Last night, I ran across a picture on Facebook posted from an old acquaintance of mine in high school, which almost prompted me to unfriend him.
The picture showcases a very young looking Ronald Reagan, who appears to be providing a monkey with milk from a bottle. Underneath the photo are the words, "Rare photo of Ronald Reagan babysitting Barack Obama in early 1962". I've included the link to the picture if anyone is curious to see it for themselves.
Once I clicked on the photo and skimmed through the commentary, I'd say that roughly 3 out of 4 commentators bashed the photo, while the other 1 out of 4 said to lighten up and that it was just a joke.
I love how racists attempt to mask their prejudices through jokes and telling people to not take matters so seriously - to lighten up. No matter how the original poster of this photo wants to think of it, the picture is racist. It's not even borderline racist. It's flat-out racist. The term "monkey" or "porch monkey" has a long history of being a derogatory term in reference to people of African descent. For the photo to depict President Obama in this manner is to make him the subject of a racist slur at the hands of former President Ronald Reagan.
The "joke" isn't even funny. Racism isn't funny. Sexism isn't funny. African-Americans and women have both had to climb much steeper mountains than their Anglo male brethren. While it may be easy for white males such as myself to ignore history, neglect empathy, and make believe that everyone has been treated equally throughout America's history, that does not in any way alter our history, and regardless of the history, all racism exudes is ignorance, hatred, and insecurity.
http://joyreactor.com/post/545143
The picture showcases a very young looking Ronald Reagan, who appears to be providing a monkey with milk from a bottle. Underneath the photo are the words, "Rare photo of Ronald Reagan babysitting Barack Obama in early 1962". I've included the link to the picture if anyone is curious to see it for themselves.
Once I clicked on the photo and skimmed through the commentary, I'd say that roughly 3 out of 4 commentators bashed the photo, while the other 1 out of 4 said to lighten up and that it was just a joke.
I love how racists attempt to mask their prejudices through jokes and telling people to not take matters so seriously - to lighten up. No matter how the original poster of this photo wants to think of it, the picture is racist. It's not even borderline racist. It's flat-out racist. The term "monkey" or "porch monkey" has a long history of being a derogatory term in reference to people of African descent. For the photo to depict President Obama in this manner is to make him the subject of a racist slur at the hands of former President Ronald Reagan.
The "joke" isn't even funny. Racism isn't funny. Sexism isn't funny. African-Americans and women have both had to climb much steeper mountains than their Anglo male brethren. While it may be easy for white males such as myself to ignore history, neglect empathy, and make believe that everyone has been treated equally throughout America's history, that does not in any way alter our history, and regardless of the history, all racism exudes is ignorance, hatred, and insecurity.
http://joyreactor.com/post/545143
I've heard people proclaim that racism is gone. I wish it were, but I see daily examples of its continued existence. Regardless of one's political views, I don't understand how anyone can find that funny.
ReplyDeleteI wish racism was gone as well, but only those in denial would believe such a thing.
DeleteFortunately, I do think racism will continue to improve through the years. Unfortunately, I have a difficult time ever seeing it completely go away. I hope I'm wrong about that, though.