and they employed a large percentage of blacks when they owned their business. In fact, whenever my grandma hears something racist said against the black community, she’ll say “I don’t get it, the coloreds were some of the hardest workers we ever had.” Obviously, she isn’t a racist just because she uses such terms. I think there needs to be a more tight definition of racism, preferably one that includes discrimination as a basis. What harm came of Obama’s “painting?” Far less than the media devoted to covering the “scandal.”
This just all plays back to hypocrisy. I can guarantee you that the same people saying that the comment made about Michelle Obama was blatantly racist and wrong have all made “jokes” like this before. I am guilty of it as well. In groups that we feel comfortable in, we will make racist and stereotypical jokes. It is very common. I’m not saying it’s right, but it just happens. Today is September 11, and I have heard jokes about terrorists still. Because Rusty DePass is a public icon, the media chose to make a big deal out of what he said, but the fact of the matter is that he’s not the first person to have said something like that about Michelle Obama or a person of any other race for that matter. Again, I don’t think his comment is right, but I would be a hypocrite and a liar if I said that I have never made a joke like that. White people make jokes about people of other races. Black people make jokes about people of other races. People of other races make fun of people of other races. That’s just how it is. The harsh reality of it is that this probably will not stop any time soon. Comments like these have increased ever since Obama came into the picture. Just look at the photo shopped pictures of him that have come out. Obama is the man, and no picture or comment will change that. President Obama is our first black president. Some of the people in the US won’t be able to accept that. After slaves were given rights, they weren’t treated as equals automatically, sadly, but most of America have finally grown to treat blacks as they should be treated: like normal human beings. There are so many issues that this can relate to. Take for example people’s views on gay marriage. I am completely fine with it, but I have still made a joke about a homosexual. Does that mean I look down upon gays? Not at all. Let Rusty DePass make his jokes about Michelle Obama. He’s the one that will look bad and be called out. Just remember this though: we all have a little bit of Rusty DePass in us. We can all say that he is wrong for what he did, but he is just one of the unlucky ones that got caught. We are all humans, so at the end of the day, we are just putting each other down. We’re all also being hypocritical. The question is not, “What were they thinking?” It’s more like, “What were we thinking?” After all, we elected Obama to be the president, so in a perfect world, we shouldn’t have any complaints or racist comments and jokes.
“The more things change the more they stay the same” this entire blog completely proves everything that is said in this quote. Although the slavery of African Americans no longer exists in this country it seems that every time there is a black person doing something positive with themselves there is always someone right behind them ready to criticize them.
Where do I begin. . .a few months ago when I first saw the picture of the presidents I was completely outraged! I truly do not know what is worse the fact that some sad person actually took the time out of their day to think of and actually create something so disgusting or the fact that people actually spent minutes of their day forwarding such an offensive email. It makes me sad that in 2009 when this country has its first non-white president in the 233 years of its existence all of the “racists” have seemed to begin showing their faces. Everyone is entitled to “not like” President Obama if they choose but this is very disrespectful. It’s bad enough this man is taking on one of the toughest jobs in the world (I say this is a tough job because the minute that President Obama makes a mistake the world will be there to criticize him), trying to be a good father and husband, and now he has to deal with the ignorant comments and emails being sent around about him. . .seriously give this man a break! It is people like this that tried to make President Obama appear to have ties with the Taliban, and those that yell out “You lie!” in the middle of a presidential address that truly make this man’s job much harder than it needs to be.
"Banana eating jungle monkey" I do not think there is any other possible way to yell out “I’M A BIG EFFIN RACIST” there is no way to justify the monkey comment.
As far as the man calling Michelle Obama’s ancestors gorillas or whatever it was that he said. Many people may say and believe that racism is dying down and things are getting better but a statement such as the one made about the First Lady’s ancestors is just proof that it is still alive and not going away anytime soon. Comments like the ones mentioned in this blog can really turn people off to entering the political world because in my opinion this is these people’s way of deterring black people away from trying to achieve the most that they can in life and it’s truly sad.
I think you completely hit the nail on the head when you wrote that “I guess since I don't have the thoughts, the words never leave my lips. But I have to wonder if this how many of us think in our private moments.” I think there are a lot of varying levels of racism all around, but these news stories take it to a whole new ballpark to me. I don’t think the thought would ever occur to me to make that picture or the comment about Michelle’s ancestors…these things must come from people who really struggle with deep seated hatred or fear. After seeing them I can clearly figure out why it is offensive, but it takes a completely different mindset to actually have those ideas in the first place. That’s my opinion at least, because I don’t naturally have thoughts or opinions such as those; you can tell that they’re not just trying to be offensive for the humor. I’m not a big fan of political correctness for the most part…like you said in class, people choose to be offended by something. Sometimes I find myself saying some offensive things but strictly because I can see the humor in it. I cannot see the humor in any of these things on your blog post; they are just downright sad.
I definitely think the election of President Barack Obama brought to light how much racism still actually exists in this country today. Many of the quiet or “in denial” racists finally lost all control when they were faced with the prospect of having the leader of their country be another race. I guess this is how images like the one with all of the U.S. Presidents’ head shots come to exist; somewhere, some terrified racist was really truly sitting there thinking of how funny it is that President Obama doesn’t fit in among the past leaders. How hilarious is it that all of these men are white and he isn’t. But really, I find that more sad than funny. This reminds me of the story I heard before the election; I can’t remember the exact details, but I believe somewhere in Texas at some sort of convention, they were handing out stickers that said “If Obama is elected, will we have to call it the Black House?” THIS is the racism that scares me because first of all, they think it is funny, and second of all, they were actually sitting around thinking of these things. Who CARES? I guess I just don’t get it. But such a huge majority of it comes from how you are raised. I’m not saying that it’s an excuse or that you can’t change, but I feel that’s the only way to get those thoughts ingrained in your mind. If you raised a kid from birth to treat all people with respect, these thoughts would not be in the back of their head, and would not become public when they felt threatened. They just wouldn’t exist. It’s a hard cycle to break though…to get every single child from here on raised in a home free of any racist/judgmental thoughts? It’s passed down from generation to generation. This is why so many years later, people are still spitting out ridiculous comments such as these. It’s just really sad.
To be honest, I'm glad they come out and make such obviously offensive remarks, so I know who they are and I can avoid them. These people sometimes scare me less because at least I can identify them; the people that really terrify me are the quiet racists who look over their shoulder first to see if anyone's around and then say, "I'm not racist but..."....
I don't know what these people are more stupid for: being ignorant racists or getting caught. I think the fact that they were caught is a testament to their intellectual levels. Like, if you insist on being a racist idiot, especially in some kind of position of authority like these men, don't send out a mass e-mail or make a post on Facebook! And the fact that they are people of authority, makes it all worse, because these are men we are supposed to trust and rely on, but are obviously morons that are far from qualified to have any kind of power.
Last year during the election there were a lot of racist comments being made. There was one video I remember watching, of a man at a McCain rally holding a stuffed Curious George toy, slurring some white-supremacist crap about how it was his Obama doll. How clever. The thing is, I thought a lot of such comments were just for the sake of the democrat vs. republican debate. I figured after a president was elected people would just accept the country's decision and cool it. This is obviously not the case.
A huge part of my understanding of racism came from my freshman year roommate. She was from the south and would explain to me the position of many of the people she knew. She would make comments while we were watching election coverage about how she has friends who want to assassinate Obama if he gets elected. HUH? She would continually say, “Someone is going to assassinate him, I know it.” She herself wasn't saying that she hoped someone would shoot our future president, but she was saying it from a perspective I had never encountered before. This wasn't a news story, this was a first hand account, and I was shocked and disturbed to find more than just a handful of crazies, existed like this.
The fact that our President and his family are still on the receiving end of these comments is unfortunate. Presidents in the past have been criticized for their actions-like Clinton and Monica Lewinski and G.W. for the War on terror and his regular ridiculous statements. I don't think President Obama should be spared of such, but this isn't criticism, it's racism. Race has nothing to do with the way he will run our country, so there should be no issue.
The thing is, we like to say “we've come a long way,” but this is a weak justification. If we've come so far why has it taken this long to elect a black president? Why did legal segregation end more than one hundred years after slavery? Why are racist comments like these still flying around?
When I looked at this picture and saw the “picture” of Obama, I cracked a smile because I remember these jokes from high school. While they are racial and mean, they do stir up a smile. I also remember the joke of the black man that needs to smile in the dark so you can see him. But when the gorilla comment was made about Michelle Obama, I took offense to it. Not because of the gorilla comment, more of the fact that the media always rips on Michelle. Whenever you see her in the news, you always see her commenting on outfits or hairstyles that are too black for a first lady. But here’s a newsflash, SHE IS BLACK. People are always criticizing her for her black heritage but that is who she is. People are saying that Obama is getting it bad with all the comments made about him. His wife is way worse off than he is. People always judge the first lady more than the president to see how they handle under pressure. The first lady has to keep her husband/president in line but if people are already ripping on Obama, the Michelle will automatically look bad. She doesn’t even get to do things before she gets to actually prove herself or do something wrong and screw stuff up. The Obama’s not only have a lot on their plate from all of Americas problems, but they have to also deal with the fact that they are black. Even if Obama does well for America, people will still judge him as the first black president and he probably won’t get the credentials that he deserves.
As for the gorilla comments, I think that they are some most irrelevant comments I have ever heard in my life. When people called gates a monkey or Michelle Obama a gorilla, who cares? It is one of those comments that are like “You’re a butthead” or “A doo doo face”. These are names that I was called in kindergarten. These names have like no offensive purposes. They are simply just names that don’t really have any effect. I can’t see how people take offense to them. For one, monkeys have it made. They swing in trees all day and eat and scratch their butt. This is basically what Gates does because he has so much money that he can do whatever he wants to do and still make money. He has so much money floating around due to Microsoft and all of the legal rights. So if I was Bill and someone called me a monkey, I would reply with “Yah, the richest monkey you have ever seen.” As for Michelle, I could just say that a gorilla is one of the strongest animals in the jungle and is a huge powerhouse. Gorillas are practically kings of the jungle. This is what Michelle is. She and her husband rule the U.S.A. so they are technically kind of the jungle. People shouldn’t take offense to these “compliments”.
Racism has always been a major problem in our nation, causing us to overlook what’s really important. People are generally afraid of change and act out showing their true colors without any regard to their appearance or the consequences. I assumed having a black president would be more than most people could handle, but I did not realize to what extent it would stir this nation up. It seems as if inappropriate and ignorant comments are being stated at an ever growing rate. What seems even more offensive than the racist comments are the pathetic attempts to cover them up. Most of us can look past racist comments because they usually come off as too coarse to have had any intelligent thought behind them. I.E. “a banana eating jungle monkey”. If that’s not offensive enough, the officer used an excuse that he is not racist because he has friends of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. I’ve heard the “well I have black friends so it’s cool” card pulled one too many times. No, as a matter of fact it’s not cool. Going up to a podium and reading your pre-written excuse of what you said and how you’ll never do it again does not make up for the complete and total lack of respect. A complete and total lack of respect that I may add should be held to highest caliber for police officers above all. The GOP activist who referred to Michelle Obama as the “guerilla who escaped river bank zoo” took his cowardly excuses to an even more offensive level. First and foremost this disgusting comment was about the first lady! This is a woman whom has more power and elegance than nearly any woman on earth. Secondly the excuse this activist chose to use yet again seems more offensive than the comment itself. Relating her to a guerilla because she is a believer of evolution seems to only be a pathetic way out of being called a racist. I would have more respect for anyone who can own up to a racist comment. To use excuses and squirm your way out of trouble by saying anything only further proves your thoughts did not have any intelligent backing. If people like this were to legitimately back their statements, and take on the firing squad from the media I feel we would hear a lot less racial remarks. The sheer embarrassment that can come with it would be enough for most of us to learn to think before we speak. Hopefully then racial slurs and derogative remarks will become a thing of the past. These people need to learn how not to be afraid of change and embrace the potential benefits of it.
I laughed as hard as I could when I saw this interesting picture. I must confess that is kind of funny, but at the same time it is an insulting image against president Obama. Something disrespectful like this should be punished. People sometimes do stupid things to make the rest laugh, but they do not think about the consequences or they do not know who they might be hurting. I think it should be a law that prohibits racism jokes. Perhaps that way, the “Ingenuous” people who created and published this racism joke in the internet get what they deserve. I certainly know that racism exist in United States, I assume that every single person has a little bit of racism in their heart and most of the people do not want to admit it, may be, because they do not want to be called racist. In my case, I tend to judge people by their skin color when I do not know them; I think is because of the stereotypes that are invented by other people that do not belong to the same culture. For instance, one time, I went to work and my manager had recently hired a black guy, his name was Jackson. I do not know why but when I saw him, quickly one thing popped to my mind. I said to myself, “He looks like a lazy person, I bet, he will not even make it to following week.” Life gives you surprises. After, six months working with him, I realized that I was completely wrong about him. I had a lot of misconceptions. “You should never judge a book by its cover,” is what my mom tried to teach me, but I still committing the same mistake.
Calling Michelle Obama a Gorilla is a national offense, says this observer. That guy went to High School, and then to college, earned so many degrees and studied a lot, did something very primitive. He should be called Gorilla for his animal behavior; he obviously made a poor word choice. I guess he wasted his time trying to educate himself, because does not even respect a woman. Sometimes I think that people who are honest, respectful, humble, and have a set of qualities and values, are really intelligent no matter if they never went to a High School. It does not help a person to learn various theories if they do not apply it. To be well educated means to accept and respect the difference between us, not to study a book and pass tests.
His reasons does not convince me, obviously, he did not measure the consequences of his comment. I think he said what he said because that is what he really thinks about her in a funny way.
I don’t think there is anyway to deny that people, whether on purpose or not, make comments that are inherently racist. At least to me, it seems that the main reason that this happens it that people really don’t mean what they say, or at least don’t mean it to be racist. Because of the way certain people have grown up, it doesn’t cross their mind that what they are saying can be hurtful to whoever is being commented on in the “joke”. Because of what people here from the media and comedians and such, they believe that it is okay for them to say it themselves. The real problem is that people just do not think about what they are saying when it happens. It is easy to not have this problem when people have time to think about what they are going to say. The time that most of these incidents seems to happen is when people are talking and not thinking about what is coming out of their mouths. It has seeped into their brains in some way, whether from friends, family members, or forms of media, and they do not know that is even there, even if the person is not a so called “racist.” Because of this, it is hard to figure out whether people actually believe what they say, or if they are just that ignorant that they do not realize what they are saying is really that wrong. To me, it is the latter. I just feel that people are so unaware of their surroundings sometimes that they feel that they can say whatever they want without saying something stupid. To be perfectly honest, it is human nature to say something out of anger or to be funny, and for some reason, some people turn to saying things that simply should not be said. Everyone wants to be funny, or to fit in, and sometimes that can turn to saying things that they don’t necessarily mean. Personally, I would like to believe that people really don’t mean it when they say things that could be considered racist. But, there is always the reality that what they are saying is rooted deep down in them, and that those type of feelings that they have just hadn’t come out in the past. The real shame is that some people actually do believe some of the things that they say when they are racist, and there is no reason for anyone to think that way. From what we have talked about in class, no person is that different from one another, and stupid differences like the color of ones skin or where they come from should not make a difference, and definitely does not affect the kind of person that they are.
In the response to the “What are they thinking?” blog, I agree with Dr. Richards in how these officials acted in disrespect by being so bluntly racist. It is really amazing how racist upper officials can be and in the public eyes of the media. First off, being racist just shows how ignorant and uneducated you are by judging an entire race on a few people. All races are simply made up of human beings who deserve the same respect. It does not matter if you are white, black, red, blue, or purple, all colors share people in the same social economic educated divisions of classes. Every race shares their smart respectable people while also having some delinquent hooligans who cause trouble. People must be judged simply individually on their character and not their race. When people simply only base their views strictly on race, it just shows how close minded and shelter they are.
This is why it is amazing how people who are supposed to be in higher respected positions can show their racist side. People like the GOP activist and the Tennessee State legislative that openly show their idiotic racist side are so foolish and unwise to place them in a public ridicule by acting so unprofessional and uneducated. To hold important positions like these, these people should be setting examples to the rest of society, not appearing as trash. It is really sad when we find that racism still exists within our legislators because it just prolongs our society from evolving into the next smarter sophisticated class of human beings. It is racism like that that gives some races a bad name by keeping these races in a negative view. Seriously, Obama took office to the most powerful country in the world, and there is still speculation of if he can do a good job because of his race. We will never grow as a people if we still have racist views keeping us in the uneducated stupid class. If it wasn’t for racist white folk verbally attacking the black man, then our society would be more open to letting the black race advance, rather then hindering them.
Having these people who the blog references make lame excuses on why they slipped up and said those racist terms only proves that they are racists. Having the GOP activist claim he is sorry but, he was only quoting what Michelle said completely overhauls what he previously said. If you were obviously sorry about your comment, they leave it at that instead of making a poor excuse that you know is going to be research to be verified. He was just digging himself a deeper hole with that follow up nonsense.
All of these men define the word ignorant, in my opinion. Stories like these make me incredibly upset, and makes me question how any person who is not black can ever make a statement saying that the world is equal, and oh, but our president is black, and that means everything is okay…yeah right. Poor Obama, he’s not even fully black and they still can’t cut the man some slack.
Anyways, referring to what these ignorant, racist, and yes they are racist, men have said/ e-mailed and shared publicly, how dumb could they be? The first issue, regarding the joke of having Obama’s picture amongst the other presidents, just be black with white circles representing eyes is horrible. I don’t watch the news too often, but I definitely should have heard about this somehow. And the simple fact that I didn’t upsets me even more. This should have been as public as possible and it should have been everywhere!
