When did "monkey" become a racial slur?

[magicmato]

Ok, just to add a little levity (at my expense) to this thread.... we were at dinner at the AK Lodge last fall... my DD who was not even 2 yet had spent the day enjoying AK park with us and had been fascinated with the primates. We had spent a LOT of time with her just watching the gorillas there.

So we are eating dinner and this (please do not take offense, I do not know how to say it in a PC way) very dark family walk by. My DD, gosh I love her, pipes up: "MAMA! Look! G'willas!"

You could have picked me up from under the table. Luckily they did not hear or if they did they did not indicate they had, or I would have been all over them apologizing.

Funny how a kid's mind works, eh?

 

[perdidobay]

monkey has been a racial slur for african american people for a loonnng time ... I have no idea how long, but I have seen it in 19th century texts. It's clearly meant to connote that black people are "primitive", animalistic, and "proto-human".

But I'm guessing if one black person calls another black person a monkey, it's ok, if the N word is any indication.

 

[themarquis]

But I'm guessing if one black person calls another black person a monkey, it's ok, if the N word is any indication.

I don't know that this actually happens in the case of "monkey", so it might be a moot point.

For the record, though, this kind of process is called reappropriation. Wikipedia has a nice little article on it here . I'm not really going to bother weighing in on it -- some people think its acceptable or useful, some people don't like it -- a discussion of it would really take up a lot more time/space than we have here. but the point I do want to make is that it is a very common practice and at least in many circles, culturally acceptable.

I think at the minimum, we could agree that when two african american people call each other n*, it has a very different meaning and implication than when that same word is used by a white person to refer to a black person. In other words, its not a matter of the actual word itself; its a matter of how/when/and in what context it is used. I think even in regular life we all kind of recognize that the context of use of a word is more important than the word itself (i.e., the term b**ch is the technical term for a female dog, but an offensive term when said to a woman!)

 

[buckylarue]

Well, Howard Cosell got into a little trouble for a 'monkey' comment in 1983, that sort of led to his decline and departure from ABC Sports. Here's a passage from Howard's Wikipedia entry:

Cosell drew criticism during one Monday Night Football telecast in September 1983, for calling a wide receiver for the Washington Redskins, Alvin Garrett, a "little monkey." While some saw the term as having a racial connotation, many who knew Cosell were quick to point out that he used this term routinely in an approving way to describe quicker, smaller players of all ethnicities. Among the evidence to support this claim is video footage of a 1972 preseason game, between the New York Giants and the Kansas City Chiefs, that features Cosell referring to Mike Adamle, a 5-foot-9-inch, 197-pound Caucasian, as a "little monkey."

Perhaps due to the strain of this controversy, Cosell left Monday Night Football shortly before the start of the 1984 NFL season, claiming that the NFL had "become a stagnant bore." His duties were then reduced to only baseball, horse racing, and a sports news program called Sportsbeat. Interestingly, Howard Cosell never got a chance to commentate on a Super Bowl. By the time ABC finally got into the Super Bowl rotation with Super Bowl XIX, Cosell was already gone from Monday Night Football.

After writing the book I Never Played The Game, which chronicled his disenchantment with fellow commentators on Monday Night Football, among other things, he was taken off scheduled announcing duties for the 1985 World Series (Tim McCarver subsequently took his spot) and was released by ABC television shortly thereafter.

 

[TheDoctor]

Ask George Felix Allen. Maccacca is an insult in North Africa used for people of color. George Felix Allen's mother is from Nothern African and anyone who does not think that Felix knew that this was in insult are welcome to bid on a bridge that I am going to put on e-bay.

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

did you ever see the movie Clerks II? that pretty much sums up the whole "monkey" thing, although as a warning I don't think many DISmembers would appreciate most of said movie.

btw, I have a hispanic friend that calls me a cracker all the time. Doesn't bother me in the least, she usually says when I ask a stupid question about hispanics. but I do know that it's all in jest with her.

 

[jenfur]

I haven't ever heard it used that way, but have known for a while that it could be a racial slur due to the media and movies, ect. I DO think that people are gettig way to offended by its use lately because I have heard SOOO much more about it lately. I have called all of my kids little monkeys and have very lovingly called my sister's kids that too. Thank God I am not a preschool teacher, one in the area was fired for calling kids little monkeys a long time ago. She was interviewed and said she had no idea it would be taken wrong. I really wish people would take the time to understand the intent of people using certain words instead of just assuming everything is racial.

