The headline read: Belgian Newspaper Accused Of Racism For Picture Of Obama And Michelle As Apes. The response from the Belgium newspaper was that it “assumed racism was no longer accepted” and therefore readers would merely see the image as it was intended: a satirical joke.
Obviously many did not see it as merely a joke and took great offense to the depiction. The satire was supposed to be about the current controversy with Russia. The picture was accompanied by a message that read: “Vladimir Putin is the president of Russia. He sent us [the newspaper] this attachment at our request, and chose to send pictures instead of text because he does not have a lot of time.”
The newspaper, De Morgen, is described as progressive and has issued an apology. One commenter who came out in defense of the newspaper said there are “tons and tons of pictures of Bush shown as an ape”.
The difference between former President Bush being shown as an ape (even though I think still inappropriate) and President Obama depicted in that way is the historical references to Blacks. Throughout history Blacks in the US and even globally were considered less than human and our intelligence was often compared to that of apes.
There is a history of Blacks depicted as apes.
I am tempted to give the Belgium newspaper the benefit of the doubt. I might consider it unconscious incompetence…they did not know what they did not know. Perhaps they are just not that knowledgeable of American, and in particular African American history. I could also say the same thing about US media that has also depicted the President as an ape with the rationale that “we showed Bush as an ape and it really has nothing to do with race.”
For them, maybe it does not have anything to do with race. However for a whole lot of us, it is part of a painful history whose vestiges continue to linger. I just conducted a focus group this week where one of the African American participants said: “I am tired of whites assuming I am less intelligent. I am just as competent and just as credentialed as the rest of them.” She was referring to her role as a nurse at an urban health center that primarily serves low income African Americans.
Depicting anyone as less than human is in poor taste in my opinion. Showing Blacks as less than human makes me wonder how much that belief may still prevail, albeit perhaps unconsciously.
In any event, we need to talk about these issues. We need to not just assume that everybody understands the history, the hurt and pain suffered by Blacks. Our tendency to quickly admonish these incidents, demand apologies and contrition and then move on…business as usual…misses the opportunity to support deeper learning.