Now, as for the “banana eating jungle monkey” comment, wow. I must admit, pretty impressive. Seems like he felt strongly about this. I mean, most negative descriptions are only two words, but he really went into depth with this, so congrats to Mr. Barrett. Unfortunately, he could not put as much thought into his reasoning as to why he said it, simply because people as ignorant as him never have much reasoning or logic behind anything they say. Indeed, it was a poor choice of words. I feel that the comment he made should have gotten his job completely taken away from him. Everyone pretty much knows he is a racist. But no, as discussed in class, you can’t ever really call a white person a racist. How hurtful! Give me a break. The guy is a racist, and he’s probably putting away any black person in sight in jail. Why? Because he can. I’m so tired of these people who have jobs that give them some sort of power, just getting away with anything, well, unless it has to do with having an affair with someone. What about being racist?! These people’s jobs permit them to treat others equally and apparently these men are not doing so, so they need to be stripped of their position. But they won’t be, most likely because they have their white brothers defending them, who also have power.
Moving on to the idiot who pretty much compared Michelle Obama a gorilla, gee thanks. My first question is, “why would he post that on Facebook”? Anyways, this one really upsets me, but it could be just because there’s a video showing who he is and that makes me instantly think bad things towards him. I really don’t know what this world is coming to. But hopefully, too many old white men haven’t passed on their ignorance to their children, so then the world could be a better place, what everyone strives for =]
After reading the entry, “What Are They Thinking”, I was not surprised with the racist depictions by several individuals. The image sent out by a Tennessee state legislature, which depicted President Obama as a solid black photo with a pair of eyes, was disrespectful; however, it is something we are accustomed to, and now find clever and funny. Also the comments of a Boston police officer did not surprise me; however, how can we trust such a juvenile and idiotic individual to protect and serve our community? Lastly, the inappropriate comment made by Rusty Depass about our First Lady, Michelle Obama’s family members, is unacceptable. After over fifty-years have passed since the Civil Rights Movement, these actions reinforce my beliefs that our country still struggles with issues of racism.
The portrait of the headshots of the U.S. Presidents was a perfect example of cheap humor. The image reminded me of examples used in comedy TV shows such as The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live. Eventhough, the portait is disrespectful, we now enjoy clever examples of cheap humor. Comedians decide to use race because we have now learned to accept stereotypes and believe them to be true. After showing the image to my black friend, he began to laugh, and it was clear that he did not find any issues. If an individual from the race does not find it an issue, then we allow other individuals to continue the banter of racial stereotypes.
Although, we take examples of race in comedic banter lightly; however, racial comments or slurs are unacceptable. All of us have had our mishaps, which may lead to a slip of an inapproriate comment. However, publicly spoken and posted comments, which allow an individual to think before their actions are unacceptable. I believe that our country faces a bigger issue, when the people who are supposed to protect and serve our nation are responsible for racial comments. How can trust that these individuals are administering equality for our citizens if they do not believe in equality.
Finally, the last issue of Rusty Depass, a candidate for the Senate in South Carolina was the clearest example of our racial problems in this country. Rusty Depass was supposed to exemplify character and class, as our political leader; however, he illustrated his immaturity and lack of class. I agreed with Mayor Coble that the comments were unacceptable. Coble also declared that he does not want those comments tarnishing his city.
Our country will continue to face problems of racism, when our well educated and wealty members of society continue to be the root of our racial problems. We have been through major battles with racism; however, these examples clearly illustrate that we are not finished the fight.
What were they actually thinking? I mean i honestly get extremely tired of these racial remarks in attempt to degrade the blacks in society. To begin with, i believe that what they did with obama's picture is horrible for a person to do. He is the president of the united states and if certain people in society have a problem with being the first Black president in the United States then I believe that they should go live in another country. The least people can do is show Barack obama the respect that he rightfully deserves as the President of the United States. So I feel that the picture of Barack obama should be the same as every other presidents' picture was before him because nonetheless, we did elect him. I mean if you are really going to degrade Barack Obama, you should take a step back and look at what you are really doing. We did elect him so in a way that is kind of an oxy moron to me. Who knows what Barack Obama will have to offer in the upcoming years as president of the United States. He could turn out to be one of the best presidents of the united states in years. So what do all of the haters have to say now?
Now to talk about the arrest of Henry Louis gates jr. who was called a "banana eating jungle monkey" by a Boston police officer and a Massachussettes national guard had made. This is such a derogatory term because i believe that nobody should ever come at an individual with this particular statement.In reality, people in general are just like monkey's, but i guess those guys didn't do enough research to have figured that out by themselves. Personally, if someone were to call me a "banana eating jungle monkey" i probably would not take offense to it that much. i mean, it is offensive , but there will always be some type of racism in the world no matter what. So my thing is, why not ignore it and dissolve the situation instead of fueling the fire and giving them a reaction that they probably want.Also, I think some racist people are just plain ignorant. I don't understand why racist people make these racist statements and then try to take back what they just said. I feel that racist people should quite frankly keep their mouths shut. If you don't have anything worth saying, don't say it at all! The last thing that i wanted to add about the "banana eating jungle monkey" is that i believe that some people who have experienced negative comments like this should not fear people who make racist comments.
Being a white American from the suburbs I was not so “immersed” into different cultures growing up. The high school in which I attended had to be at least 98% white. I believe there were only a few kids of color in my school. Racism, however, never really was a very relevant topic for the kids that I tended to hang out with. Now, I am definitely not saying that racism did not exist in my school, because I know for a fact that it did. I guess some “white” people think that all “white” people think just like they do, because one day which I can remember quite vividly, a white kid whose locker happened to be next to mine, asked me, “Dude, wouldn’t it be sweet to just have your own slave? You could be like dude go mow my lawn now?” I looked at him and didn’t even know what to say. I turned and walked away. I truly could not believe what he just had said. When I watched the video about the man who had “slipped” and compared Mrs. Obama with a gorilla this thought immediately popped into my head. That kid that asked me that question is probably going to say something to the wrong person one day and it is going to turn into a story just like this one. I believe some people truly do not think before they speak. This comes from the fact that the world needs to change. If everyone would just learn to accept people of color then stories like this would never happen. Now I know what I am preaching is completely impossible but if somehow this could happen just think about the world and what a different place that it would be. Here at Penn State, I am a good friend with kids of an array of races. Some of my best friends here are born here in the United States but their parents are straight from India. When Sam asked for that white kid the other day in class that basically thinks he’s “black” or “of color” all of my friends looked at me and were like that’s you, raise your hand. I just wish the world would come to see the best in people instead of concentrating on things like skin color or where people are from. Each individual is unique and until we learn this, were always going to have that “WTF were you thinking file” that stories like this and many other stories to come will be entered into. The world is a cruel place. Honestly, when I think about the world to myself and look at all of the hatred around us I just want to ask these people, “Why can’t we be friends?”
Upon looking at this poster of all the United States presidents, in the so called the post racial era, I realized that even though it could be argued that the American society has come along way in terms of moving towards a more racial tolerant and diverse nation, we still have a long way to go! It was absolutely shocking to me to see our president Barack Obama depicted on that poster in the most demeaning and racial charged manner. President Obama has been the realization of a dream of millions of American that fought for civil rights and that never gave up on demanding that their fellow American ought to be judged on the merit of their character and not the color of their skin. For Obama to be elected for the highest office in the land, he had to stand on the shoulders of so many Americans that paved the way for centuries before him. So, for the vast majority of Americans who voted him in the office to see him portrayed in a degrading and racially charged way, it can never be perceived as a joke and obviously it was not meant to be funny. In fact, it totally has the opposite effect of funny; it makes me angry and disappointed to see that there are still deeply racists in the day and age.
Being an immigrant who came in this country several years ago, I felll in love with in love with this country ever since I was in my birth country because of the idea of the United States being the ultimate melting pot. The promise that any one regardless of racial background, religion and social status can come in this country and achieve his or her dreams is based upon the progress that the American society has achieved in terms of being a more racially tolerant society. In this century, technology advancement, especially internet, has made it exceedingly easy for information to go around the world instantly. For that poster to be online, even though it does not represent the view of the vast majority of Americans, it casts a shadow of disbelief on the tremendous effort and progress that the American society has made to make this country the only place on earth where dreams can be realized for anyone from any race.
I am cognizant that perfection is a work in progress and that the US has come along way to elect a person of color as our President. As our society perfects itself and moves in the direction of a more diverse and more tolerant society, I hope that someday being of a different race will not be a problem but rather a difference to be celebrated. I hope that the dream of Dr Martin Luther King that someday people will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character will come to pass.
I honestly can say I could not believe the picture of the Presidents when I saw it. I think that even though it was suppose to be considered a “joke” no one should ever do that to someone. How would you feel if someone pulled this joke on you, personally I would not appreciate it at all. It is very immature and you would not expect an adult to pull a joke like that, especially one at that level. I want to know how the residents of Tennessee feel about this issue. I know if I lived there I would be horrified. Does it really matter what our race is? Or what we look like? I think it is awful that that’s all we care about and I cannot say that I am any differently because I know I am not, but I think we need to try and change the way we judge people. President Obama is our first black president and look at how we are treating him, this is supposed to be a step in the right direction, not the time to say hurtful things or make racist jokes.
Captain Justin Barrett referred to Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as a “banana eating jungle monkey.” And then he went on to say that he did not mean that. How do you say something like that and then not mean it, I personally do not think that is possible. Yes, he probably regrets saying what he did, but he did say it and it was then announced to the public which made it worse. Everyone says something they regret but nothing to that degree. He made a racial slur that is something you do not let slip out of your mouth.
The comment about the gorilla being Michelle Obama’s relative is so offensive. How could you say that about the First Lady? Once again this person tried to take it back and say that it was a joke and I feel the same way about this as I did before. You cannot say something like that and then try and take it back! I think all of these statements are so rude and racist. I think it is pretty dumb that these people would say something like this and then believe that it would not get out in the media world. Also, do they think that people are really going to forgive them for what horrible things they said? Maybe these issues will start to teach people how to act and what not to say. We need to treat everyone with respect. Treat others how you want to be treated is something I like to live by and I think others need to start thinking that way too.
I think that these “WTF” cases are a very interesting topic. I find these strange scenarios interesting for a different reason the average person, but I think about them frequently nonetheless. I have been always been intrigued by the fact that people whose jobs require them to have a good public image act in such a tailored, pre-determined manner. For example, the President of the United States is someone who has to be held to the highest levels of decency, and has to have the perfect response to every problem or query. All of his speeches are written by someone else, all of his outfits are picked out for him, most of his important decisions are made by others; basically his whole life is determined by other people. While most Americans think they have a good understanding of their President, in reality we probably don’t know our President at all.
My example of the President of the United States is applicable to an infinite number of professionals. All of the parties mentioned in Sam Richard’s blog were heavily ridiculed for their actions, which in most cases they deserved to be. The question is, who knows how many other people are making the same or similar comments behind closed doors? For all we know, President Obama is making racist wisecracks about every Latino on his staff and Benjamin Bernanke is calling every black man that works on Wall Street a nigger. I would feel more comfortable with the people that are running this country being upfront about all their opinions and bad habits, rather than acting like an All-American who is an entirely different person flaws behind closed doors.
I am also of the belief that someone should not necessarily be judged for one seemingly negligent comment that they make. Although Rusty Depass made an inappropriate statement towards the First Lady, we can’t be certain of the nature and context of that comment. In my estimation, it seemed that Mr. Depass was trying to make a joke about one of Mrs. Obama’s previous comments, and the media heard the comment and completely distorted it from its original meaning. I make bad, over-the-top jokes all the time so I am not going to pass judgment on him. Obviously he could have been trying to cover up a comment that garnered him negative public scrutiny, but I’ll never know the truth so I’ll grant Mr. Depass the benefit of the doubt. The CNN reporter who was speaking in the blog was so critical of Mr. Depass, although he did not even seem sincere to me. Here is this man publicly defaming Mr, Dupont’s reputation on a national media outlet, while he could go home after the show and be doing any number of taboo deeds. The CNN reporter could be a racist, adulterer, murderer, etc. While there is very little likelihood that any of those allegations are true, the point that I am trying to make is we know relatively nothing about people we unanimously trust as a country.
Where the line should be drawn when it comes to talking about race has been a problem for many people for many years and will continue to be a problem in the United States and around the world. Race is a very sensitive subject and different people take offense to different things. In this article, GOP activist Rusty DePass makes extremely inappropriate remarks about President Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama. He compares her ancestors to loose gorillas that have escaped from the zoo. In my opinion, that is absolutely a racist comment and he should more than apologize for what he said in the facebook message. Comments like his are not acceptable and a person in his position has no room to be making racist comments about the president’s wife. Even if he intended for it to be a joke, people can not say things like that. Whether it is intended to be funny or not, it is still highly racist and the comment should not have been posted.
Although the situation with Rusty DePass is clearly a racist comment that he should be criticized for, there are often times when comments are taken in the wrong context. People sometimes are looking too hard for a racist remark and turn comments that aren’t meant to be racist into something they are not. Later in the article, a situation is brought up about a businessman at a meeting where he uses the word, “niggardly.” Everyone in the meeting took it as a racist comment when the person who said it was not intending to be racist at all. He was simply trying to use a word that can sound like the N-word to a majority of people who are not familiar with the word. A businessman should not have to worry about whether the people he is in company with are familiar with a certain word. What he said was taken completely out of context and he was punished for his peers’ lack of a vocabulary.
This article shows how hard it is to find out where to draw the line when it comes to racism. Things can so easily be taken out of context to mean things that they don’t. At the same time, many people take racist jokes and racist comments way to far and need to see that some of the things they say are unnecessary and inappropriate. When trying to decide whether the line has been crossed or not, people need to see the context of the situation. It usually isn’t hard to see whether a comment is racist or not when a comment is taken in context. In this article, I was able to see two different situations where comments were made and after putting them in context, I was able to see that only one of them was truly racist.
I believe the picture of Obama is racist in its intentions, but I do not personally find it offensive. Its motives, however demonstrate racism at its worst. While it is wrong of someone, especially someone who is a political leader, to create the picture, I do not think it should be blown out of proportion. Everybody knows that Obama is black, and I do not see how this crude attempt at a joke would impose any other insult on Obama. I have lived with some very dark Africans over the last couple years and I will admit it is harder to see them when there is practically no light but I do not see this as an insult, just a difference, just as when it is very bright and I am in the snow it is hard to see me. Being oversensitive to this only prolongs the life of racism in this country. This picture only exaggerates how dark Obama is, and it is the viewer of the picture who sees it, notices that the Obama is especially black (to the point you can’t see him in the dark) and THEN somehow associates being black with a certain negativity. So in the case of the picture, I believe the viewer of the picture who looks at it and sees something wrong with it is someone racist themselves. The heart of racism in this case lies with the majority of the Americans who when they saw the picture, and made some kind of association with the blackness of Obama and a defamation.
The comments about Michelle Obama are very insulting and racist on every level. To compare someone to looking like a monkey is not only unprofessional and childish but is been known to be a very racist means of insulting people of color. Clearly in this case it is atrociously wrong, but where do we as a society draw the line of racism? I remember a few years ago George W. Bush was cartoon-drawn all over the place as a monkey because of his larger than normal ears. In that case it was not viewed as racist, but I think if Bush were of color it would have been a huge issue. I do not know how to differentiate these two categories: jokes poking at someone’s differences, and racism. If making fun of someone because of a physical difference apparent because of their ethnicity is incredibly racist and wrong, then where do you draw the line at distinguishing jokes from racism.
For example, I am from a country where the average height difference is significantly higher than that of most other countries. If I am ever called tall is it racist? If not then why would someone saying that someone looks like a monkey or gorilla or black in general racist. To clear any confusion: I do believe that in both cases (the picture of Obama and the remark of Michelle) are racist in their creation, but it is the people that serve as the catalyst through their fundamental interpretation that is the real problem.
Well, I am very embarrassed for whoever decided to put make that racist photo even though it was supposed to be funny. I think it completely crossed the line and is definitely a very negative racist offense to our President. I think it is important that our nation as a whole comes together to support our leader because I think our nation is criticized enough by the rest of the world and this woul just something else for other countries to pick at and ridicule. Plus, he is our President and he deserves our respect and it is just ignorant for us to do this sort of petty bull shit. As much as we can wish and talk about overcoming racism, I think it will alwayss be a big issue in America as long as we remain a culturally diverse nation. What is the most important thing is that we can not let it get to us if we are faced with someone acting in a discriminatory matter toward us. We need to be strong and realize that no one can offend us because one can only choose to be offended. This is probably the best way to deal with the issue of racism. It's sad to say that it will probably never go away but I think we have to be realistic because there will always be ignorant people in the world who will just hate because they are either afraid or just dumb. What we can do is just simply rise above the remarks or judgements and be accepting of all different cultures and ethnicities. As for the man who called Michelle Obama a gorilla that is just absolutely ridiculous. And to try and play it off of that evolutionary crap which just really makes him look even more stupid. We as a society are more intelligent then he assumed obviously and he definitely crossed the line and showed what he is really all about when he makes those remarks on facebook. And the "niggardly" incident simply justifies my belief that there will always be very stupid and ignorant people in the world that will misinterpret stuff that is said and twist it to somehow be offensive. I think its also terrible that people hide behind certain excuses as if that makes it okay to be racist. For example, just because you are from the south, that does not give you the right to be discriminating toward someone who has a different skin tone than you. I also noticed that I think that some races are putting up walls that are separating themselves from other races an probably contributing the level of discrimination between the two. For example, black people call other black people the N-word all the time but it is not okay unless you have permission, which still makes it awkard, to use that term in casual conversation. Offensive language should just be dropped all together. That would help with the discrimination in society as well.
