Marietta, Georgia, bar owner Mike Norman thought it was "cute" to sell T-shirts with Obama as a monkey eating a banana. Even though he is a southerner and would presumably be well-aware of the history of these types of images, he sees "nothing racist" about the T-shirts.
Just like George Allen "didn't mean it" when he called the Southeast Asian reporter "macaca," which is another kind of monkey.
What will those crazy southerners think of next?
How original. Black man... monkey... get it? Yuck. Yuck.
I would let this slide and categorize it as idiotic except for the fact that there are black children living in this town. And they have to see that T-shirt, and they know that old white man ain't talking about Curious George.
So, for that reason, please contact the publisher of Curious George. Here's the contact page for Houghton, Mifflan, Harcourt: http://hmlt.hmco.com/Contact.php
And while you're at it, PBS broadcasts Curious George. Contact them as well: http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/
UPDATE: The publisher is considering legal action. So, keep sending those emails to let them know your thoughts.
(If you want more good ole' boy entertainment, check out Huckabee "joking" at the NRA about Obama getting shot.)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Racist Anti-Obama Gear
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28 comments:
This is ridiculous. My 5 year old daughter saw that shirt with Curious George and Obama on it and wanted one last night. She doesn't know the significance of it. I hope the publisher and author sue the hell out of him for defacing a character well held in most of America's hearts.
It is in the state of Georgia. I am from there. And ashamed. Before I knew where this store was I just knew it was in Georgia. I am not surprized. The deep south lives. Sorry folks. Alan w.
I think I'll be selling McCain t-shirts with Adolf Hitler on them.
Better yet have t-shirt McCain '08 with a cartoon of burning tepees and dead Indians.
I'm going to buy 3!
I've Photoshopped threeo of my own versions of the "Curious Obama" tee shirt and thusfar I've sold 46 of them for $15 a pop here in liberal suburban Boston, Mass.
please. I agree it's so sad that the little black children have to see a cute monkey on a t-shirt (that they see as cute monkey and nothing else)
right before they go home to turn on B.E.T. to watch their idols talk about killing each other while flashing gang signs and throwing money in the air all while five women in their underwear are shaking their asses in the camera.
So because some groups of African Americans are destroying their own culture that suddenly makes it OK to be a bigot? That's like pushing a suicidal person off of a ledge and saying, "Eh, they were gonna jump anyway..." Wake up, America! We are never going to be worth a damn until we root out this cancerous tumor of racism and kill it. We are all people no matter our color or creed, we all have an equal propensity for shining brilliance and glaring stupidity. We are the same, made from the same cloth.
some? and no it's not ok to be a bigot but all you guys are doing is making this one bigot more famous why protest it? aren't blacks better than that? same way as the N word it's soooo bad but yet they use that word A LOT its embed in their cultures language, but yet they fly off the handle when someone other than a black person says it. its called exclusion and it makes small people feel strong, if we really are one nation how about acting like it and change the things that cause soo many arguments? they say "we use it (the N word) to remember where we came from" how about reading where you come from during "black history month"? instead of perpetuating a negative stereotype? quit blaming everyone else outside of your culture and fix it yourselves. you know how people that are really critical are usually angry about their situation? same thing. fix it and join us instead of trying to tear away. don't keep looking for a savior to fix these problems and fix them as a people. don't worry about replying to this as I will definitely not coming back to this waste of time site.
but I will be voting for Obama :)
Of course it's better to be silent and let bigotry stand, that's worked so well for us in the past hasn't it? And yes, I said "SOME" not all African Americans are hip hop artists, in case you didn't know, and not all African Americans celebrate that lifestyle. Way to perpetuate the stereotype yourself there, friend. I will say that you raise a valid point on the "N" word. It's unacceptable, period. We can't uninvent it and make it go away, but we can stop using it and stop trying to justify it. And why are you so pissed off about it anyway? Why are you making these sweeping statements? I mean if a guy robs a store and he happens to be white do you rail against white people?
This is racist no matter how you try to hide it. I guess all you racist people will move to another country so you won’t have to be under the jurisdiction of a black man.
Let’s see; Curious George one the most famous books which I myself grew up with and enjoyed reading when I was young the thought of it being used to be part of some uneducated racist, evil mans joke. You know what’s really going to be hilarious is when he wins!
Does anyone have the address where we can buy one of these?
I just saw a new Obama t-shirt
"OBAMA H.N.I.C." it was being worn by a black kid. I guess it's different if blacks do it????
USA of KKK
I am scared for my children. I am a white American of Norwegian descent and my wife is of Ethiopian ancestry. We have five beautiful children (our 15 year old daughter is a 2nd year college student with a 4.0). Everyone in our family has experienced racism in some form or another. White friends no longer wish to associate with me when they find my wife is black and black friends of my wife asking why did you marry him? So much hate and always with so many "good reasons." Our family is spending time on our knees seeking the only help that may turn hard hearts.
Yep...pick the easy battle...go after the dumb white guy hawking a stupid t-shirt rather than attacking the insidious hip-hop culture that is a suicidal drag on race relations in this day and age. Yup, makes all the freaking sense in the world to me!
