http://chasovschik.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] chasovschik.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] politicartoons2009-09-16 12:40 pm

Question

Ladies and and Gentlemen,

I need some help. From discussions here I have got an impression that reference to a monkey is racistic. Various posters and signs featuring monkeys were more than once presented here in order to prove the racist nature of anti-Obama movement.

Being born far from here, I'm not sure I fully understand this cultural reference.

Here are two pictures:



First one is from Liberal Street Fighter, 2006, second one is from here, found via Google.

I will highly appreciate the comprehensive explanation: are both pictures racist? If only one, which one and why?


UPD: Thanks everybody, I got it. Could have guessed actually.

[identity profile] blueduck37.livejournal.com 2009-09-16 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
If you wanna sit there and pretend that there is not a well-known, derogatory, racist historical context of black people being compared to and referred as "monkeys", then please be my guest.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt since you were not born in America, but trust me when I tell you that in America there is a very serious, deep context of racism behind the monkey comparison for blacks.

[identity profile] udoswald.livejournal.com 2009-09-16 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)
The comparison exists outside America. The "macaca" slur that derailed that guy in Virginia (I can't for the life of me remember his name) was from the French.