After reading the article about Microsoft the first thing that I thought was I cannot believe that this has happened again. This problem could have easily been avoided and it should have since it was done by such a big company. I do not really know a ton about computers but I know enough to be able to correctly use Photoshop and edit a photo. How could you forget to change the color of one of the hands of a person in the commercial that was meant to be aired on national television? If this mistake would have been caught when it was being made, we would not even be talking about this terrible display of editing on Microsoft’s part. I do not agree that it is ok to change the color of a person’s face in the advertisement, but I could see why Microsoft would go ahead and do that to the character. I do not know what the ratio of white people to any other is in Poland, but from my experience I have not met a lot of black polish people. From where I am from, there are a lot of polish people but none of them are black. I do feel that if this act of laziness occurred in the United States there would be a lot more problems that would be happening because of it.
I do not understand why Microsoft went and did this to themselves anyway. They should have just run the same commercial and website in all regions of the world. They would have avoided all of these problems, but I could see why they wanted to run two ads. They wanted to try and make their product more desirable to the group of people that they were trying to sell it to. They had the right idea when they wanted to make all of the people in the commercial for Poland all white. They were also correct with the commercial for the United States because there is a lot of diversity among the actors.
Im a bit torn on this picture. I like to keep an open mind about most situations and I am usually willing to laugh at most things. For example I did laugh at the picture because it is funny but at the same time its annoying to me that people from opposing parties always feel the need to nit pick at all possible characteristics in order to cause problems. I understand having a little fun and making jokes about your opponents and I am sure Obama and any other person understands that. Its expected in any competition but sometimes it can go to far. I laughed at the picture but at the same time was somewhat ashamed of myself for doing that. I would love to see President Obama’s reaction to this photo. I believe he would laugh at first and not let it affect him because he seems like the kind of man who is strong willed and can take a joke. He is the type of person that knew he would get criticized in every possible way because he broke the trend for presidents. I like that he has been resilient and not let it get to him. That’s what we need as a president no matter what color their skin is. In my own personal opinion if I were a member of the republican party I would accept defeat and as an American I would back our president in every possible way. Even if the person is not from my party they are still the leader of our country and it is our responsibility as Americans to back him and support him in his efforts to keep us free. We obviously wont agree on everything and I think it is fine to question certain policies of our leaders but when all is said and done he is our chosen leader and we should back him as best as we can. I really would like to think that this is not an example of how racist our society is. I would truly be saddened if that was the main purpose for the picture. I think that a little joke here in there is necessary because otherwise everything would be taken too seriously and we would be at each others throats constantly. I think we need jokes and laughter to keep us level headed. I don’t doubt that there are plenty of racist people out there but everyone seems to be giving President Obama more problems because of who he is. I honestly believe that if the republicans lost and the democrats won but their candidate was a white man there would not be half as many problems between parties as there is now and that’s disgusting to think about. It sad to think that but its probably true.
The point brought up questioning if the words DePass said are often in the mind of many people who maintain control and keep their thoughts to themselves is extremely intriguing and brings up a good point. Although it can be said that one is a racist even if they think in a similar manner, by keeping comments similar to those of DePass to oneself it shows that the sentiment is not truly felt. Many thoughts run in and out of our minds every minute and just because something triggers a certain thought in our heads does not mean that we necessarily believe in these thoughts. I feel confident saying that over seventy five percent of people have at one point been in a situation where they have thought to steal for at least a second, but do not follow through with the crime. However, there is a thin line between keeping thoughts to ourselves and speaking our minds without really thinking about what we are saying that DePass blatantly crosses. His comments are extremely racist and even in his “apology” he shows little remorse for his harsh remarks. Our minds are where we run our thoughts over and then decide what they mean and ultimately deciding if we agree with them. By “speaking our minds” we stand by what we are thinking and therefore associate ourselves with the comments.
The electronic image can be seen as offensive, but if seen on a lesser degree than the president of the United State, it would be seen as comical. It is not in any way defaming black people it is simply making fun of skin color. At this point in time if we cannot all laugh at this type of joke then we are still a long way from overcoming the barrier of skin color. In my group of friends that is half black kids and half white kids we always joke about skin color both ways and because we all know that we have no racist sentiments. In our world today we should all be able to joke about something as simple as our skin color because it means absolutely nothing to the people that we are.
In the instance of the Boston police officer calling Henry Louis Gates, Jr. a “banana eating jungle monkey” he also crosses the barrier. This disparages black people on all levels. This goes along with the gorilla comment, as it is ridiculous and unfair to compare any human to an animal simply because of skin color. This defames black people unfairly and without justification. Until our world can see skin color as something other than a barrier between different people then comments like these will continue to surface.
I am not going to lie, I actually laughed when I first looked at the poster of the president’s. As messed up as it is, it struck a nerve with me that I thought it was funny. I by no means agree with it and would never in my life imagine doing that or letting it be attached to my name, but I did chuckle at it. There is “minor” racism like that which I enjoy and chuckle at and than there is the alternative. The cruel snipes taken like describing a black person as a “banana eating jungle monkey” are wrong. To say that about any human being is so degrading and should never escape a person’s mouth, especially an officer of the law. The statement that the officer released after is completely pathetic too. Treating everyone with “dignity and respect” is just a complete false statement that he said. Clearly you are too ignorant to respect someone from another race. I think it’s ridiculous when people make comments like that. Just because someone happened to be born a different race or religion than you doesn’t mean they deserve to be judged off the bat for it. I’m not saying I haven’t made inappropriate comments or anything in my life; however, I truly believe that if you did not choose how you are there is no reason why you should be looked down upon for it. The thing that upset me the most in this blog however was the Michelle Obama comment. To begin with, Michelle Obama is one of the most powerful first ladies to ever live in the white house. She speaks her mind and asserts her independence and is not seen just lurking behind her husband, as much of the first ladies have done. She is a strong influence for all females: she is well educated, well dressed, always put together, and most importantly classy. For someone, especially someone who also influences this country, to call her a gorilla is just plain wrong. The first reaction I had to it was “how dare you insult a first lady like that?” I do not care what your problem is with her she is one of the leaders of our country. If you have a problem with her leadership, that is something you can comment on, but to have a problem with her because she is black is a complete other issue. And to use such condescending words makes it even more offensive. Referring to people as monkeys or gorillas it saying that they are not worthy enough to be considered a human being. It doesn’t matter who you are but to say that you are below all people is offensive and rude.
This entire onslaught of recent racist behavior has been sort of like watching a volcano simmer for a while. Its been that way for a good long while and suddenly something happens and the whole damn thing erupts in a breath of fiery doom, pain and suffering. Right now we're at the fiery magma doom part. I don't know a single black person who I know personally who'd feel safe breaking down in some of the back roads of PA. There's still a lot racial tension left over when blacks were brought in as strike breakers in the later 1800's and early 1900s, the economic depression in the south after the collapse of slavery, and other such events in our nations history have all contributed to a lot of misplaced rage. I had the “fortune” to live in a very rural part of Kentucky for a bit of my life. To give an example, a friend of mine, black of course, was beaten by the teacher. His parents tried to sue and found out that it was legal for teachers to “punish” students at their own discretion.
I believe we are seeing two things happen in terms of a lot of the racial issues we're seeing come out of the republican party. One is Obama has taken a sort of classic scape goat role for a lot of racists. And secondly that hate is being used by career politicians to fuel a (at least from what I've noticed) mostly republican agenda against Obama. Not to say that Democrats aren't equally capable of similar stuff, just that the recent issues have been mostly Republican in nature and source. Not only race but political agenda, I've heard the term socialist abused and misunderstood so much in the past few months that I think it may need to be put down. What was the latest gallop poll I read? 85% of Republicans are against the president, 95% of Democrats are for. In such a polarized country its hard to imagine the president not facing a shit storm of hate mail.
To answer the big question of “What were they thinking?”, the way I see it people like Barnett and the GOP activist mentioned by mister Sam are generally puppets for a much larger political agenda, and racists. They wouldn't be puppets in this case if they weren't at least marginally racist would they be? At least that is my take on it. I feel as if I can make this conclusion just based on some of the stuff McCain let fly from the rancid bear trap he calls a mouth (you just found out my political allegiance). I recall a particularly baffling remark that Obama shouldn't be president because he didn't look like the guys on the dollar bills. Of course this could just be my imagination going hog wild, but I'm pretty sure I'm right on this one.
I wasn’t surprise about this news casting at all or any news casting. The news does it job to draw up any story the best way they can. Everything on the news is for entertainment, without entertaining story there would be no news. Looking at this story, it almost likes a copycat story of Don Imus and the Rutgers Girl Basketball Team. Yet the only difference is that Imus express himself on an opinion that I really agree with because Imus was just demonstrating his first amendment. But this time, I felt it was disrespectful what the activist said about Michelle Obama which this activist is part of the Republican Party. Yes Michelle Obama made a good point that every white people has a little black or color in them , but disrespectful to Michelle Obama. Majority of our presidents are white a suddenly once the president become black, the election was bogus and call unfairly. It so funny when a black man run and becomes president he must get criticizes for every little thing which also includes Michelle Obama. Also, another funny story is that the first president for the United States was black. George Washington is the first president under this bullshit that we call a constitution today. There is a lot of question at need to be answer but it seems like the Republican Party is getting away with everything. That party is majority white, but all it take is just apologizes or trying to remove from the sources and everything is going to be ok. Too me, it doesn’t work that way because people never forgot anything. Yet if we flip the script, Black people can get away if a black on black racial conversion because we know it all jokes and when white people do it, then it is so much controversial between white and black. Racism and racial comment today is probably the reason why people are not getting along, not thinking before they speak, and not making credible points. These could be the reason why racism probably still continues today. Knowing Michelle Obama is a very strong back woman, she was not going to take this sitting down, yet it is so crazy that when she made her press conference. The point she was trying to make is that American really are stupid and have no sense of history which that is very true. This quick story will help me make a point to show how stupid most Americans are. Our last president was white and this man brought the united states of American in the worst turmoil since Ronald Wilson Regan was president. Everyone was excited when he was president. Once he upset a lot of people Bush was no more and never heard from him since. Now the president black and the first lady is black and now people are asking too much, black people still isn’t getting there respect, and the president cant even do this job. Nothing is going to change unless we as people have change among themselves.
Racial slurs have always been a problem in the United States but over the past few years they have escalated a bit too much. Even though back in the 60’s racism was by no means a joke, nowadays jokes are used as the means of hiding their racial slurs. I honestly don’t see what the point of having all society, including the media, know about their hate against other races because they just make a scandal out of something that might not be too offensive or in other cases they simply aggravate the situation. Racial slurs make people want to give up, a racial slur is not something easy to take and for me as a minority I take it more deeply. I do not understand why some people are so narrow-minded, I do not see why they cannot accept others for who they truly are regardless of color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
Personally, I do not think that there is a right or wrong way of saying a racial slur even if some people try to joke around with it because people still get offended no matter what. Whenever people try to joke about racial slurs and have other people laugh about it, that makes the person that is getting offended get even more mad because it’s not only the joke that is making the people laugh but also the fact that it is something racist.
I think that it is not only the racist people’s fault to say racial slurs but also the racial group’s fault because we as well make a joke about it even though it might be a racial slur. We think that it is ok for us to say it between our own races but we find it offensive when someone else calls us that racial slur.
I would truly want for racial slurs to stop, even though that might not happen at all, but we as racial groups should do something about that. We should take the initiative in stopping those racial slurs, even if we think that it is ok to say it between our own races. I personally believe that it is not ok because that makes other people think it is ok for them to say it too.
Over all, racial slurs should not even be mentioned. It is a way to truly offend someone and make them feel like trash. But I think it is even worst when someone tries to make it a joke out of it, which is honestly wrong. If people really feel hate, or racism against other racial groups then why can’t they just keep to themselves and not hurt anybody’s feelings? There should be no need for them to say it out loud and have other people know about it, and this is when the media or society aggravate the situation even more.
I wasn’t aware of any of these stories before now and I find them to be a little embarrassing and disappointing. The picture by the Tennessee aide is a little ridiculous coming from him. President Obama is the first black president of our great nation and that is something we need to respect, recognize, and embrace. It’s awesome that racial boundaries have been weakened to the point that there is a legitimate chance for a person of color to successfully run for the presidency of the United States. With that said, it is still a little sad and pathetic that acts like these still happen, especially from an aide in the Tennessee legislature. It’s not just a reflection on him, but on the state of Tennessee and maybe even the nation as a whole. The picture is a blatant racist remark and its only purpose is to make fun of Barack Obama. I can’t say I didn’t expect things like this to eventually come up. Racist jokes and slurs happen everywhere, everyday. If used in the right spirit, I think sometimes it can be all right. In this case, the act was very tasteless and probably not very timely. In the other story about Michelle Obama, a lot of the same ideas come up. I can’t believe people with this much at stake, this well respected can be so stupid. Obviously it isn’t going to be accepted by the general population if you publicly make a joke referring to a gorilla as Michelle Obama’s relative. The comment would most likely be frowned upon if it were made towards any first lady, let alone our first black one. I was happy to see the mayor of Columbia come out and make a statement. It was an obvious racist remark that needed to be called out. Politicians are people that should know the boundaries of political correctness. It’s always great, too, to see the public apologies that come as a result of these types of incidents. What a weak apology, “ I am as sorry as I can be, if I offended anyone.” Come on, man. That’s something that should have been a red flag from the beginning. Whether or not these particular acts irritate people, they will most likely continue to happen in the future. People, whether they mean it or not, will always make racist statements, because every one has their biases and opinions that sometimes can overpower the politically correct way to act. Racism and bias may always be present in politics and although that isn’t what we want to hear or believe, it’s the cold reality. I hope I’m wrong in saying that, and I am also hopeful because of the fact that we’ve made it this far.
I wasn’t surprise about this news casting at all or any news casting. The news does it job to draw up any story the best way they can. Everything on the news is for entertainment, without entertaining story there would be no news. Looking at this story, it almost likes a copycat story of Don Imus and the Rutgers Girl Basketball Team. Yet the only difference is that Imus express himself on an opinion that I really agree with because Imus was just demonstrating his first amendment. But this time, I felt it was disrespectful what the activist said about Michelle Obama which this activist is part of the Republican Party. Yes Michelle Obama made a good point that every white people has a little black or color in them , but disrespectful to Michelle Obama. Majority of our presidents are white a suddenly once the president become black, the election was bogus and call unfairly. It so funny when a black man run and becomes president he must get criticizes for every little thing which also includes Michelle Obama. Also, another funny story is that the first president for the United States was black. George Washington is the first president under this bullshit that we call a constitution today. There is a lot of question at need to be answer but it seems like the Republican Party is getting away with everything. That party is majority white, but all it take is just apologizes or trying to remove from the sources and everything is going to be ok. Too me, it doesn’t work that way because people never forgot anything. Yet if we flip the script, Black people can get away if a black on black racial conversion because we know it all jokes and when white people do it, then it is so much controversial between white and black. Racism and racial comment today is probably the reason why people are not getting along, not thinking before they speak, and not making credible points. These could be the reason why racism probably still continues today. Knowing Michelle Obama is a very strong back woman, she was not going to take this sitting down, yet it is so crazy that when she made her press conference. The point she was trying to make is that American really are stupid and have no sense of history which that is very true. This quick story will help me make a point to show how stupid most Americans are. Our last president was white and this man brought the united states of American in the worst turmoil since Ronald Wilson Regan was president. Everyone was excited when he was president. Once he upset a lot of people Bush was no more and never heard from him since. Now the president black and the first lady is black and now people are asking too much, black people still isn’t getting there respect, and the president cant even do this job. Nothing is going to change unless we as people have change among themselves.
Racism is a very touchy subject anywhere in the world. It is especially a hot topic in the United States because of our history with slavery and continued persecution. However a big part of why it is such a hot topic is because there aren't any clear boundaries, and the topic is far from cut and dry. Racism is relative to whoever you are dealing with. One person's view of racist might be drastically different to someone else's view of racist. That is why this discussion will continue on for generations or possibly later.
The topic of the Obama photo is a good example of how different viewpoints, particularly on a hot topic could create such a stir. The idea of having a photo featuring all the presidents with their certified picture then feature a doctored photo of Barack Obama with just a black background and a set of white eyes was sent as a "joke", but the after effect shows that not everyone took it as so. I tend to agree with the people that take it as more than a joke. By featuring Obama in that setting it shows him in a dehumanized way. The photo gives no indication of a human. Also, people could derive that it's meant to be Obama, but if you take the picture as a whole it makes him seem less significant than the other presidents; the photo as a whole makes him look overshadowed- no pun intended. When you take the time to feature a whole composite of the presidents then black out a photo of Obama and replace it with two white eyes then that also sets into the area of disrespect. Dehumanization and disrespect are far ways to go for a simple laugh.
While I do believe that the photo does dehumanize and disrespect Obama, I don't necessarily think it was racist. I think the politician was playing on the harsh and lame jokes of black people. This brings me back to my original point of racism being in the eye of the beholder. He viewed the idea as a joke, however many thought of it as something more than that. As a politician you have to be very careful of your moves, not only does it directly reflect on you in a public setting, but also on your state, the people that you represent, and on some occasions, your country. Anything that could be considered borderline should be avoid altogether. That's what makes this politician's actions so dumb; he was well aware of the weight that his position carries and should've known of the affect of some actions. Just as everyone in the class knows how touchy and undefined the topic of race is, he full-well did and still followed though in his actions, and that is where I think the real crime is. If he viewed something as a joke, but others might not don't do it.
