Belgium Newspaper Depicts BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA as Apes Ahead Of President`s Visit

I lived in Germany for quite some time and I remember having a nice dinner with a group of people and in German the guy next to me was trying to tell me something about the black gentleman sitting at the table with us. He kept calling him the N word to describe which one he was talking about and I just literally sank in my chair it was so awfully awkward haha... As one poster mentioned...I think they just arent as sensitive/knowledgeable to things like this....and ya that is definitely over the top in my opinion.

Ooooooh but when they did it to Bush it was Funny

Other American's may have sensitivities as issues, but not me... it did gave me a good laugh today.

I don't like the man, never have-never will. I not afraid to admit it either... the man is nothing but a lie, and his other half falls right in line with him.

You guys missed the point entirely! They aren't black monkeys, they're circus monkeys. If you look closely enough you could probably see the leashes. Rags like these are purely entertainment anyways, they make their money from shock and awe. If you really have an issue with the story then ignore it, don't glamorise it.

This is history folks, embrace it. The real problem here is our governments lack of maturity. Although disrespectful, the image depicts the feelings of a good many people around the globe. We should do a better job of keeping our politicians in check.

Jim Crow Museum

Speaking to the racial aspect, which can be strongly argued if you look at history:
Just like with the Jewish people in WWII Germany, who were also depicted as animals (rats worthy of extermination), it is a way of demeaning a group and creating justification for violence, impoverishment and the perception of "they are less than, not equal, therefore they deserve less than, not equal."

Anytime I see African Americans portrayed as animals, it disturbs me (or any group for that matter, barring the elephant/donkey of our political parties - that is where the intent of the image comes in). Belgium may not have our same imagery war from the Jim Crow Era, but they did see propaganda against the Jews. I can understand a lack of sensitivity on their part to our cultural divide.

So, the intent of the newspaper may not have been overtly racist, but given American History, it was in extreme bad taste and brought to mind for me the ugly past that still lingers - ask "why monkeys - why not wolves or eagles or mice or rats?" What does "monkey" in this context convey? And why would they apply that to two black people? Where else have we seen that kind of imagery? What attitude and actions arose in the past from such depictions?

So, my mind goes to the song "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday, written about black men's bodies hanging from the lynching tree. My mind goes to a Jim Crow Era image of a row of naked black babies with the words "Alligator Bait" underneath them. One could also see the pictures of Jewish people depicted as sinister, greedy rats. The goal of these images are the same.

That's what came to my mind when I saw the image of our President and First Lady depicted as monkeys - not everyone will see it that way and I'm not here to judge other's reactions, only to share what came up for me when I saw that. I know American Presidents have been depicted as many things by opposing political parties, by foreign press, etc. Call me "too sensitive," or whatever, it just brought up horrible things in my mind.

peace,
AB



ETA: I just discovered pictures of President Bush being depicted as a monkey, mostly by opposing political groups. It is still in bad taste for me = I didn't find them particularly funny. The intent of the pictures was the same - to diminish and dehumanize in a tasteless manner. The only thing it lacked was a history of violence, oppression and segregation attached to that image by its use on all white people to depict that entire race, to dehumanize ALL white people and thereby justify legalizing lesser treatment, violence, poverty and "lesser" status. I guess that's the difference for me - with Bush, it is a one-individual image, with Obama, it is attached to a deep history. I hope that makes sense.

reply to post by AboveBoard


Bravo!

CosmicDude
reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe

 

Exactly, no matter what`s your opinion on Barack and Michelle Obama, I`d feel insulted if I was a black person and/or an American citizen.

So, you are not black. Then why any uproar over this? Do you have skin in this game?

How classless and ignorant can you get.
To call these news people pigs is an insult to the pig.

obtw. Obama is 1/2 white.
He's not our first black president.
possibly our first mulatto president though.

PsychoEmperor
Not defending this, but Belgium and other parts don't have the sensitivities we Americans have on such topics. I am in quite constant casual conversation with many people from different European countries, and they just don't see the big deal. Many of them would look at this and just think it's funny, without a ounce of racist thought behind it.

Really? It's quite impossible to think this is at all funny without it being a racist thought. A lack of sensitivity is not an excuse. It's a lack of human character plain and simple and there are still a lot of people in this world who need to learn this. Quite frankly I think it's disgusting in this day and age for us to allow such ignorance to exist.

stirling
So what.....?
They are acting like trained pets of the bankers....

like I said.


OINK OINK

reply to post by Antipathy17


So if someone tells you a racist joke and you then turn around and tell someone else who's the racist?

reply to post by Shdak


Don't hold back tell us how you really feel.
Anyone who laughed at this is ignorant and racist.
SILENCE ! ! !
Talk to the hand....

reply to post by CosmicDude


What if they, say, portrayed President Bush as an ape or a pig? Would we be having this discussion?

And in other news, Nick Cannon goes white face to promote his next album.

I say who cares, people are going to feel offended one way or another.

grey580
obtw. Obama is 1/2 white.
He's not our first black president.
possibly our first mulatto president though.

Which half do you think this caricature was addressing? No really lets not be coy here or pretend we don't know exactly what they were portraying.
The term mulatto may as well be half breed,quadroon, buffalo gal. The n word. What is this 1861 ?

reply to post by Fylgje


What if it was your wife, your husband, your son or daughter. It doesn't matter who it is its rude and ignorant and should not be tolerated. Boycott the publication teach them some sensitivity. Retracting a story like this is like unringing a bell. It can't be done.
A newspaper should never print something it would have to then apologize for.

reply to post by CosmicDude


If you look at my previous posts you'll know its no secret I dislike Obama and really don't care for his wife either.

With that being said I think this is just flat out wrong and comes off as racist... Obama made be the worst president in American history [in my opinion], but this crossed a serious line.



-SAP-

I remember a Belgium paper running a cartoon about Mohammed. As I recall, the general commentary on it ran the gamut from "KILL THE INFIDEL!" (expressed by the extreme muslim mindset) to "HAHA! That's pretty funny right thar!" (expressed by the typical Patriotic American).

I am unsure that the monkey image is so different. It was a graphical representation of something intended to insult. The dynamic that is interesting to me, however, is the question as to why this is insulting, when Mohammed wasn't (to those of you who feel that way)?

reply to post by grey580
www.ferris.edu...


Your racist choice of words alone puts mankind back 150 years. Good work.
Some people really don't think they are racists.