People are so sensitive and feels like you just can't win. I went out to eat Saturday and we were seated at a long booth type table. An African Amercian family was seated next to use so I moved my DS's coloring menu to give them more room and even gave a friendly smile when I did. The family then started kind of whispering and giving us dirty looks. Another family moved from the table across from us and then they picked up their drinks and moved away from us. They really believed I moved the stuff because they were African Americans, or that we had some problem with them sitting there, or maybe they just didn't like white people

Sometimes I just want to scream NOT all WHITE PEOPLE are RACIST! Really!

 

[AuntieM03]

I had never heard it until recently a coworker used the term. I still wasn't sure what it meant, though I could tell it was supposed to be derogatory.

I do however call my nephew a monkey, but it's meant with love

 

[Anewman]

Having coached multiple youth sports I always called players "BOY", including my own son. You know just yell out something like "nice play boy", I had to stop using the term entirely when I took a team that included a couple kids of color.

It is just the time we live in.

 

[disneyjunkie]

But I'm guessing if one black person calls another black person a monkey, it's ok, if the N word is any indication.

I guess it's the same as the term Red Neck. It's a name I wouldn't dream of calling a white person, yet I hear white people using it all the time.

 

[JunieJay]

Why would one adult refer to another as a monkey? I don't get that. Unless he was swinging through the trees like Tarzan or something, I can't think of one reason why I might call another adult, regardless of race, a monkey.

I think the guy meant it as a racial slur and is now backpedaling.

 

[Bob Slydell]

So what are we supposed to call primates????

"Look sweetie! Theres one of those small hairy primates that we cannot call by the name that has been in use for years!"

I get sick of all this political correctness BS and double standards.

If an actual primate had run out on the basketball court, calling it a monkey would be completely acceptable.

Heckling a basketball player, one straight from Africa, by calling him a monkey is a racial slur, plain and simple.

 

[JunieJay]

If an actual primate had run out on the basketball court, calling it a monkey would be completely acceptable.

 

[mickeyfan2]

It has been a racial slur as long as I can remember.

 

[nhrenee]

i don't think it's in reference to an actual cracker. back in college my african american history professor said that it dated back to when people owned slaves and the term cracker was derived from someone who would crack a whip at the slaves.

Thanks for that explanation. I assumed it was because the saltine crackers are pretty white!

I agree "monkey" is definitely derogatory if aimed at african-americans, not so young kids.

 

[perdidobay]

I guess it's the same as the term Red Neck. It's a name I wouldn't dream of calling a white person, yet I hear white people using it all the time.

I guess I hang around the wrong white people... I never hear any whites call each other redneck, except for Jeff Foxworthy, and of course, it's not a racial slur, more of a class or status one. There can be black rednecks as well as Chinese or Mexican ones.

I try to live by MLK Jr's "judge by the content of a person's character, not the color of their skin".
So when I hear trash talk coming out of someones mouth, no matter what color they are, I will judge them accordingly. I don't believe in any of this "reappropriation of words" crap. If you are black or white and use the N word, I won't think very highly of you.
In a polite society, I expect people to have manners.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I have understood for as long as I can remember, that calling a black person a monkey is extremely racial.

Now, as for anyone else, can I still call the guy with the thick fur on his back a monkey?

Honest to goodness, some people are so hairy, I can't help but wonder if we really did come from apes.

 

[gobears!]

If an actual primate had run out on the basketball court, calling it a monkey would be completely acceptable.

Heckling a basketball player, one straight from Africa, by calling him a monkey is a racial slur, plain and simple.

Absolutely.

 

[beck0321]

I guess it's the same as the term Red Neck. It's a name I wouldn't dream of calling a white person, yet I hear white people using it all the time.

It's just like the term "coon-a**" down here. Ok Cajun people are proud to call themselves that?! I've even seen bumper stickers! I mean c'mon...

**("coon-a**" is a derogatory slang term for an ignorant Cajun person)

 

[palmtreegirl]

It's definitely a racial slur my grandfather use to use it all the time when I was a little girl.