First of all I would like to state that I think that the picture was quite humorous and I do not believe that it was to be racist at all. At the same time one has to consider where this picture came from. The Tennessee state legislature should not permit this even if it is an aide that published it. Barak Obama is the first African American President and he deserves everybody’s respect and support. For this photo to come out of a governmental institution is just plain wrong and it shouldn’t be tolerated. Furthermore I think that the aide should be fired for publishing this photo. Let somebody else that has no ties to politics be the comedian.
I think the real issue to be discussed is the competency of the Tennessee state legislature. I realize that they can’t control what everybody does in their personal time but it does bring the character of the state into question. It may have been one incident but every employee should be fully aware of what they can and cannot do in their position. As funny as the photo may have been it was out of line but only because of where it came from. We are supposed to be making steps forward as a society and this didn’t exactly help.
How does a person call someone a banana eating jungle monkey and then turn around and say that they did not mean it in that context? Unless someone is speaking to an actual monkey there is no context in which that can not be offensive to another person. To make matters worse the person who made this comment was a police officer and he made the remark to someone that he had arrested. And people wonder why citizens, especially minorities, have issues with law enforcement. This might be one of the most inappropriate remarks a police officer can make. I equate this to the comments made by the officers in the Rodney King Incident in which the officer referred to King as a “Gorilla”.
Then when the man can regain some respect by owning up to his mistake he tries to say its ok because he has friends that are minorities. That is complete bullshit. He should have said that he made a mistake and that he was sorry for what he said because absolute no one is going to believe him when he says it wasn’t meant as a derogatory remark. The man has lost my respect as an officer of the law and as a man. I don’t think that he should be in any position of power (captain of a police department) if he cant even control what he says. This is an absolute disgrace to law enforcement.
“What are they thinking?”
What I think about this blog is just another reason to get worked up about it. There always has to be some type of stereotype or racist comment about minorities. Now that we have an African-American president, everybody makes jokes about it. Then once they get caught they are either asking for apologize or they just do not care what the media says about them. It gets everyone so worked up about it that is getting a bit old. Then once that person comes up with the joke and get caught they always say the same thing, “They said it first”. That is such a lie.
Then on the picture with all the past presidents their picture is so nice and represent able. Then Barrack Obama’s picture is dark with only two round white eyes. They would do the same thing if we had a Latino or an Asian as president. They would change the picture to the stereotype of the background of that president. It is obvious that the state of Tennessee would put a picture like this. In my opinion the southern states give themselves a bad name. The reason why I say this is because they always have something racist to say, and once that comes out in the open they act like it did not happen.
Then the southern states get all offended when they are giving their stereotype nick names. The thing is that in my opinion everyone is racist in their own way. When people think about racist people it always goes towards the whites. Latinos, Asians, Blacks, and Europeans they also make racist comments towards everybody. Like I have said, in the media you always hear that a white person has made a racist joke towards a person of color. It is rare to hear that a color person made a comment about a white or any other colored person. So in the end we all make these statements and we are hypocrites. We just don’t realize that we are being hypocrites and we try to hide it.
No matter what we do to make a “change” we would always encounter racism. People are not going to stop, and they are going to keep doing it if they find the opportunity to do so. Another reason why this kind of thing happens is because we always we are going to get together and experience someone else’s culture. For example in colleges and universities, they have all this organizations. But not one is a multicultural. You always see a different organization or club for a specific ethnic group. These are some of the reasons why we see this things happening. Everyone is to scare or shy to go out of their comfort zone and explore new things on their own.
In the end no matter what people do, racism would be present everywhere and at any time. This is what I have to say for this blog.
When I first saw this photo I figured it was another ignorant comedian or someone just trying to get people to view their website. However, after reading the blog further I saw that this picture was sent out by a GOP staff member. The fact that this “joke” was sent out by someone who works for the government is very disturbing. First of all, this “joke” is blatantly racist and is in no way comical, and I was appalled when I saw that a GOP member sent this out. Honestly, what was this guy thinking? There’s no way he thought that this joke would have been received by the general public as funny, especially coming from a political figure.
In our society we talk so much about how we have grown as a country and everyone is more tolerant of each other and all that, however these racial jokes are still clearly around and said all too often. America is still not a completely united country. The fact that someone of political importance sent out this “joke” shows that this is a big problem. These racist jokes seem to be okay with everyone in our country including important political figures. Instead of frowning upon racial “jokes” most people laugh at them. This is another problem. Many of these jokes are very offensive. Personally I am of Jewish decent, and when I hear someone say a joke making fun of Jewish people I usually take offense to it. This picture is considered very offensive not only to the president but for all dark skinned people in the country. People don’t deserve to be judged or made fun of based on their race or background. Barrack Obama is the president of our country, and even people who work for his government poke fun at his racial background. This GOP member and the rest of our country should respect the fact that a black man is our president and is the leader of the United States.
This blog not only illustrates the problems with racial jokes, but it also shows that we as a nation still haven’t crossed over racial boundaries. Barrack Obama is our president, and I think that too much attention is aimed at his race rather than his actually presidency. Yes, I think that it is enormously important that a person that has a black background was elected president. That in it’s own shows that many people can accept someone of another race as president. However, now that he is president, the attention is still paid at the fact that he’s partially black rather than his presidential policies.
Moving further, when I read about Police Captain Justin Barrett’s comments I thought that it was just completely ridiculous. What he called Professor Gates was completely racist and was in no way what so ever a funny joke. Furthermore, his excuse that he has friends from all racial backgrounds further demonstrates how ridiculous this guy’s comments were. Regardless of who you are or who you’re friends are it’s still despicable to call someone something so offensive.
In response to Mojo Pin, I disagree that this year is the year of racism (love the Avenue Q reference though). The election of Obama just gave large news organizations something else to harp on about. Racism has always been there, and the morons that spout it out from public offices have been doing it for a while. The only difference now is that news media cares more about it. I live near Pittsburgh, and as much as I hate everything about the Steelers, I can remember listening to WDVE radio in the morning after Mike Tomlin was named head coach and hearing people calling in to call him the n-word after they lost a game. I could not believe how ignorant and absurd people were willing to go under the shadow of animosity. I was pleased when the host immediately hung up on him and scolded his listeners for being racist. Unfortunately, we live in a world where people are intolerant of one another for no reason. People go to war for gods that preach peace and understanding. Some people are just messed up in the head and feel the need to take offense to anything and everything that is different from them.
I love Barrack Obama, I voted for him and I heard him speak last year on the lawn of Old Main. I hate that his presidency is overwhelmed with people caring about all the racists in this country. I wish that mainstream news media would focus on something positive, instead of always looking for the negativity in the world. One of my favorite people, Jon Stewart, said, “The country is run by extremists because moderates have shit to do.” I find this so accurate; all of these morons making “what were they thinking” comments get so much media attention. It’s disgusting. Every other day you turn on the TV so see some middle-aged balding white man making the dumbest comment he could have made. These guys need to lay off the Jack Daniels and start thinking before they speak.
The whole Henry Louis Gates incident is ridiculous from start to finish. The cop was an asshole, Gates was an asshole to the cop before he was arrested, and the neighbor should probably take the time to know what their neighbor looks like before they call the cops. No surprise the message comes from the Boston police, notoriously one of the most racist police departments in the US. I agree that some people get what is coming to them. If you are going to spout out slurs in the public then you deserve to get slammed when every joe-schmo in America knows you cannot get away with it.
The world is never going to change. Racism is always going to be around and blacks will always be degraded no matter what we accomplish. Now as for the bold ones who make public national comments on the negative stereotypes and racist slurs against blacks, God bless their souls. Comparing blacks to monkeys and other derogatory terms seems quite funny to them, but it’s not.
If you look at it this way we are all monkeys, which are if you believe in evolution. I personal do not which makes me even more upset. Also monkeys, chimps, or whatever you want to call them are like the second most intelligent creatures on this earth. That was just a positive spin on the negative remarks made by jackasses. Politicians and Republicans crack me up I swear they do. They have to be the boldest idiots in the world, I mean some of the things that comes out of their mouth makes me wonder about who is running our country. These are supposed to be some of the elite brightest common sensed people we know. Yet, somehow they always amaze us, especially when they speak on national television about another politician or something of that matter.
Now for the first lady Michelle Obama, I really applaud her. It seems as if America does not know what to make fun of her for. I mean first it was how black is she had no rhythm when she dances, a stereotype of blacks. To now she looks like a gorilla according to a politician. Blacks will always be scrutinized by the ignorant people of America no matter what power or position you hold. I mean look at President Barack, he is president of the United States in which people vote for since we live in a democracy. So he gets elected and all of a sudden the same man you voted in is doing everything wrong, gets ridiculed, questioned as whether he is eligible and all this other stuff that we the people voted him office for. I just do not get it at all. Yes everyone does not like nor voted for him but nonetheless majority of us Americans did.
If I was not an African-American I would be distraught I think. It has helped me look at adversity and the way the world really is behind its bullshit blindfold they put up for the other countries.
I personally think that the electronic image of the U.S. Presidents was blatantly racist. How couldn’t it be? It plainly depicts President Obama, the only non-Caucasian president in the history of the United States, as a black blob with eyes. If the image was intended to be a joke, then why didn’t the creator make fun of other presidents as well? The only “funny” thing about the image is the very fact that no other president was made fun of. This clearly had to be labeled as “What in the world were they thinking?” because the creator of this image must have not thought of the reaction the public would have to his depiction of President Barrack Obama. If he didn’t think that the image was not racist then what would he had labeled it as? On a different note, allow me to express my opinion about the comment of Captain Justin Barrett on Professor Louis Gates. To write an email in which you depict Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. as a “banana eating jungle monkey”, distribute the email among many of your peers, and then say that you are not racist, is plainly absurd. How could that comment not be called racist? Captain Barrett based his depiction of Professor Gates solely on the fact that he is black. Then Captain Barrett says that he cannot be racist due to the fact that he friends of many different ethnic backgrounds. It seems to me that one of the reasons he has such friends is to use them as a scapegoat for situations like these. Why else would he bring that up? Then he goes on to say that the comment was just a poor choice of words on his part, seriously? That’s the best he could come up with? I don’t believe that his comment was a poor choice of words. All the words that he used are very common words. Is the order in which he decided to arrange them that brought about the controversy. Such comment is not something I would expect from a Captain in the police department. If he treats everyone with dignity and respect as he claims to do, what part of his depiction of Professor Gates is paying respect to him? Finally, another comment that was not to be intended to be racist was the comment that GOP activist Rusty DePass made about Michelle Obama on facebook, a social networking site. DePass commented on a post that was announcing the escape of a gorilla in a zoo, in which he said “I’m sure it’s just one of Michelle’s ancestors”. Even if the comment was not addressed to Michelle Obama, the comment is still offensive. Why would he even write that, on webpage that is frequently visited and could be seen by millions of people? Doesn’t he know that anything that is posted on the internet is not private at all? Then he goes on to say that those weren’t his words, they were Michelle Obama’s words. That’s simply a great excuse; I would love to hear what else he could come up with. When did Michelle Obama start announcing that her ancestors were gorillas? Not cool.
I would actually like to do my journal entry on the “What are they thinking?” blog. There are a few things I would like to point out.
First of all, the whole issue with the picture of the presidents is one of the most racist things I have seen in a while. Regardless if the person thought it was funny or not, it is simply unacceptable. Obama, being the first black president is obviously going to be under a lot of scrutiny, but racist actions such as this one are just way over the top. Obama isn’t at all dark skinned, in fact he looks more white than he does black if you want to get down to it, so why would someone depict him in such a manner. I’ll tell you why, because certain people are racist and are unable to control their thoughts and treat everyone equally like the constitution requires us to.
Secondly, the whole issue with the man calling Henry Gates a “banana eating jungle monkey” was completely unacceptable as well and was yet another harshly racist statement. It brings to light the thoughts that go through people’s minds, especially racist people. The crazy thing is, when he was approached and asked about the situation he claimed that it was merely a slip of the tongue, “a poor choice of words”. I find this hard to believe. Only a racist person would be able to think up such a malicious name and then actually use it on someone. Why is it that people still have such ill feelings towards each other? Personally, I thought we were moving in the right direction with this issue, at least making small but noticeable progress. It’s hurtful but not shocking that people still feel this way. The real problem was that he claimed to always treat people with dignity and respect, but where was treatment when he made this statement? Very interesting to say the least.
Finally, I have a response to the video about Michelle Obama. The comment that was made was also completely and utterly unacceptable. The GOP activist claimed that it was it was a simply a statement made out of jest, or in other words, a joke. Although it might have been funny to him and his racist friends, I don’t believe that Michelle Obama found it funny, considering that it was directed at her. He had to know that she was going to hear the remark he made, and so he knew the consequences of his action but completely disregarded them. This is what I found to be so shocking.
All of the following topics make it very clear that racism is still quite and issue and that much more needs to be done in the way of preventing and eliminating it.
I had never heard any of these stories before because I don't really keep up with the news but all of them are none the less shocking. I would hope that people have gotten past all of their rude ways of describing people. Although I grew up in a family where I heard these racist comments all the time, such as my dad referring to blacks as nothing more than monkeys, I can't help but just be offended for them. I wouldn't want people to call me such things so why call them those things? Someone should never have to deal with being insulted in that way and the sooner that people gain respect for others the better. The funny part about all of it is that all of these people will claim that they aren't even racist. If they would just step back and take into consider how they make that person feel they would know how truly racist they are. I understand that the reason people are most upset is because it was the first lady but regardless of a person's status in the world, they should not be insulted in that way. Everyone deserves the same respect from every person. People should take that into consideration and the world would be a much more peaceful place. Like for example, especially on 9/11 like today, people stereotyping all Middle Eastern people to be terrorists. Many people who came from there recently wanted to leave that whole scene behind only to come to America to be considered a terrorist. I know how terrible 9/11 was but don't be mean to people who weren't involved. Those people did not do anything and they do not deserve to have dirt kicked in their face everyday. I will admit that I am white and just as Sam said the only thing that offends me is when someone calls me racist but I could not imagine being in another race's shoes and having to deal with that every day. Especially how everyone refers to Hispanics as Wetbacks and doesn't expect them to get offended. Or how they expect the only thing someone of that background can do is landscape or do some kind of manual labor especially for cheap, but in reality I guarantee there are so many people from that background that would be so much smarter than how everyone sees white people. White people aren't all that so the sooner all the racist ones realize that the better. Everyone should be treated equally. It doesn't matter the skin color. Everyone has feelings and shouldn't be judged on their ancestry. I wish I could change my family from being so rude to other colors but that isn't going to change anytime soon. Hopefully from having a president that is mixed it will bring down the racism in the country a little bit though.
In my opinion a joke is a joke but jokes just like many things can be taken too far. First off the pictures of the United States presidents were extremely offensive. It’s quite pitiful that so much hatred and anger comes about because a man of a different race is now the leader of the United States. If you are to make a joke about someone make it about their attributes or something they’re not good at given there not mentally or physically handicapped. But if you come to think of it, the waves of hatred have always come about to leadership when someone not like their predecessors assumes that role. An example from US history would be John F. Kennedy when he became president. There were plenty of slander and hatred spoke about him because he was an Irish-Catholic. Up until then there were no presidents who were catholic or Irish. Later in his presidency he was assassinated because of hatred and it’s downright pathetic. But to think just because a black man is president people would portray him as a shadow with eyes amongst all his predecessors.
On the topic of the police officer that was extremely juvenile. It especially was foolish being that the entire incident was just fueled by racial tension. How bad does that make the MA police force look being that it’s an area with that has had a lot of racial turmoil throughout its time. Everyone should have red flags in their brain involving ethnicity and culture. To me personally calling a black person a monkey is worst than calling them the n-bomb. And it just fuels the cameras for fox news and cnn to make it bigger than what it should be. I think the police officers punishment should be thorough, because among what he is he is a professional and a professional should not act in such a matter.
Now on the guy comparing Michelle Obama to a gorilla was completely wrong, but to cover up and lie about it was unbelievable. Quite frankly the man is a coward. Why humans make such irrational choices is beyond me. And the fact that this man is pretty distinguished among his peers makes it more unthinkable. You would hope that a man who wants and has ambitions of leading would not have thoughts or at least enough common sense not to say such things related to racism. At least I wouldn’t but as you would have it this came up. But for him to attempt and disguise it by saying she made the comparison was really stupid. Well this pretty much goes to show you that if you have some racial confusion or hatred it’s going to be reviled. I just wish people would talk about it not go behind peoples backs.
Why do people continue to think in such an insane manner? To compare a human-being to a “banana eating jungle monkey” is an inexplicably offensive remark to make to a person of a different color skin. My skin is brown. Neither black nor white. How is my different to your skin? Do you really believe that your skin is superior to mine? I’ve lived in a town of completely white people. Never have they made my appearance feel inferior, uglier, or dirtier. Never have the people of my town ever inferred darker skin color to signs of inferiority. To even think that just because my skin color is different I’m less important. Do you believe can’t compare to you cause my skin is different then yours? My identity does not determine status. It is my ideals, and beliefs that determine who I am as a person. Do not label me until you get to know who I am.
There are many different characteristics that determine status. This doesn’t mean that every characteristic can be morally justified. For example a person that goes through undergraduate school, attains a degree in finance. Then he decides to go to graduate school and get an MBA and luckily obtains a job as the CEO of a fortune 500 company. The person is then labeled as a top executive and exerts control over the company. This person worked their way to their status. It was not ascribed to them at birth. There can be no inferiority insinuated from this status because they worked hard to obtain it. Now should African American people be condemned because of the color of their skin? Part of the fact is due to our American history.
