Letter to the Editor: Headline, photo pairing was racist, offensive
On Jan. 9, The Monroe News published a news article with the headline: “Monroe, Bedford rip monkeys off backs.” It was paired with a picture of a white basketball player and a Black basketball player. The Monroe County Chapter of the NAACP, as well as countless other residents, find this headline and its perception of a racist reference to be offensive and demand an apology.
There is an idiom of “getting a monkey off your back,” which according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary means, “to remove or solve a problem that has been difficult to get rid of or solve.” However, to many people subject to long-standing discrimination and other mistreatment, terms like “monkey” have been used to slander and denigrate people of color.
In an article by Edith Campbell on Dec. 4, 2019, she listed several examples of the use of the word “monkey” in different public events that reflected a long-standing example of “associated racist imagery.” This included:
In May 2018, Roseanne Barr, a television personality, referred to Valerie Jarrett, a Black woman, and a former advisor to President Barack Obama with an ape. She lost her job on a TV show.
In late 2018, Prada was forced to remove an expensive keychain from the market in response to a boycott as the keychain contained the figure of a monkey with large lips, suggesting blackface.
Danny Baker, a British radio show host, was fired in 2019 after tweeting a picture of a monkey departing a hospital with the caption, “Royal baby leaves hospital.” The mother, Duchess Meghan Markle is part African American.
A few educators were sanctioned for referring to students as “monkeys.” The organization, Teaching Tolerance, documented several instances of white students using these words toward Black students.
Ms. Campbell explains in her article that Black people have always been called “monkeys,” whether intentional or not. She recalls educating a white teacher that having Black students jump up and down while singing “No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” failed to recognize that the song contained original lyrics of “Five little (N-words) jumping on the bed.” She points out how these references have historically and continued to dehumanize people of color. She believes that frequently people have intentionally or unknowingly continued to dehumanize people of color causing much of the population to use it to question a person of color’s intelligence and worth.
The bottom line is that the reference to “monkey” in your news article has implications apparently lost on the staff. Our country, including our police officers, have started to come to terms with “implicit bias.” Implicit bias is a “negative attitude, of which one is not consciously aware, against a specific social group.”
Too many people, including those in authority, conjure up a negative opinion of people of color based on the color of their skin before finding out who they really are. One shouldn’t recoil upon encountering a person who doesn’t look like “them,” but rather give them the same consideration as they would of a person who does look like them.
We need to be sensitive and aware of the power of words and their impact on equality and social justice. This is especially true if it is intentional, but still vitally important if it is without recognizing the implication a picture accompanied by a reference to “monkeys” may project. Racists walk and live among us, and we do not need to give them ammunition to reward or entertain their racism.
Therefore, even assuming the headline and accompanying picture were published without ill intent, we find the pairing to be offensive and demand an apology. Thank you.
William Parker
President, Monroe County Chapter of the NAACP
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Letter to the Editor: Headline, photo pairing was racist, offensive
