I am sorry to say I have reported this post. Your meme is so offensive that I, who am a conservative, and therefore "supposed to be" racist by those among the far left, cannot tolerate it.
I schooled my son very carefully when he said racist things, repeating what he heard the ex's family say, but I will not presume to school you because it may be too late.
However, I will say that meme and all others like it do more to hurt the conservative cause than any stupidity which might emerge from the liberal side. I consider it equally stupid, and destructive to the rest of us.
@cultofaction If you don't know, it is definitely too late for you. Comparing any black person to any sort of chimp or monkey either with words or visually is extremely, extremely offensive and I am a white bread blonde. I have to assume that you are a troll.
@4meAndyou Why is it more offensive when related to blacks than to any other race? That in itself seems a bit [i]racist[/i] to me (or maybe stemming from some weird sort of vicarious insecurity?)
@cultofaction You'll have to ask the black people who were vilified, spat upon, and called monkey on a regular basis in the 1940s 1950s 1960s and 1970s, even in the 1980s
@4meAndyou Plenty of white people have been called monkeys, chimps, etc, but I don't see a lick of horror or sympathy for them? Why is that?
This one is from [i]this week[/i]. No one even bats an eye!
Can you imagine what would happen if someone wrote a book about how president Obama demanded to watch the "Gorilla Channel" in the White House?
I just logically do not understand this crazy sensitivity and would genuinely like your input on why it's particularly awful for blacks. [i]I really would like to be convinced that I'm wrong.[/i]
@cultofaction I am not the one to teach you right from wrong. I can't make you more intelligent, either. I can't teach you that tit for tat is not helpful in this losers game you are playing. But I can block you, and I will in a few minutes.
@4meAndyou I'm interested in having a genuine conversation about this, but as far as I can see no one has any arguments to bring to the table that hold water. I was hoping you'd be better than the other folks in this thread :|
A comparison to an ape is to imply someone is of less-than-human status. Less evolved, less intelligent, more savage. That's why it's an insult.
If an insult of a certain type is used routinely against an entire race of people to insult -that race-, we would call it racist because it is meant to lower the entire race. It has to be... well kind of like a meme but one that lasts a long time. A joke everyone knows, passed down over generations.
I am unaware of any widespread current or historical trend of insulting white people by comparing them to apes. There's no meme for it.
Comparing Trump to an ape is an insult about his PERSON not his RACE. It's just saying he's a crappy President and a monkey would be better. Hell, one of the posts you linked was written by a white person. There's no social trend or meme-like trope of white people being like monkeys.
Now, with black people, there is a long history of comparing them to apes. This goes back to the origins of the slave trade, where people tried to argue scientifically that they are less than human and look more like apes than white people.
This "You're not as evolved as a white person" argument is something all black people are aware of and grew up with, and their ancestors grew up with.
And importantly, this isn't a joke or satire. It's sincerely believed and is a sort of like a meme that's been around forever.
Here are two articles explaining the history of the idea of comparing blacks to apes, and how it shows up in modern society:
@CountScrofula That seems like a pretty sound argument! But what I don't grasp is that if the comparison of blacks to primates is so baseless, then why is it a sensitive issue? And if it's not baseless, then what makes it so awful? I wouldn't take extreme offense over someone calling me a greasy Italian who can't talk without moving his hands (not baseless) nor would I take extreme offense over someone saying I've got mob ties (baseless)
@cultofaction Insults or racist beliefs don't have to be true to be harmful, all they have to be is believed or at least repeated convincingly enough.
These ideas were fabricated to justify slavery and maintained to justify Jim Crow after that fact, and considering how long that shit was around, very successfully. Who cares if it was true. It worked.
Nowadays that social memory remains and it's generally used as a way to remind black people they do should be marginal and do not deserve to be in positions of power or public focus.
IN your case, the social prejudice against Italians is pretty much gone since Italians are just treated like other white people. There's no personal insecurity or social stigma to make those insults 'stick'.
Same with my Irish heritage. It's not like your mom had to have a talk with you about how the cops are going to treat you differently or something.
@CountScrofula You seem to have missed my point. Whether it is or isn't true that blacks have some sort of likeness of primates, there are no unique circumstances to this insult. It's the same as any other insult. Why are blacks particularly sensitive, and why is everyone else so sensitive on their behalf?