In the early 19th century the primary form of entertainment in America were minstrels and ballads. People sang music through sheet music because there was no such thing as the phonograph yet, or an ipod. These ballads primarily consisted of songs that derailed black people and made a mockery of them because of their skin color. The term “coon,” did not originally appear as a racial slur term for a Black American, though over a short period of time it evolved into that. In early minstrel songs, the "coon" was reference to a raccoon, whose meat was preferred by plantation slaves. This was rooted early into American culture in the form of popular music. This laid the foundation for America’s biggest problem, racism. America built themselves on this foundation and now looks back and regrets being built on it. You can’t replace a foundation like you replace a light bulb, only can improve it by re-cementing the concrete walls. Hopefully, we can improve our ideas sooner and faster.
Wow! That picture really upset me. In no way shape or form is having a picture of President Barak Obama as a black background with eyes piercing around, humorous or acceptable. If it is meant to be funny or humorous for everyone to enjoy, then President William Taft’s GIGANTIC derriere should have been displayed in his pictorial slot. Or better yet they should have had President George Bush’s dumbass portrayed as a jackass. When I saw the picture that they had for President Barak Obama, I immediately felt extremely offended. It seems like even though he is the president of the United States he is not giving the utmost respect that he deserves. Sometimes I feel that some people feel that he is less than a president because of his skin color. It really shouldn’t matter, the leader of the United States should be respected by his people. If we as Americans do not respect our own president, whom was fairly elected, how do we respect people from outside countries to respect him or us?
Now let's talk about "banana eating jungle monkey". What the hell???? I really just don't understand why people believe this stuff is funny. I'm sure that almost every educated person has had one lesson about slavery in their entire school career. And I am sure that everyone came across the idea that during slavery, black people were considered less than human. And a lot of times they were compared to looking like a "MONKEY." Now, knowing that fact and the sensitivity concerning that subject, how can a person think that's funny. I believe that at this moment right now, if a white person referred to me as a "banana eating jungle monkey" that would probably be a lot of curse words flying out of my mouth.
Now to Michelle Obama, who the hell told that man that it was funny, yet again. And even if it was funny, it wasn’t funny for a white man to say. There is a very thin line between being funny and being insensitive. Once again a black person is referred to as an animal. And the thing that gets me is that he used the internet to blog this statement. I really don’t understand. Are some people just that stupid or is it that they just don’t care? Everyone knows that once something goes on the internet, it is free grabs for everyone that uses internet. So my only conclusion is that he basically has no respect for a the First Lady. It saddens my heart to see all of these racist remarks and racist images. It not only makes me think that racism is still around but it makes me feel that it is as blatant and disrespectful as it was 100 years ago.
Hahahaha! So this man tried to turn this back onto Michelle Obama. It is funny to see people try to weasel out of what they say. I would respect him more as a person if he stood by what he said then to try to back out and please everybody. Now that is not to say that I don’t think what he said was racist and wrong (in my opinion). Some people yes, genuinely believed that humans evolved from monkeys but for this man to point out Michelle Obama seems to me like he was being racist. But then I look at it this way. If that was said about Laura Bush when George Bush was president, would that statement have been taken the same way? Would that statement even have been stated? Did the current first lady make a statement about apes in the past? I try to look at things from every angle. I don’t want to assume that about people because I want to believe that people don’t want to hate each other. Especially over things they cannot control like race or ethnicity. Sometimes I wonder if people really even know what comes out of their mouths because I know personally I have no internal filter. I say almost anything that comes to mind. I say some pretty offensive things that aren’t meant to be funny jeers but someone could be offended so it could be possible that this man was simply trying to be funny. The more I write and think about this the more questions I have and the less answers I can come up with. I have no idea why people are so crazy about race sometimes. I talked to a boy today who said that his parents just brought him up to be nice to everybody they did not even mention that he was different from other people. I think that that is how people should raise their children in the first place. People should not dwell so much on race sometimes when people make a comment because if that is the case nobody will be able to comment about anything. Like Sam said being offended is a problem within. I say what I feel but I do not mean to make anybody feel a certain type of way I just say it and if they feel some type of way that is on them. I do not have time to worry about everyone’s feelings but at the same time I am going to be considerate. Bringing this to an end I have to say that I changed my mind. I do not think that that man meant it in some type of way but in the same instance the way he said it he might have.
This article was very interesting because it hits the public in the face with what people seem to forget is still going on in our society—racism. What differentiates an offensive comment and a good humored joke? Shortly after the death of actor, Heath Ledger, people started to make jokes about his life, such as, “what is black, white, and hungry? –Heath Ledger's Cat". Can society’s reaction to racism be comparable to the same scenario? Do people justify racist comments by thinking of them as jokes to befriend the image of this country’s tragic history with racism? The sad truth is that, yes, there are people still in this world who are still racist and try to justify it through humor, and to take it even farther, people who don’t feel the need to justify it.
But, seriously, at this day in age, it is embarrassing more than anything to be caught making offensive, racist comments in the public eye. But on a more individual level, more than anything else, racism is evidence of a lack of personal development in a person’s mind, in today’s global society. As usual though, people make excuses and in this particular situation, the excuse is the Darwin Theory? Are you kidding me? The fact that humans may have evolved from gorillas, makes it okay to call a black person “a banana eating jungle monkey”. No, false, it does not. We have come way too far in society to still have the nerve and general decency to make any type of racist comments. I do not see lifestyle, human nature, or humor as excuses to harbor racist thoughts. It is simply weakness, ignorance, and stupidity. Think about it this way, our country is a democracy that takes pride in “we the people” and our individual rights to vote and have the privilege of having how the country is governed. People all throughout the world marvel at the idea of our freedom and concept of a government. Don’t racists know how stupid they make us look as a people, when others see and hear offensive comments/images about the president of our country and sole icon that represents us and our government—Oh, and the man’s wife! Dude, we elected him to represent our vote and govern our country. WE elected him. Be proud of our decision as a nation and get over the fact that he is of a different race. Understand that winning the presidential election required the majority vote of our citizens, which means the majority of our nation has matured enough to know that racism is no longer excusable. Let’s move on with our lives.
The amount of racism and disrespect that has been exhibited in these examples is appalling. It surprised me that an aide in the Tennessee state legislature would send out a racist email, let alone one that poked fun at our president. I myself am not a fan of Obama, however, he is our president and deserves the respect and support of his fellow Americans. The same goes for respecting our first lady. GOP activist, Rusty DePass, insulted Michelle Obama by calling her ancestors gorillas. These actions are inappropriate and uncalled for in this political climate.
I think this is more an issue about disrespecting the president and first lady than it is a race issue. If an average Joe made a gorilla comment similar to the one Rusty DePass made, I think it would just be shrugged off as another term. The fact that people give it so much attention causes it to be blown out of proportion. I’m not saying it’s okay to use such derogatory terms by any means, but I just think if people didn’t concentrate on it so much then it would escalate to the point it’s at.
When Rusty DePass apologized he said ‘The comment was hers, not mine” since we are all descendants of apes. This comment reminded me of the video we watched in class the other day about how we are all monkeys. According to evolution, we are descendants of monkeys so why should anyone take offense when someone says gorillas are his/her ancestors? People take comments like this one too literally and act irrationally.
I feel like everything white people say is taken out of context and is misunderstood as being racist. This blog makes it seem like white people are the only type of people who are racist towards other races. Some cases can be easily misconstrued as being racist such as the example in the blog with the word “niggardly”. It’s base word is used as a slur and can be seen as one taken out of context or if someone is ignorant and does not know the definition. If a black person made that same comment then it would be okay in everyone else’s eyes. Black people can insult themselves with racist terms with no repercussions but as soon as a white person makes that same comment it’s the end of the world and they’re labeled a “racist”.
I’m sure that other races feel the same way towards white people and can be just as racially charged. We see everything from the white perspective but I’d like to hear what black people say about us when we’re not around. Why aren’t their racial attitudes publicized as widely as white politicians or other public figures? If everyone was presented in the same light in regards to racial comments then there wouldn’t be any politicians highlighted over others. It would be true racial equality if everyone’s comments were looked at in the same way.
Now maybe it’s just my easy sense of humor or the fact that I’m white, but I find the picture of the U.S. presidents somewhat funny. Of course, when it comes down to it, the picture is blatantly racist. Every president before Obama has been some rich white aristocrat and has done some amazing things in their terms (some more than others). The fact that Obama is black doesn’t mean he is incapable of doing something that changes the U.S., pointing it in the ideal direction. The thing I don’t understand is how things as insignificant as this are getting so much attention. I guarantee that everyone has come across racism at some point: heard a racist comment or laughed at a racist joke. So what makes this picture any worse then what people hear every day?
One reason could be is the origin, coming from the Tennessee state legislature. Now I’m thinking, why in the hell people would create something like this in the first place, let alone release it to the public’s eye. Is it possible that they are following everyone else? Think about it, everywhere we look, there is racism. It is practically embedded in our society. For example, some comedic movies get huge laughs out of racist remarks and a few stand-up comedians play the race card in their acts. If these comments in movies and acts cause laughter in the crowd, what makes it different than some snobby government officials trying to make a joke? Personally, I think it’s the context. Comedians and movies are all about entertainment, while true haters want to actually offend others. So what exactly does this fall under, and should there even be a difference?
As for that GOP activist, he definitely stepped over the line by insulting the first lady. At first he said he didn’t mean anything by it, possibly a joke (similar to the picture?), then he gets obliterated by media and states that he was taking Mrs. Obama’s words as a spark to his insult. Seriously, he is just trying to make up anything to cover his ass in the situation. Same goes for Captain Barrett, who stated what he said was a poor choice of words. He probably said one of the most racist comments I have heard and after getting flamed for it, apologizes for it profusely. Personally, I think these apologies are hollow. Both of these people meant what they said (ie. Racist comments) because there is no way you can spin it to mean anything else. Apologies won’t pluck the words out of people’s ears or take them out of someone’s memory. All in all, I think they are not apologizing for what they said, but actually for who they really are.
I'm ashamed to admit, but the first time I saw the image with the portraits of presidents, I laughed a little bit. I did not, however, find the image particularly funny at all. As a matter of fact, I thought it was extremely disrespectful, if not offensive. Yet, I still laughed when I first saw it a month ago because it reminded me of a night a few years ago when a bunch of friends and I were playing manhunt in someone's backyard. At one point during the night, someone, who was white, was having a hard time finding a black friend of ours in the darkness of night and jokingly yelled out, “C.J. (our black friend), can you smile or something so I can see where you are.” Almost everyone found it funny. No one was offended. C.J. joked about it afterward. There were no problems. There is a limited of times where what he said could be considered a joke and not offensive, but this situation was one of those times. It was all good.
But that's not always the case. Too many times you hear things that are blatantly racist, only to be covered up by the “I was just joking” response. The problem is that these “jokes” aren't really made in any sort of context. They are just made to convey their racist thoughts to an audience. Making “jokes” about the race of President Obama, Henry Louis Gates, or the first lady aren't jokes when they occur unprovoked at the expense of these people. They're racist personal attacks. What did Barack Obama do to cause someone to create the image and only place two eyeballs where his portrait would be? Nothing. The only way that I could imagine it being acceptable is if Obama himself publicly made a joke saying how “there wouldn't be enough light in the room while they take his portrait photo causing only his eyes to show up,” and then some bozo on the Internet creates the image. But that wasn't the case. What was done, seems to me at least, was created out of racist expression.
As for police Captain Justin Barrett and his “poor choice of words,” he has some major issues. It would never even cross my mind to call someone a “banana eating jungle monkey.” Just wow. I don't even understand how that's funny, even if you are racist. And what's worse is that he didn't just say this to a buddy of his, he sent out a mass e-mail with it included. Did he just feel like sending out an email to a bunch of people to show that he's racist? If he did, then I could say he's a “shit eating dung beetle,” but that's offensive to the beneficial dung beetles.
Of course there are many instances where someone can make a joke involving race. Countless comedians make careers out of jokes about different races, but especially their own race. Sometimes stereotypes about race can be used in a humorous manner such as the Chappelle's Show skit Trading Spouses, or the other day in class when Sam played the video of Michelle Obama's lack of rhythm. But I guess in these instances, the funny thing is the portrayal of the stereotype and not the race itself. Except for the rare instance, race just isn't funny. Black skin, white skin, brown skin: there's not really anything humorous about skin. Just as there's not really anything humorous about the differences between blond hair, brown hair, or black hair. “Jokes” about race just aren't funny, they're just offensive.
In response to Professor Richards’s blog “What are they thinking?” I just feel that there seems to be a common theme to all of these incidents; attacking blacks in high standings of our society: the President of the United States, an ivy-league college professor, and the First Lady of the United States. This is only my sole opinion as a black man myself, but I personally feel that some (not all) non-black people do not take a black person in a position of power seriously. This could be for a variety of reasons spanning from racism to petty jealousy. But the fact still remains that some people refuse to accept and respect a black person in a position of power.
With that said, I want to take the time to talk about a couple of issues that demonstrate this theme. Within the past few days, there have been two speeches addressed to the nation by President Obama; the speech to our children and the speech about the health care reform. Both of these speeches have had their controversies associated with them along with some unexpected problems that lead back to a lack of respect for the Presidency. First, I will talk about the speech to our children from the President. My father and I were having a discussion about how when he was in grade school, it was a requirement to listen to the President whenever he addressed the nation while in class and everyone was supportive of it whether they were white, black, asian, latino, etc. As my dad put it, “He was the f*ckin’ President and if he had something to say, then it was important.” So when my dad found out that at my little sister’s elementary school, parents were keeping their kids out of school because they were afraid that President Obama was trying to “brainwash their kids,” my dad was appalled by the reactions of these seemingly rational-thinking parents. It was the fact that many of these parents didn’t respect our LEGITIMATELY elected President enough to even listen to what he had to say. I mean in a time of “racial tolerance” how close-minded can these “educated” parents be? In fact the speech turned out to be an empowering speech that did nothing more than to encourage our kids not to give up on their education no matter how bad their situation is. So I guess that parents didn’t want their kids to be told to do the right thing from a black man huh.
Another incident that showed blatant disrespect for our President was shown during President Obama’s speech about health care in which a venue that was supposed to be respectful and dignified was sullied by a Congressman shouting “YOU LIE!” shortly after our President addressed the issue of health care to illegal aliens. Never in the recent history of speeches given at the Capitol has a President been heckled by a leader of our country. It was simply childish and disrespectful and that kind of conduct has no place in a dignified place on Capitol Hill. Both of these incidents show just how non-receptive the President is to some of these people and it is not right. He is our President who worked extremely hard his entire life and over a two year campaign to get elected to the position he is in. He is more than qualified to lead this country and people need to accept that.
Professor: Dr. Samuel Richards
Soc 119: Section
September 11, 2009
Gorilla Descent, Really?
The fact that Rusty Depass,well renown political of South Carolina has made such a blatantly racist comment about the First-Lady of this nation refutes the notion that because President Obama was elected that racism no longer exists. The election of President Obama diminished racism in such a diverse country is what I have heard many of my peers proclaim and has also received many hours of coverage from the media. It is well known that in the past black people were often compared to animals, in particular monkeys and apes.
For Rusty Depass to demean the lineage that First-Lady Michelle Obama has descended, moreover black people as a whole we all because she is a face that represents us all. Degrading her quality of being to that of an animal, to categorize this gesture as offensive would by far be an understatement. A statement as such is a far ways off from being humorous for him to say the comment was “in jest.” The degree of intensity that his comment harbors, this remark would only be comical to individuals that have similar perception of black people are relatively the same and find derogative statements acceptable. Furthermore, a “jest” of that severity is not a mere slip of the tongue, but the result of true emotions and thoughts embodied deep within the core of an individual.
On the contrary, he neglected to thoroughly evaluate the magnitude and the consequences of his joke, then for him to say, “I am as sorry as I can be if I offended anyone.” Really speculate on this statement, the predicament that he was in, and his political background, was that statement really sincere or an act of preservation? Preservation. After the Rusty Depass’ history as a politician, him now taking his reputation into consideration and his career into consideration, the fact that he would be looked down upon by his community and it would be something that would follow him for years to come. It not only following his social life put also jeopardizes his career path, he did the political thing and attempted to cover his messed up before the world could get a good smell of what it really was run with it. He wanted make it clear to the national that he was not mean to come across as one of the boldest racism in the world, for deliberately making a racism statement over the world wide web, in addition about the First Lady of the United States, even worse the first black First Lady of the United States. He should of just called President Obama ‘boy’ while he was at it. As reinforcement, individual such as Rusty Depass confirms that racism still dwells heavily in this national, and President Obama being elected hasn’t changed the minds of many.
After reading this blog I came to the conclusion that no matter how many historical breakthroughs we have in America there will always be racism. After having forty-three white American men occupy our nations office, President Obama stepped in as the first African American President. I remember the streets on election night and how many people across the globe celebrated that monumental moment and now the excitement of the first black President has died down. Just because this publicity died down does not mean its time to start making fun of the President, especially in a racist way. To have a poster with all of these respectable Presidents on them and then a set of eyes to represent Obama is absolutely ridiculous! What kind of example are we setting for younger children? If my little brother saw the poster and talked about it with his friends they would all think it is acceptable to make jokes like the email that was sent.
What I do not understand is why American humor points to racism. All jokes about African Americans, blondes, Jewish people, or LGBT having most people cracking up but if those types of people are around the joke become no longer funny. It is almost like shows like Saturday Night Live criticize politicians all of the time for humor which I think is acceptable but when other legislatures criticize the race of the President of the United States I have a problem with that. I understand if this aide of a Tennessee legislature was sending it as a harmless email but that’s the thing with today’s society: anything on the Internet can be found and anyone can make it public. Something that might not be offensive to one person may be offensive to someone else.
