Reply #165: There is and there isn't...

[MellowDem]

There is not the same history for whites, you are right. But when you take the "ape" steryotype from it's racist past and apply it without any real change, besides the fact that it is now against a white man, what you are doing is borrowing an insult that was born of racism and derives its power as an insult from racism in the past.

Though I must also say that there is SOME history of whites being associated with monkeys racially. For example the Irish. However, it was so long ago that few remembered it when they saw similar insults directed at Bush. And of course, the Irish were not considered "white". But I think it just reinforces my point that the ape in America was transformed into a racial insult. So when we use it, we should at least realize why "chimp" is even considered an insult in the first place. Past racism.

I read the article, and while interesting, I didn't find it very convincing. I think a lot more studies have to be done on it (though personally I hope not, it seems like a waste of time and money). I think that the study suffers from some pre-drawn conclusions. The whole reason they started the study was because some parent called a child a little monkey? Hell, my parents called me a monkey as a kid. And then there is that song with monkeys jumping on the bed. Basically, I think they are thinking they see things that aren't there. What was probably the most shocking to me is that in one study they said only 9% of the test subjects were aware of the past racial steryotype of apes and blacks. That seems impossible to me and signifies the small sample size and large error probably inherent in their studies. Some of their experiments also don't seem to say anything. Priming viewers with black faces then showing them an ape might just signify that the color black is more identified with apes, who usually have dark fur, than the color white. Really, I don't think you can draw any real scientific conclusions from such a silly test. And they also never say whether the non-white students reacted compared to white students. Like I said, I think they are testing to their expectations.

As for this cartoon, considering it is from a conservative paper, there may be a veiled jab at Obama racially, which I find shocking in this day and age when such things are publicized and denounced. It just seems stupid that they would try something so blatent. I think it is insensitive and ignores certain histories, but like I said, so has much of the Left been for 8 years with Bush. It has become commonplace to compare the President to a monkey, so those with less knowledge of racial history will see no problem continuing the trend.