Obama Depicted as a Monkey

For those who scoff at the idea of multicultural education consider this: Orange County Republican Executive Committee member and Tea Party activist Marilyn Davenport recently circulated an email depicting President Obama as a baby chimpanzee. Astonishingly, when civil rights organizations called for her resignation, Davenport claimed ignorance of the racist overtones, stating that she simply found the email to be “funny.”

While I find her “ignorance” convenient, the fact remains that for all of the controversy surrounding the “N” word, that most blacks over the age of 30 get fighting mad at depictions of black men or women as apes, gorillas, monkeys, coons, possums and yes, chimpanzees. It was not so long ago that such references were common insults before, during and even following the civil rights movement. I distinctly remember a first grade classmate of mine in Maryland who laughed during social studies while loudly comparing the natives in a segment on Africa with the gorillas seen in an earlier segment.

Not to mention the stories that remain legion about black soldiers that fought in World War I being asked whether blacks have tails because their white counterparts told the French women such tales to keep them from intermingling socially.

Such a legacy is evil and cruel and not subject for debate—clearly Ms. Davenport should resign. While Republican Party of California Chair Scott Baugh said the email was “dripping with racism”, there have been few national calls to reject and repudiate Davenport’s actions.

The question is whether such a rejection will occur, particularly when there may be some national GOP leaders who privately find such cartoons funny themselves?