The biggest problem I have with the second part of this article is that the offensive comment that was directed towards The First Lady was on FACEBOOK. In our society today anything we say or do can be find out because of facebook. (I personally think it is weird when people as old as my parents have facebook and use it often.) If you in the public and are going to put something about Michelle Obama on the web, you better believe it will hit the media. If a student at Penn State were to say something about a gorilla on facebook it would not hit the news but because of his status he has to think before speaking. When it comes to racism most people do not think. When they say a rude comment or send a racist email they are not thinking about the consequences. That applies to most things in life. If people just took the time to stop and think before their actions the world would certainly not have as many problems as it does.
I cannot believe this day in age that politicians and other government official still aren’t smart enough to keep their mouths shut! Did Captain Justin Barrett really think Facebook was a smart network to make negative racial comments?
He is supposed to be a public figure that the people of his community can look up to. His comments were distasteful and incredibly racist. Facebook is a public networking site that anyone can access and to post that comment for everyone to see was irresponsible as both a citizen and a public figure. How he got to be the police chief with such narrow minded and arrogant views will continue to baffle me. To look at any other human being as if they are somehow inferior to you is wrong but what did he think would happen when he said those words about the first lady? There is absolutely no way people could view his words in any other way than derogatory and racist.
I would like to think that this country has moved past one of its darkest hours of discrimination and racism but situations such as these prove that we still have a lot to overcome as a country. To say these words approaching the 8th anniversary of the September 11th attacks absolutely stuns me. If September 11th taught the American people anything it was that we are all vulnerable to hate crimes. The terrorists didn’t attack us because of the color of our skin or our religion; it was because we were Americans. The police are supposed to embody what this country stands for and not only demonstrate these qualities but make sure other people follow the law as well. Some public figures who run into trouble after making a certain comment or action often complain that they are held to a higher standard but this isn’t relevant in this case. Captain Justin Barrett’s words did not shock the community because he holds a public office; it was shocking because he is a man who calls himself an American.
As expected, Captain Justin Barrett made a public apology. Why do public figures think that a simply apology will be a band-aid for negative actions and comments? Barrett did not even take full blame for his comment in his apology, he blamed Michelle Obama for saying everyone is a decent of apes. Did he think that is a proper justification?
Incidents such as this really make me think about America’s politics and infrastructure. How many politicians and government officials have negative feeling toward other races? Will the United States have to experience another national disaster to learn the injustice of racial hate and discrimination? As the “melting pot” of the world, it is surprising that racial tension is still a pressing issue.
I cannot believe this day in age that politicians and other government official still aren’t smart enough to keep their mouths shut! Did Captain Justin Barrett really think Facebook was a smart network to make negative racial comments?
He is supposed to be a public figure that the people of his community can look up to. His comments were distasteful and incredibly racist. Facebook is a public networking site that anyone can access and to post that comment for everyone to see was irresponsible as both a citizen and a public figure. How he got to be the police chief with such narrow minded and arrogant views will continue to baffle me. To look at any other human being as if they are somehow inferior to you is wrong but what did he think would happen when he said those words about the first lady? There is absolutely no way people could view his words in any other way than derogatory and racist.
I would like to think that this country has moved past one of its darkest hours of discrimination and racism but situations such as these prove that we still have a lot to overcome as a country. To say these words approaching the 8th anniversary of the September 11th attacks absolutely stuns me. If September 11th taught the American people anything it was that we are all vulnerable to hate crimes. The terrorists didn’t attack us because of the color of our skin or our religion; it was because we were Americans. The police are supposed to embody what this country stands for and not only demonstrate these qualities but make sure other people follow the law as well. Some public figures who run into trouble after making a certain comment or action often complain that they are held to a higher standard but this isn’t relevant in this case. Captain Justin Barrett’s words did not shock the community because he holds a public office; it was shocking because he is a man who calls himself an American.
As expected, Captain Justin Barrett made a public apology. Why do public figures think that a simply apology will be a band-aid for negative actions and comments? Barrett did not even take full blame for his comment in his apology, he blamed Michelle Obama for saying everyone is a decent of apes. Did he think that is a proper justification?
Incidents such as this really make me think about America’s politics and infrastructure. How many politicians and government officials have negative feeling toward other races? Will the United States have to experience another national disaster to learn the injustice of racial hate and discrimination? As the “melting pot” of the world, it is surprising that racial tension is still a pressing issue.
Racism has always been present and inevitable, just because some uneducated persons use random words and don't care about what they're saying. We see racism every day, it happens without us noticing it, by the way you don't have to act racist to be racist. But of course the most hated people are blacks, Latinos, and Jews. For what reason no one really knows, just because of the skin color. There are always racist names for each and every culture, everyone hates each other and no one really cares. The man's comment on the Facebook really gives us an example of how today there is racism, and how not even the strongest persons can escape it. The man that called the first ladies relatives gorilla was not thinking of the consequences, it only got well known because he was famous. This conflict only got well know because the dude was famous, no would have cared if someone like me would've done it. When you're famous one has to look out for what one says, but even then there are people that do this kind of things on purpose to get famous. The matter here is that he compared the gorilla to the first ladies relatives just because she is African American and because he wanted to make some kind of simile between the two, which made the comment racist. The gorilla is a fearful and hairy animal and it's no where near comparable to the first ladies relatives. The man was making a joke, so let's give him a break on that one but the joke was racist and hateful. He should discourage his own self and not others. No matter what the occasion is one never makes racist comments, at least not where everyone will notice it. The man is very mistaken because we all came from the same place and he probably has more hair the relatives of Michelle. Things like this should be addressed in the political world, this was probably done because he is a republican and the lady is a democrat. Many things like this happen in the political world but there is no excuse for what happened. The comment was only made because the first lady is of color and he might think that people of color are aggressive or something but he is wrong and he should be punished for this. This man still blamed it on the first lady just because he made up some random story about apes. The point is that he made a racist comment, and no matter what the excuse is one should never make a racist comment without knowing what the real issue is. The world is still in a racist state because of people like this man that don't know what they're talking about.
It was very interesting to find out that grownups also known as adults make racist comments about other people. Not only that, but people within government making comments like that is something embarrassing. And I know that people might make comments like that all around but at least they sometimes keep it to themselves somewhat. And by them being involved in government doesn’t make them very special or get special treatment, but people expect more from them. When I talk about expecting more I mean that other people see them in a more professional manner. Also I know they are human and they make mistakes, but I think they were fairly aware of the comments they say and the things they do. I think calling Michelle Obama also known as the first lady a gorilla or a descendant was an inappropriate comment. Not only inappropriate, but racist in some manner because why would someone make such a comment and then when things get out of control you try to clean up or say that’s not what I meant. Also that the guy that said the comment tried to blame it on her and say that it was something that came out as something related to a humorous or joke. I also think that it might have something do with the political parties or once again did it to get some type of attention. On the other hand if he didn’t mean to say such comment why is he apologizing just to cover his back, I don’t think so. I think that he is afraid of what might happen to him. And what I mean what might happen to him is not getting brownie points or any type of extra help with government relations. He is probably worried because he burned himself meaning he will not be able walk like a normal person because of what he said. Also that the people that know him will not see him in a certain a way or at least the way he wants to be looked at. Furthermore, I believe that he apologized because something concerned him in a way. The comment was not only directed to Michelle, but any other person that got offended. What is implied by this is that the comment is directed towards black people. I think he is making an apology with another racist comment. Either way he said it and a lot of people took it the wrong way or really got offended by such a comment. At the same time people should not let comments like this offend them because according to evolution we all came from apes in some way, shape or form. I think now a day’s people should not get offended by such comments because we live twenty first century. Overall comments like that shouldn’t be made but people should be mature and if there is people out there like that than simply ignore them.
It is clear to me that although the year is 2009 racism has not ceased, and sadly probably never will. Racism appears in all forms of the “racist spectrum”, with some a little more subtle than others. However, this photograph far surpasses the lines of subtlety. The representation of President Barack Obama is not only outlandish, but disrespectful. I shall say I did laugh when I noticed which picture was the said “Obama”; nonetheless the laugh quickly wore off because it was not at all a laughing matter.
After 8 months of President Obama serving in office, I would think that people would have moved on from the silly racist banter. Maybe find a hobby to partake in, read a good book, or perhaps go fishing, anything productive for that matter. Honestly, is it really that serious? Do people really take time out of there schedules to make “jokes” such as this? Obviously, the Tennessee representative that decided to pull this stunt needs to be given more work to do because it seems as if he has too much time on his hands. I must agree with Professor Richards when he states that this photograph allows us to see how deep racism has spread into all aspects of our culture. In which racism has become so embedded in our society that not even President Obama can escape its influence.
As far as I am concerned the “banana eating jungle monkey” comment was definitely at the top of the racist spectrum. Even though Captain Justin Barrett, Boston police officer tried to spin his statement into a friendly packaged comment his efforts were futile. Ironically, it does seem that when people make racist jokes they always seem to have a bunch of friends from different racial groups as Mojo Pin pointed out in their blog. Unfortunately, the people that claim to be such good friends with those of other ethnic groups after they make absolute buffoons of themselves fail to realize that if they were so closely knitted with people of ethnic races they wouldn’t say things such as “banana eating jungle monkey” so nonchalantly in conversation, as much as to let comments such as those “slip” while they are in the public eye.
On the matter of disrespecting Michelle Obama, the first lady of the United States it is just outright pathetic. Especially for the fact that he tried to reinvent his statement to say that he said it only based on comments she previously said. When truly, he said the statements because he wanted to because no one forced him or asked him to say them. Therefore, to blame the victim after they are victimized has to be as low as it gets. Racism as we have seen has not gone away, and has even become as blatantly disrespectful as in the past. I must say I am curious to see when, or if ever this country will respect those of other races equally.
To me it still boggles my mind the way that our country is today. People can say and do things that are very clearly prejudiced, and then claim that they did not mean to offend or that they are not a racist. I find it funny how there are all of these people who say that things like this are not a “big deal,” and that “oh, black people can be just as racist.” However it is a very big deal to me. First off, in regards to the picture, as many people have stated, Barack Obama maybe our first president with a significant amount of Sub-Saharan African origin, but he is also half white. Obama’s mother came from Kansas and is of Scotts-Irish descent making him our twelfth Scotts-Irish president. Also the joke in the picture would be somewhat funny if Obama was dark-skinned, but since he is still half white he is not dark-skinned. So the joke about how you would only be able to see his eyes does not make sense. He is light skinned, so one must wonder if the person who made this thinks that all black people look the same. When I first saw this illustration it made me cringe and reminded me of the negative depictions of African-Americans that were often seen in minstrel shows, and early Disney and Looney Tunes cartoons. Second in regards to the remark about Michelle Obama’s ancestors, I have to say this is extremely offensive to me. First off Michelle’s ancestors were just a bunch of poor, abused, mistreated individuals who were forced to work as maids, houseboys, and laborers for next to nothing all of there lives. Now even in death they are being disrespected, as this man dares to compare them to creatures that eat bugs, swing from vines, and throw feces at each other. Haven’t these people suffered enough? Finally in regards to the banana eating monkey comment, come on! It’s so obvious what he meant by that, exactly what he said, that even though Henry Louis Gates is an intelligent well respected Harvard professor, he will still always be seen as just a low level banana eating monkey. Yet he claims that he exhibits no racism in that statement, and the basis of his argument is that he is not racist because he knows many people of different races. Come on that makes as much sense as that picture Sam showed us in class of the Black Gay Jewish KKK. The only reason why the police officer submitted the retraction was because it came out and was linked back to him. There is an old saying that goes “don’t try and piss on me and tell me it’s raining.” I feel as though this is exactly what this police officer is trying to do, blow smoke up our ass, but people are smarter than this.
I find it very interesting that we as a country have once gotten over the race barrier, and now that there is a black president in office all of those old feelings about race are beginning to resurface. It has been so many years since Martin Luther King Jr. gave the speech about all people being created equal and many people, whites included accepting it. If the whole race issue was buried why does it need to be dug up again? This just proves that the speech given meant nothing. This article in particular made me furious. How dare they disrespect an image of the President of the United States of America, where freedom supposedly reigns? It should not matter what side you are on. I am very much a strong republican and was not exactly thrilled about Obama becoming president but I do know that I have enough decency and respect for him because he is the President of the United States. I am very curious about the responses from the change is person for an advertisement. Would the Polish people really have cared if there was a Black man in the advertisement? Would it really have offended them? Another question that I wonder about is how did the black people react to the change? Microsoft blatantly discriminated against African Americans. They clearly did not put themselves in other people’s shows. How would they feel if someone changed an original ad, just to cater to a specific group, and by doing so caused them to discriminate against their own kind? This specific situation is similar to the story regarding the black and white called in to check on a house that was called in for a robbery. The man in the house was an African American. As soon as the cops showed up to the house they asked the man to step outside. He refused stating that everything was ok. Why is this relevant? Even though the men (one black and one white) were just doing their job, the African American took it as the black cop falling under white power. This is an example of current racism that cannot seem to go away. Another issue I have is the “monkey” talk. First of all I am pretty sure monkeys are animals who cannot talk, and to call a human being a monkey is just plain wrong. Something else I began to think of is the fact that our President is half black and half white, but most people see him by his color not his background. Sure he looks like an African American, but his mother is white and I think people need to stop judging a book by its cover and open it up and reed it.
I would not call myself a racist in the slightest hand, but I did laugh at first glance at that electronic poster. I laughed because I think many people have made jokes of that kind. I myself voted for Obama and am a major supported. Here’s the area of concern to me: that poster is publically making a racist statement about our president. When I have made jokes about that it is usually with a small group of friends who know me and know I do not actually mean any harm.
In my opinion, the person who created that poster may be actually racist. They created that poster and made it available to the public. It is loses its humor when the illustrator actually has ill intensions and thoughts towards another race. The person in the Tennessee state legislator office should have thought about their easy access to the media and realized that this could easily get out; making it way more serious than an office joke. This also concerns me because even if this is an office joke, it makes me question if they even have a black person working in their office who may be offended. Furthermore, if they do not have a black person working at their office, there is a good chance they are discriminating when they hire new employees.
In regard to the situation with the Boston police officer sending out the e-mail where he called Professor Gates, “banana eating jungle monkey;” that is plain carelessness and stupidity. I say that because the question of racism after the original incident made racism a hot topic across the country. With that emphasis going around on the topic, people are looking more closely at police departments and racial intolerance cases. Again, sending a mass e-mail is more than goofing around with close friends; it makes it seem as the author of this e-mail is actually intolerant to minorities.
Another “Freudian slip”, (sarcastic), by a well-know politician shocks me. It actually makes it scary that these are chosen leaders, by the people, who have gained respect from their constituents. People who are at this level should know better than to make such ridiculous statements. By this time in their career they know cameras and media are looking for scandal and stories on them. Sam, I agree with you, this GOP activist has no respect for our intellect. It makes him look like a coward by looking for a scapegoat that doesn’t exist. By doing so, he is burying himself in even a deeper whole because now he is flat out known liar. After watching this interview and reading your blog, I find myself frustrated. I’m frustrated because I want the job of his terrible PR person. It would look great for my resume, I’d do it for a lower pay, and I’d be better at their job.
Overall, I’m surprised about all these slip-ups. If you want to joke around with racist jokes, know your audience. If they’re for pure humor and with good friends it is one thing. Publically making statements against minorities is pathetic and a cheap shot. Anyone could stoop that low.
After seeing the picture of the United States Presidents in “What Are They Thinking” and the way president Barack Obama was represented, I felt in no way, shape or form should it be taken as a joke or prank, but rather total disrespect. Whether it was sent out or made up by another democratic, member of a legislature board, or GOP staff member, it was still a racist joke that shouldn’t have been allowed. As an African American I was offended by the photo and how people could actually joke about something like that so I can only imagine how President Barack Obama felt and how it more than likely affected and hurt his family as well. Having to deal with racism from all different people who you are actually trying to help by bettering where they live is probably like a huge smack in the face for president Obama. You would think that as the president of our country, most people would honor and show respect as they have done in the past, but instead racism and hate still shines through many around the world. People still haven’t accepted change and the fact that this world will not always be run by the “white man”, but every other race and ethnic background is just as worthy and equal.
Also, in “What Are They Thinking” was the topic about the email sent out by a Boston police officer not long after Mr. Gates was arrested for supposedly breaking in his own home. In the article he said something that was extremely out of line and racist whether he believes it or not by calling Mr. Gates a “banana eating jungle monkey”. Even though he claims he didn’t mean it in a racist way, it still was probably one of the worst comments I’ve ever heard directed towards a black person. The saying “think before you speak” is what he most definitely lacked in doing. The connotation of a black person relating to a monkey is very degrading to a black person and over all just hurtful. To think that we as black people were really called monkeys on a daily basis years ago by so many people disgusts me and shocks me most of all to see how belittled we were as a race. And for Captain Justin Barrett to actually bring those words back and use them against someone who did absolutely nothing to him was ignorant and impertinent whether he felt sorry afterwards or not. Next time he needs to take into consideration how somebody else will feel based on his comments, whether he thought it was a joke or not. He should really just think about how it would make one of his friends of other races he claims to have feel if he said something that degrades their race or ethnic background.