I very much agree with you that negative images and stereotypes perpetuated by many hip-hop artists are destructive to the black community.
I think, though, that Obama can help with this by showing himself to be a positive role model to black children. He's a good father and husband, values education, and gives inspiration that we have moved beyond color.
Let's see... 12% of the population is black... and 12% isn't enough to win... therefore, an awful lot of whites had to vote for him... soooo.... WHY IS RACISM STILL CALLED THE #1 PROBLEM IN AMERICA?! It's getting OLD. The fact that a nation can elect a black man, then STILL bend over and take it and be called "intolerant" and "racist" amazes me. All I heard about was "the white people that aren't voting for Obama need to move on and stop being racist" but NOT ONCE did I hear "The black people who are only voting for Obama because he's black need to stop being racist". So... to vote for Hillary because she's white is racist, but to vote for Obama because he's black is what? Pride? America is full of brainwashed idiots. Maybe 50% of whites didn't vote for him. I can guarantee you that 99.9999% of blacks DID vote for him- Because they are the new racist mob. Only difference is, it's promoted and encouraged as a GOOD thing! Amazing! God bless America: Land of the double standard.
You are not thinking about this correctly.
Black people usually vote for white candidates. We have since time immemorial. We put Bill Clinton in office.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a black person who WON'T vote for someone because they're white. We've been doing it all our lives.
However, the shoe doesn't fit on the other foot. And there are a sizable number of white people (not all, and not the majority, thank you) who will NOT vote for a black person.
And that's racist.
And by the way, if you're 12% of the population, and you experience racism... it's a major deal to YOU.
And blacks aren't a "racist mob" any more than the Catholics who voted for JFK are "religious intolerants"
Grow up!
Does anyone not find it the least bit ironic that Bush is constantly characterized in many drawings as having ape or primate like features yet no one bothers to say that those caricatures are offensive? What a double standard...... Oh well at least Obama has one campaign slogan that continues to stick..... it went along the lines of "God D--n America!" Lets face it Obama is as rascist and as sexist as politicians come but because he is a black man it is considered socially acceptable. I am sickened by the atmoshpere that he brings, and how people look at him like he is a savior, the man is just a political panderer and no different from any other politician.
While the caricatures of Bush as a chimp are rude and one might say disrespectful, they are not racist because they do not insult the white race.
Images have history and context, they don't just float in a vacuum. I can say, put a sombrero on an image of a white politician, and it might mean that I think he is pro-immigrant, depending on your political position. However, if I put a sombrero on a Latino politician along with a divisive message, then that is insulting to Latino people. You can't compare apples to oranges and say they're the same.
I think you'd be hard pressed to argue that Obama is either sexist or racist.
A man who has a seemingly loving and respectful relationship with his wife, an educated, intelligent woman. A man raised by a single mother and the father of two daughters. He also passed strong pro-women's rights legislation as a state senator.
http://tiny.cc/7H4A8
And a man who is half white, raised by his white family is not racist. I'd like for you to tell me how you think he is racist.
It's easy to throw these terms around without having any backing behind them.
I can't believe people are still on this. The thing that really blows me away is that they keep saying the same thing. "If they call Bush a monkey, why isn't that offensive?" It's very simple BUSH IS NOT BLACK!!! Stop being obtuse. Calling a black person a monkey is a racially motivated insult. Open your eyes people, there is racism in this country and until we own up to it and stamp it out it's going to continue to smolder. I honestly hope that somebody tries to screw with Barack so that the Secret Service can make an example of what we should do to all bigotted a-holes by kicking the hell out of them.
Obama wanted us to have a dialogue about race... looks like it's happening on the Internet.
This is what I think. And I'm a black woman married to a white man, so I know how some white people think.
what I see in my in-laws is not that they're hateful people, but quite frankly, they just haven't put as much thought into the nuances of race like black people have, because they haven't had to.
Also, a lot of white people just might not know that many black people they feel comfortable talking with about race.
So, some of the stuff/views that come out of them are kind of awkward. And sometimes kind of offensive, but they don't intend it to be, cause they just haven't had to walk in the other's shoes.
I don't fault them for this. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about what it must be like to be Chinese, for example, because there's no reason for me to do so.
But dialogue is so important. And that's why I have this blog. And I will continue to use this to elevate the conversation as much as I am able.
Where can I purchase one of these shirts on the internet?
McCain is getting my vote.
I find it rather offensive that this blog makes a rather ignorant generalization about "southerners."
Not all people from the south are racist.
Racism still exists, and it exists EVERYWHERE. In fact, I encounter more racism where I currently live(Boston) more so than I did while living in Mississippi.
Also, from my experiences in Georgia, there is more black on white racism than the opposite.
Both sides of hate are what fuel the fire. To give any sort of publicity(negative or not) to this sort of thing is like throwing a can of gasoline into a bonfire.
A man is running for president. There is bound to be Anti-Obama t-shirts. This is the reality of it all. The man just happens to be part black, so racist remarks are sure to be said about the man.
Get it straight.
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