When I read this feedback and saw the video of the man who referred Michelle Obama to being an ancestor of a gorilla, I was very shocked that a man whom is apart of the political system was capable of being very rude and ignorant. It is understandable that some people may think of people as being different and originating from certain backgrounds. But this is uncalled for in all aspects to say such things and for the fact that this man who made this rude comment is someone that is representing people makes it even more worse. I am not sure if this man was in his right senses to disgrace himself like this. The sad thing about is that Michelle did not do anything to provoke this man to such things and also for the fact that she is the First Lady of the United States of America. This is an example of how people of this country show how they truly feel about someone and it also demonstrates that there is not a unity amongst the political system. Once again, this is one of the cases where the man should have kept his mouth shut and keep what he has to say to himself, if he knows that it will be something rude. There was not any need to say what he said and now he will be another person who has to face the consequences of the actions that he took. Now, people are now referring to him as being a racist, and he might not be at all, but because of the comments he made people are going to jump to a conclusion and say that he is since Mrs.Obama is black. One thing that he should have known is that in this country being a leader of any kind you have to watch what you say while you’re in public because people are watching your every move. As it is clear to see he did not take that into consideration that saying such comments about someone’s ancestors is okay, but when you say that they came from animals being a gorilla is not the smartest thing to do especially if they are black and the President of the United States wife. Another thing that is very foolish of him is to say that Mrs.Obama even said that her ancestors were gorillas, which was found to be a lie. This shows the stupidity of the man and that he is truly not sorry about the comment he made if he is still trying to defend himself by lying on the first lady instead of taking responsibilities for his actions. For his workers and other political figures to come out and also put their own input about the comments and come to agree with the public that the man made an outrageous move and should be very sorry for what he says is kind of embarrassing. At the end of the day this was another dumb move made by another political figure, when will they ever learn?
These types of racists “jokes” that circulate through millions of email accounts per day find their way into the inbox of more than just a “few knuckleheads.” It is unfortunate that people take the time to create these jokes and even worse to distribute them time after time. So, aside from simply sitting here bitching about them and how they are ridiculous, I’d like to think more about the origins of such behavior and why it continues throughout the country. The interesting part about racial and ethnic jokes is that most people who tell them or pass them along do not consider their selves racist, and most likely do indeed have friends from all walks of life. So why would they indulge in this behavior? I’m sure there are a thousand different answers for this question, but I can think of a few that stand out when I think about my experiences with these types of jokes. I have received racial or ethnic jokes in my inbox from time to time; it is a fact of life that eventually someone will send you these with the belief that they are the funniest thing they have heard all year. But why do we come to believe this? I think that one reason has to do with acceptability. Most of these jokes that I receive are sent from those I know that do not have much going for them in life. It seems they believe that by sending jokes about other races or ethnicities that they have come to believe are lower than them on one categorical totem pole or another, they automatically find themselves in a position that is better than at least one entire race group. Of course this is not true, but some people seem to believe it is and feel better about them selves because of it. Basically, these jokes help people feel better about who they are in life. I believe that if they can feel like an entire group of people is of lower standard than they are simply by passing along a joke, than they ultimately will. As far as the people in prominent positions that indulge in this behavior, I believe that they are simply weak minded and give in to this behavior because others are doing it. They ultimately feel that they too can increase the amount of power they posses in this world simply by degrading entire groups of people that are not like them. It is all about power and respect in today’s world, and increasing these aspects of life can unfortunately be found in exploiting others. I believe that there are exceptions, but the majority of those partaking in this behavior are of the lowest levels of societies respect level. This behavior is an unethical, yet unfortunately an easy way to feel better about them selves or their situations, with the simple click of a mouse.
Um yeah, so I’m thinking that was about the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Maybe I am kind of skating away from the topic but that really just seemed like the most childish thing I have seen on the news in a while. It’s just really not that serious to me. Maybe it’s my lack of sensitivity or maybe I just really don’t care but to me it just seems as though somebody said something that was on his mind and the world jumped on him. I would much rather the world be honestly racist then fraudulently accepting. I have been around long enough to know that not only does racism still exist, it is still very healthy in certain places. I have pretty much come to accept that fact. So when faced with the option to pretend it’s not there or face it head-on, I will take the latter option every time.
So ok the guy said she looked like a monkey or whatever. Not a big deal, I’ve been called much worse than that, what gets me is the fact that he really tried to act like he was referring to evolution. So not only did you call her whatever you called her, but now you are trying to insult all of us with that bullshit excuse. Please man up I think I speak for all of us when I say that bullshit is the one thing none of us have time for.
Just a quick thought to throw out there. Why is it that racism is bad? It sounds stupid but think about it, in class we talk about thinking differently and stepping outside ourselves but it seems we all hold the common notion that racism is a bad thing. Well what if I say it’s not? That guy was just being honest with himself and the world in making that statement. What if everybody was that way, would it be so wrong? Especially because most if not all people have some racist tendencies anyway so to make them hide them is unfair to them right? I mean there are a lot of people who don’t agree with gay marriage but it seems some states are opening up to the idea. So if we are going to let gays get married, why not let racists be racist? I can’t really see the difference between the two. I mean the idea is pretty general. Who decides what is right and wrong, or good or bad, especially if we agree to eliminate GOD and religion from the equation. I personally draw all of my morals from my religion but for the purpose of the example, let’s eliminate GOD because we can’t all agree on his existence. So where do our rules come from? Who made them up and titled them “laws”? And if we figure out who it was then we have to figure out why we all decide to follow their set of rules.
So next time someone tells you to stop doing something because it’s wrong. Ask says who? Then make a face and go about your business.
And that’s the bottom line cuz Stone Cold said so…
Ugh. What were they thinking?.. They were thinking that they are rich white men who run society and that the things they say can be taken in jest and aren’t hurtful or disrespectful. Please notice all of the people discussed were white, male, and in positions of influence. How are these men the representatives for our constituents in our country? It’s truly sad that there are people in our country who continue to believe that African-American’s are an inferior race. Whites, Asians, Hispanics, Blacks.. etc, across the board, there are still closed minded people who only see white as right.
I was in the commons the other day eating dinner with my friends and a group of guys (black and white) came and sat at the table right next to us (mind you, there were 30-40 open tables available). Not a problem, we figured they were trying to talk to us, get our numbers, and have a friendly conversation over dinner. Unfortunately, they were absolute assholes. Transfer students, juniors, and the Head-Ass was a black guy who thought he was holier-than-thou. He thought he was the cream of the crop and that girls should just bow at his feet for being a black male at the main campus. He said that he was unique and special because he had “risen above all of the other academically inferior students at his old campus.” (However, if he was truly the academic scholar he claimed to be, he would’ve been at the University Park campus as a freshman and not deferred to the smaller campus for his first two years.) He stated, “the only reason I’m up here is to meet some white people who can get me further ahead in life” and went on to elude that me and my group of friends were bourgeois black girls who were just on campus to distract him from his overall goal. (Mind you, he came and sat next to US.)
As the dim-wit continued the conversation, he compared how different the conversation would have gone if he had sat down next to a group of white girls instead of black girls. He felt that the group of white girls would have been more accepting towards him and wouldn’t have had as much of an attitude. Again this is after he called my friends names “African-fusion-hood-rat” names. After all of my friends had mentioned their names, and I told him that mine was Lindsay he was surprised that my name wasn’t Shaniqua…
This asshole was the most close-minded black male I’ve ever encountered in life. And the sad part on top of that, was I encountered him on a college campus. Most of my friends left upset, mad, angry etc; I, on the other hand, left disappointed and saddened. I truly was scared for my race and what impact that man could have on the perceptions of my race. If a person from any other race talked to him all they would see is a black man, and identify his views and opinions with my views and opinions because I am a black woman. It’s really scary to think of the damage he is capable of doing with a degree and his close-minded views. It is scary that his racial comments were just as disrespectful as all of the white men mentioned in the blog, but I felt more anger from his comments because they came from the lips of my own race.
I didn’t think that there were really people like him out there… There are.
So here we go again with another situation that enables us to see that racism is, indubitably, still at the forefront of our nation. Obama has been faced with racist and discriminatory remarks and issues ever since his name was brought up to be one of the potential candidates for president. How could someone that’s a part of a legislature take it upon his or herself to blatantly formulate a racist photograph? It just goes to show that racism is alive in all facets of life. I wish the person who put this photo together as a “joke” would be exposed to the world, and then try to come up with an excuse to say that he’s not a racist. This is not a joke in any form. When will this seriously come to an end? If you’re going to post something like this, at least have the courage to put your name on it. I commend Barack Obama for handling each racial situation, and slur, with great character because if I was in his shoes, I do not believe I would be able to maintain civility. It’s just upsetting when a day like September 11th comes to mind and we remember what the turmoil and tribulations that the terrorists bestowed upon and America, and it’s no doubt that the terrorists are our enemies are in this situation. But then to just look down on America and see that we are still disputing, and at war with ourselves makes me very displeased to even call myself an American at times. If King was able to see how the world is today, he would be in high spirits to see that what he , and other protestors have fought for, has made a difference, but overall the challenge to form a “ more perfect union” throughout the United States of America is not yet done. And the funny part is that now-a-days I don’t see or hear as many racist or derogatory sayings coming from blacks as much as I do whites. Why is that? Why can’t they just face the fact that this is America where equal opportunity is here, and we now have a bi-racial president?
Since the days of slavery, blacks have been equated to monkeys and apes. This situation with Henry Louis reminds me of a few months ago when a New York Post cartoonist decided that it would be necessary to draw a picture of two cops standing over a monkey that was shot, uttering the words “ Guess they’ll have to find someone else to pass the stimulus bill.” (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00490/18_02_2009---17_50_490015a.jpg) -- how about adding this to the WTF file.
When I initially saw the photo nothing came to my mind. All I saw was a monkey being shot, but after I put it all together, I was surprised. Nothing surprises me much anymore. Unfortunately I guess came to terms that people are going to be racist and that blacks will always be equated to monkeys and apes. What is currently catching me off guard is that these degrading terms and photos are coming from the mouths of National Guards, GOP activist and legislators: people whose contribution to forming a better America is very important, and also people of such ranks. What is the world coming to!!
So here we go again with another situation that enables us to see that racism is, indubitably, still at the forefront of our nation. Obama has been faced with racist and discriminatory remarks and issues ever since his name was brought up to be one of the potential candidates for president. How could someone that’s a part of a legislature take it upon his or herself to blatantly formulate a racist photograph? It just goes to show that racism is alive in all facets of life. I wish the person who put this photo together as a “joke” would be exposed to the world, and then try to come up with an excuse to say that he’s not a racist. This is not a joke in any form. When will this seriously come to an end? If you’re going to post something like this, at least have the courage to put your name on it. I commend Barack Obama for handling each racial situation, and slur, with great character because if I was in his shoes, I do not believe I would be able to maintain civility. It’s just upsetting when a day like September 11th comes to mind and we remember what the turmoil and tribulations that the terrorists bestowed upon and America, and it’s no doubt that the terrorists are our enemies are in this situation. But then to just look down on America and see that we are still disputing, and at war with ourselves makes me very displeased to even call myself an American at times. If King was able to see how the world is today, he would be in high spirits to see that what he , and other protestors have fought for, has made a difference, but overall the challenge to form a “ more perfect union” throughout the United States of America is not yet done. And the funny part is that now-a-days I don’t see or hear as many racist or derogatory sayings coming from blacks as much as I do whites. Why is that? Why can’t they just face the fact that this is America where equal opportunity is here, and we now have a bi-racial president?
Since the days of slavery, blacks have been equated to monkeys and apes. This situation with Henry Louis reminds me of a few months ago when a New York Post cartoonist decided that it would be necessary to draw a picture of two cops standing over a monkey that was shot, uttering the words “ Guess they’ll have to find someone else to pass the stimulus bill.” (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00490/18_02_2009---17_50_490015a.jpg) -- how about adding this to the WTF file.
When I initially saw the photo nothing came to my mind. All I saw was a monkey being shot, but after I put it all together, I was surprised. Nothing surprises me much anymore. Unfortunately I guess came to terms that people are going to be racist and that blacks will always be equated to monkeys and apes. What is currently catching me off guard is that these degrading terms and photos are coming from the mouths of National Guards, GOP activist and legislators: people whose contribution to forming a better America is very important, and also people of such ranks. What is the world coming to!!
Okay, so the picture of the Presidents. I do not understand what the big deal is. It I just a joke. I mean President Obama is black after all, or is he white, well, he is both, but apparently we are claiming him to be the first “black” president so I guess that is what I will refer to him as. I mean we live in a “racist” world. I am sure there are tons and tons of pictures out there making white jokes about white people, Asians, Mexicans, you name it, its out there. So are you saying it is really that offensive or that because he is the President of the United States of America we cannot make a joke? Well I say everyone is fair game, maybe because I have had my fair share of comments about my race thrown in my face. Either way I think it is absolutely absurd to get your panties in knot about the photo, seriously people? I mean like Sam says, “DUDE, IT DOES NOT MATTER, WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE IN THE END ANYWAY!” Am I right? I do think there is a line of what is acceptable and what is not. I think the “banana eating porch monkey comment,” was a little harsh. But that is the beauty and sometimes the ugly of America. Our ancestors fought hard and long for freedom of speech, to be able to express our opinions freely. So then why when someone makes a comment about “a banana eating porch monkey” is everyone up in arms? He was just expressing his freedom of speech. It is just one person’s opinion. And some of your opinions could be that his opinion is ignorant. However, either way it is an opinion and that is all there is to it. I really do not know what else to say other than the fact that everyday there are comments made in a negative “racist” manner towards people of all races, whether they are Mexican, latino, black, or white. But time after time day after day it is always the black community that is in an uproar. So why don’t we for once take the focus off of them and put it on another groups injustice!?
Okay, so the picture of the Presidents. I do not understand what the big deal is. It I just a joke. I mean President Obama is black after all, or is he white, well, he is both, but apparently we are claiming him to be the first “black” president so I guess that is what I will refer to him as. I mean we live in a “racist” world. I am sure there are tons and tons of pictures out there making white jokes about white people, Asians, Mexicans, you name it, its out there. So are you saying it is really that offensive or that because he is the President of the United States of America we cannot make a joke? Well I say everyone is fair game, maybe because I have had my fair share of comments about my race thrown in my face. Either way I think it is absolutely absurd to get your panties in knot about the photo, seriously people? I mean like Sam says, “DUDE, IT DOES NOT MATTER, WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE IN THE END ANYWAY!” Am I right? I do think there is a line of what is acceptable and what is not. I think the “banana eating porch monkey comment,” was a little harsh. But that is the beauty and sometimes the ugly of America. Our ancestors fought hard and long for freedom of speech, to be able to express our opinions freely. So then why when someone makes a comment about “a banana eating porch monkey” is everyone up in arms? He was just expressing his freedom of speech. It is just one person’s opinion. And some of your opinions could be that his opinion is ignorant. However, either way it is an opinion and that is all there is to it. I really do not know what else to say other than the fact that everyday there are comments made in a negative “racist” manner towards people of all races, whether they are Mexican, latino, black, or white. But time after time day after day it is always the black community that is in an uproar. So why don’t we for once take the focus off of them and put it on another groups injustice!?
After reading the blog I had different thoughts about how to feel. A lot of feelings were running through my head reguarding different races and racism. I agree that everyone is always going to make fun of the president reguardless of whether they are in favor of them or not. I think that this blog was wrong because there is a lot of racism between white police and black citizens especially this year. There have been many shootings and death among civilians and police officers. Obviously we have not grown a lot as a country because people are still dealing with the issue of racism. Living near the city I have learned to deal with racism however I do not believe that any person should ever have to deal with the hardships of racism. For some reason we cannot get passed the fact that even though we everyone is different in their own way, we should never look at someones color and judge them because of that.
I think that this blog should have never been created and whoever did was obviously someone who does not feel strong about our country. There is always more to a person than the color of their skin. President Obama has already had a strong influence on the public and how he is going to run the country. I don’t believe that someone should ever be looked at because of the color of their skin. Because our president is black does not mean he should in anyway be treated differently or anyone believe that he has nothing to offer. He has already had a strong influence on the way people are living their lives a lot of different cultures have looked up to him as an influence.
Race should never be an issue it should be about who the person is and how they will change the society. No one should ever look at as someone what color they are but who they are. There are people out there that are more concerned with the color of someones skin instead of who they are. Many people in society today don’t look at who the person is but automatically judge them for where they come from and not for who they are.
The fact that someone had the audacity to show the president in this manner was unacceptable and should never have been viewed or shown. I believe that people are stuck in a world who think that it is right to treat others like this and don’t know right from wrong. Its something that should never have never even been brought up and the fact that people are even thinking about this disgusts me. We need to have respect for the president and not only him but what he stands for.
After reading those examples of racism that are ever present in our culture today, I was appalled but not necessarily shocked. I feel like racism is still, unfortunately, engrained into our society, even among my friends and family. While I thoroughly believe if I married a man of color or another race, my parents would be okay with it, however my mother’s side of the family would be slightly skeptical at first. One of my best friends has said she would never bring a black man home because she knows for certain her family would not be okay with it. This is a family who is extremely welcoming and generous and while she was mostly speaking about her grandparents, it still shocked me. I feel like we all say we are not racist because we are not supposed to be, but for how many of us is it actually true? Honestly, I don’t know if that statement accurately describes me or not. I have friends from all races and my best friend since second grade moved here from India, however I still find myself getting nervous at night when I pass a group of black people on campus. I am disgusted with myself for still thinking like that because it is just as likely to be harmed by a group of white people, however because they are the same as me, I am comfortable. We all tend to flock to what we are used to and what we have grown up with, and for me that was a predominately white school with only one black kid who was half white. Therefore, I feel more comfortable with people who have a background very similar to that. I am not saying that it is right to not try and change how I view people and broaden my comfort zone, but most people don’t. I also feel that racism has evolved from separating people who were different from us to stereotyping people. We see a black person or an Asian person and immediately try to fit them into a mold that we have created based on one or two encounters with people that happen to look like them. I am so used to this and because of this the “monkey” comment makes me mad, but not surprised. The president’s picture really makes me angry because people just need to let it go that he is HALF black and be proud our country has grown this much. The asinine belief that Obama is Muslim is another comment that irritates me. My best friend was stunned to hear that I voted for him because our town is predominately republican and right outside Pittsburgh near the areas that were so against Obama. Her remark was, “but he is Muslim.” People are so close minded, and I know that I fall into this category sometimes unfortunately, but I honestly am not sure if there is anyone in this world that is truly not racist.
In response to the “What Were They Thinking?” post there are a few bones I have to pick. First, the poster that was sent out with the ‘picture’ of President Obama was absolutely absurd. For anyone to think they have the right or authority to present such blatant racism in an e-mail is ridiculous, let alone that it was one of our state legislatures. WTF really is a good category to group these findings into. But just writing that last sentence caused me to examine another display of racism. Okay, so blatant racism is a problem in our country, and we have no problem causing a huge uproar when something like this gets out in the open, but what about in our private lives? In our dorm rooms, in our apartments, our home lives, everything. Is it okay if we keep our racism restricted to our living rooms when we are in the company of only one ethnicity? Is it only truly racism when the race or ethnicity which we are slandering hears the joke? Or sees the e-mail? These shows of racism in the media must serve as a lesson to everyone that comes across them. Yes, it is foul that a member of our society that is supposed to serve as a model and leader to our country is blatantly showing their ignorance, but we can also take their actions and turn it into a model of how not to behave. I think we ignore how much racism is still alive in our country today. I myself wasn’t even fully aware, and am still not, but have a much better idea now that I have dated a person of a different race. When my ex-boyfriend and I were out in public in Virginia, I picked up on the dirty looks we were getting from people we saw. What was the most peculiar and interesting thing to me, was that the looks weren’t coming from one particular gender or race. I was fortunate enough to be brought up in a home where my parents stressed the importance of treating everyone equally no matter their gender, looks, race, intelligence, whatever, so I was pretty naive to the opinions of most other people in society. I was completely taken aback when I realized that these people were scoffing at me and giving me dirty looks because my boyfriend was a different race, and vice versa for him, because his girlfriend was a different race. The point I guess I’m trying to make is that, yes, we have made progress and are continuing to do so in terms of racism in our country, but we are nowhere near the place where we need to be. Although this was not in the blog, I’m going to touch on something that I thought was interesting from lecture last week. When Professor Richards asked the class what the most insulting thing a white person could be called and racist was the correct answer, this really got me thinking. It’s completely true, I can’t think of one person I know that would willingly take on the title of being racist. But how many of those people actually are? If everyone takes so much offense to the word, why do so many continue to use racial slander in their homes when they are with people who will accept it? So, like I mentioned before, the point that I’m trying to make is that it’s not just good enough for people to conceal their racism and save it for when they’re at home. We must rid ourselves and our homes, dorms, offices, ect. of racism if we ever expect to move forward.
In response to the “What Were They Thinking?” post there are a few bones I have to pick. First, the poster that was sent out with the ‘picture’ of President Obama was absolutely absurd. For anyone to think they have the right or authority to present such blatant racism in an e-mail is ridiculous, let alone that it was one of our state legislatures. WTF really is a good category to group these findings into. But just writing that last sentence caused me to examine another display of racism. Okay, so blatant racism is a problem in our country, and we have no problem causing a huge uproar when something like this gets out in the open, but what about in our private lives? In our dorm rooms, in our apartments, our home lives, everything. Is it okay if we keep our racism restricted to our living rooms when we are in the company of only one ethnicity? Is it only truly racism when the race or ethnicity which we are slandering hears the joke? Or sees the e-mail? These shows of racism in the media must serve as a lesson to everyone that comes across them. Yes, it is foul that a member of our society that is supposed to serve as a model and leader to our country is blatantly showing their ignorance, but we can also take their actions and turn it into a model of how not to behave. I think we ignore how much racism is still alive in our country today. I myself wasn’t even fully aware, and am still not, but have a much better idea now that I have dated a person of a different race. When my ex-boyfriend and I were out in public in Virginia, I picked up on the dirty looks we were getting from people we saw. What was the most peculiar and interesting thing to me, was that the looks weren’t coming from one particular gender or race. I was fortunate enough to be brought up in a home where my parents stressed the importance of treating everyone equally no matter their gender, looks, race, intelligence, whatever, so I was pretty naive to the opinions of most other people in society. I was completely taken aback when I realized that these people were scoffing at me and giving me dirty looks because my boyfriend was a different race, and vice versa for him, because his girlfriend was a different race. The point I guess I’m trying to make is that, yes, we have made progress and are continuing to do so in terms of racism in our country, but we are nowhere near the place where we need to be. Although this was not in the blog, I’m going to touch on something that I thought was interesting from lecture last week. When Professor Richards asked the class what the most insulting thing a white person could be called and racist was the correct answer, this really got me thinking. It’s completely true, I can’t think of one person I know that would willingly take on the title of being racist. But how many of those people actually are? If everyone takes so much offense to the word, why do so many continue to use racial slander in their homes when they are with people who will accept it? So, like I mentioned before, the point that I’m trying to make is that it’s not just good enough for people to conceal their racism and save it for when they’re at home. We must rid ourselves and our homes, dorms, offices, ect. of racism if we ever expect to move forward.
The amount of racist jokes and slander that has been circulating around since Obama became president is bland, nothing has seemed to truly bother me. It’s only frustrating to know that all these people are saying, writing, and drawing derogatory things about our own president. Growing up in central Jersey there wasn’t as much out spoken racism as there is in these southern places like Tennessee. Just by living in PA the last three years I could tell you there’s a big difference in people’s opinions. I’m surprised to hear that Tennessee’s legislator actually circulated the picture but it doesn’t shock me that much. Those individuals who think and see other races the way they do are hopeless to try and change. It’s kind of like they have their own mentality down in those southern states and the only thing that could possibly change their behavior and mannerisms are to have them grown up all over again in a diverse area. It is however frustrating to know that some of these individuals running our country are so openly racist towards our president. I can’t stand when people talk bad about Obama and his actions so far as president while adding a racist comment or gesture, they seem to be intertwined from time to time which is so wrong. Like I was saying before most of these racist jokes that come in the form of pictures or cartoons don’t particularly bother me to much. But I think what this republican activist said was a horrible statement and made him and the “republican” name look bad. I’m sure many others including me could see right through the bullshit excuse that he slipped up, and he would have made a bigger mistake if he hadn’t apologized, but that’s typical in the media today anyway. It’s funny though that this “republican mistake” was shown on the site through CNN news. I’m sure when this report came out Fox news dug up some dirt on some democrat liberal activist and made them look bad in return. It’s really interesting to see the difference in news when switching from CNN to Fox, it’s so obvious that CNN has a more democratic liberal outlook, and Fox a conservative republican outlook. At times both news stations are so extreme the only news I enjoy watching is through The Daily Show with John Stewart on comedy central. On the topic of this Boston police officer, he is undeniably racist and made such a stupid mistake for emailing his thoughts to others. Sometimes I wonder why these people even bother to come out afterwards and try and say sorry. "It was a poor choice of words," Barrett said. "I didn't mean it in a racist way. I treat everyone with dignity and respect." Everyone and their mother know’s that someone made him say that to try and renew his reputation of him self, his family, and the Boston police.
The picture of the U.S. presidents with Barack Obama in the bottom right hand corner blacked out was not funny. I can see why this would be offensive obviously and I think the President of the United States is nothing to joke about. No matter which race our president is, I believe he should be treated with respect. Joking about policies and important decisions the president has made is one thing, but joking about race is ridiculous and disrespectful.
I have always felt the same way about race, in which it is something that people cant change, so why blame them? Why look at them differently for something that they were born into? I feel the same way about race as I would about a big nose, for example. If someone were to have a big nose I would never insult him or her or embarrass him or her for something they can’t change. I also think this whole Barak Obama race crisis is a little over. During the election I get that it was a big deal. But now the election is over people! Move on already, he was elected so why still bother with complaining about it? I didn’t like George Bush that much but its not like I insulted him about his race?
The video from the mayor of South Carolina was very insulting also. First off I think it was strange that he insulted Michelle Obama because everyone in the press seems to love her and the press rarely insults her. But comparing her to a gorilla? I don’t even get how that’s a race comment because aren’t we all ancestors of monkeys? I don’t really get what it is with people from the South and racism. I know that’s where slavery was issued but come on people its decades later? How has this not changed? For some reason I think that Southerners (not all Southerners) think its cool that they’re racists? Like because they are from the South they have to be that way and have no desire to change it. For example, I have a friend that’s also in this class that’s from the South and she doesn’t even think she’s learning anything in this class? Everyday that I attend this class I am so excited just to hear whatever will come out of Professor Richard’s mouth. But she doesn’t even like this class. Its like the subject of race just isn’t even appealing to her. The subject of Bio isn’t appealing to me, thus I never thought I learned anything. So if the subject of race isn’t appealing to her, and she doesn’t want to try to learn anything, then how are we, as a society, going to get racists to change? That’s what scares me…
this picture is so ofensive and racist,the fact that the president be the first "black" president isn't to offend him...what happen with our cultural values?...what happen with the respect to the cultural diversity?...we are on the new age,we are civilized people and we must work hard for a racial integration...
After reading this blog entry, I am really starting to get sick of all of this racism. I wonder how so many people can be so biased. To start, the poster of the presidents is obviously racist. It acceptable to ridicule or make a joke of a president, even if he is the first black president. But when you bring racism into your joke, it is not acceptable, and this poster is making a joke about the color of our president’s skin which stems directly to his race. It baffles me that these government employees would carelessly show others that they are racist in a nation that prides itself for its equality. And to think that our tax dollars are paying these kind of people’s salaries.
The email sent by a Boston police officer and member of the Massachusetts National Guard calling Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates a “banana eating jungle monkey” was also tactless. It is shocking that a seasoned and respectable enforcer of the law and defender of the people could make such a comment and risk his reputation. As a police officer, he is supposed to enforce the law, and by making such comments, he looks like a hypocrite. To spend years serving your country and earn respect only to lose it by making a racist comment seems idiotic. Attempting to then claim you are not racist because you have friends from all racial and ethnic backgrounds only makes him look more racist.
Rusty DePas’s facebook post joking that “an escaped gorilla from a local zoo was an ancestor of First Lady Michelle Obama,” was another tasteless comment. If he thought he would be able to make such a comment without it making the headlines. If you are a politician, then you are being watched. To make such a remark about the first lady on facebook is career suicide, not to mention a low blow. If you disagree with someone’s viewpoint, resorting to insults only makes you appear childish, uncivil, and ignorant, especially when you insult them to other people. It seems that apologies after these comments only worsen the situation and this example is no exception. He claimed that Michelle Obama had previously made such a comment about evolution as his apology, but no such quote has even been found.
One of the conditions that you must accept at as being in the public eye or a government worker is that you are being watched by the public; if you make a controversial statement, most likely you will be heard. And information spreads swiftly on the internet, so most likely a controversial statement will easily make its way to millions of people. It amazes me that after so many of these blunders, people haven’t learned to keep their racist opinions to themselves.
Over the summer I had heard about all of these issues, and in my opinion America has only become more racist since Barack Obama’s election. This infuriates me because while I am a white person, my little brother is one half African American. We have different fathers (his is African American, mine is Italian American) but we still get along perfectly. I can not stand it when he comes home from school and tells me “one of [his] classmates called [him] a nigger in school [that day].” I voted for Obama, so I feel just as angry when racist propaganda is passed around about him. Shortly after Barack Obama had been elected, my friend sent out a chain e-mail including the “What in the world were they thinking?” picture. I saw the picture and instantly became so irate with the fact that someone had nothing better to do with their time that they had to make such a blatantly racist picture. I can see how some people would find it humorous, but I was extremely offended by it.
The “banana eating jungle monkey” issue should not even be an issue. That is one of the most fucked up things I have ever heard someone say when referring to a person of any race, and I watched the movie Gran Turino. The police captain should have been removed from his position right away with no chance at apologizing. How can you apologize for that? Why the hell did he think he could get away with making the claim that there were no racist intentions behind those words? As the blog post mentions, that seems like the KKK’s definition of a black person, so obviously Captain Justin Barrett’s words had racist intentions. People can be so unbelievably stupid. Using his logic, someone can burn a cross on a black family’s lawn and as long as they have no racist intentions, it should be acceptable.
Justin Barrett is almost as stupid as the guy who called Michelle Obama a gorilla. What would possess someone, let alone someone in a political position of power to bash the First Lady in such a way? In my opinion, he should have been jailed for this. This statement is different than just saying “Oh I think Obama is a moron” or something like that. Michelle Obama, who has done nothing wrong, was directly insulted by this man for being an African American. It is not a matter of national security, but it was an uncalled for verbal attack on the President’s wife. Race is such a stupid, insignificant thing to insult others about. Nobody is able to pick their race, it all depends on their parents’ choices in whom they want to mate with. We, as a nation, need to get over our prejudices and unite as one. America is the world’s melting pot, let’s start acting like it.
What are they Thinking?
Reaction to racial comment on Mrs. Obama
First of all, it is never okay to take attack someone using racial slurs or any other inappropriate racial commentary. It is never okay in business, never okay in politics, and it’s never okay in our day-to-day lives as human beings. It only promotes hate and negative and steams up negative racial ideology.
I agree with this blog entry and many of the comments, there are instances when My friends and I included make racial jokes or comments that may or may not be seen as racist outside of our circle. However, the comments and jokes are never made in a hateful or aggressive way at all. They are 100 % out of fun and just to get a laugh out of our group of friends, no matter what race they are a part of. We make black jokes, white jokes, asian jokes. Everybody gets a turn. These conversations never proceed out of harmless racial joking sessions.
I don’t think people should have the mindset that holds that they get offended at any type of racial comments they hear. People in this day in age need to understand that people of different races ARE allowed to get together and be friends, elope, and make fun of each others backgrounds and race. It’s just how human beings are and it will be like that for a long time. You just have to know when and where to draw the line when it comes to talking about race and poking fun at it.
First off, if you’re a public figure, (a serious public figure, not a comedian) and you have the ability to reach a great deal of people, you may not incorporate racial comments into what you say. You’re addressing too many people to make overly racial comments. Racial comments have absolutely no place in politics, and I hope it stays like that. Our society has been through so much to overcome race being an issue in politics and gaining other sources of power and leadership. We don’t need a few bigots make a few comments that set us back fifty years!
Also, respectable people in society, such as the president and THE FIRST LADY, do not deserve attacks like that! I believe we should give our president and first lady the utmost respect, even if you decide that you don’t exactly agree with their policies. That should not play any fact into what you publicly announce about the president or first lady. It’s absolutely unacceptable and disgraceful, from a political figure. I don’t care if it’s only a post on Facebook. What Depass said still makess me sick to my stomach.
I agree that enough is enough. I do not even find comments like these funny or entertaining behind closed doors, let alone publicly for all to see/hear. In terms of the picture of all the president’s faces, that is just utter disrespect towards our president. He is the leader of the free world whether people like it or not, and he deserves all of our respect. The person that made that and thought it was funny is a weak, simple minded person. The even worst part about the picture is that it’s not some nobody sending a dumb picture to his racist friends, it’s someone involved in legislature that sent it to colleagues and other members involved in government. The picture was extremely distasteful and really does make you think “what the f*** was he thinking?” What was done to Obama in that picture would be like a black individual putting the same picture up for all the previous presidents because “all white people look the same.” He should get the same respect as the other presidents on the poster. Michelle Obama deserves the same respect as well. The man in the video even said that we have had great first ladies in the past, why should she be any different. Calling someone a “banana eating jungle monkey” is obviously a racist comment. There is no way that was in “jest.” It made me think of the movie Remember the Titans when the coach of the all white opponent called Coach Boone (Denzel) a similar slur and at the end of the game Boone gave the man a banana. I can’t imagine it’s easy to deal with people like this and I have the utmost respect for both out President and First Lady.
I watch a lot of late night talk shows, i.e. Conan, Leno, Kimmel, etc. and its okay to jest in a way that harmless and not hurtful. The problem is that everyone outside the media points directly to the color of his or her skin first. You never hear racist jokes about how Caucasian Bush, Clinton, or whoever, just jokes about their policies or something they have done. It seems to me to be a weakness of many people that racism is almost the easy way out. I saw a funny joke the other day and the man said “hey look it’s the two symbols or the Republican Party: an elephant and a fat whit guy that is afraid of change.” Not saying that Republicans or white people are the only offenders of this, but the fact that there are people afraid of change or what is different. Like we spoke about in the class earlier, its normal to identify with what it normal to that person but it’s about time people began accepting it.
I think it is completely ridiculous to think that no one in their life will ever think or say a racial comment. There are so many people in the United States that are of a different race, that to think that you will never have a bad experience with one of them is just stupid. Everyone is going to have an altercation or and experience with someone of a different race and not come out of it with a positive experience. With that said, I do believe that we, as citizens of a country that was built on immigrants, should be able to be a lot more understanding when it comes to racism. We have been living in a country that has allowed people of different races to be treated equal for a while now and we should be a lot more accepting.
Our president of the United States is now a black man. It is absurd that people are being racist towards a man who was liked enough by more than half of this country as was needed to become elected. Although some people did not vote for him, they should respect the position and not say these terrible comments. Everyone in the United States should respect the president no matter what color his or possibly her skin is. I think it is ridiculous that people think that since president Obama is a black man that some people think he will try to “get” whites while in office. I think that the president of the United States has a lot more to worry about than trying to discriminate against a certain race. The comments about him from all races have been unprecedented and completely uncalled for. People tearing our president apart based on their personal opinion are absolutely not necessary and are not needed in these difficult economic times.
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