Cheeky Little Monkeys
Susan Popoola
Human Value Optimisation Specialist: Thought Leader, Author, Podcaster & Speaker. Working with Leaders to create Harmony, Impact and Legacy. Enabling Care Experienced Young People to feel Loved, Valued & Supported.
My friend, let’s call her Alison, was shocked when she picked her four-year-old son up from nursery and heard a teacher call him a cheeky little monkey with a smile on her face as she said. She is normally quite vocal with her opinions, however, on this occasion, she was stunned into silence by what she saw as a blatantly racial comment in relation to her black son. A few days later, while she was at the nursey she heard the teacher refer to another child as a cheeky little monkey – this time a white girl. She came to realise that the comment was not meant in the way she had originally assumed i.e. it was meant as an endearment rather than the expression of a racist attitude.
The real question is, why she was concerned about the comment in the first instance.
The problem is deeply embedded in a history in which black people are compared to monkeys or apes. Though not as prevalent as it used to be, there is a reason why some footballers throw banana peels at black players as opposed to apples and oranges.
Myths or Reality: I haven’t read it myself, however, I’ve heard it said that book "The Descent of Man", 1871, Charles Darwin expressed the view that “darker people were a step above apes” Even if you take this to be untrue, there is a reality that there are people that believe it to be true on the basis that he is said to have said so. Furthermore, King Kong was produced around the time that nine black teenagers in America (The Scottsboro Boys) were accused of raping two young white women. There were portrayals of the boys as being ape-like. There is the opinion that King Kong was a further representation of black people being ape-like. Further reinforcing the impression.
Even if you take these to be myths, they will have had an impact. Thinking further, there is a prevalence of a variety of great apes in Africa, close in size to human beings – add to this the impression that some people have even in recent times, people from Africa are at times asked if they live in trees.
People have been known to refer to features of black people such as skin colour, hair texture and facial features as making them lesser, even from a Christian perspective; add to this the impact of hundreds of years of slavery in which black people were treated as lesser. If people didn’t use apes and monkeys as a way of insulting black people, the history may have less of an impact and it might not heart so much. However, even beyond football, the imagery is still used to insult black people. I’ll never forget my shock when I was a meme of Diane Abbott naked on a tree. People also still mock the features of black people.
These aren’t things that I like to talk about it, however, without the context and awareness, people wouldn’t understanding why so many black people felt so insulted, hurt and upset when they saw an advert with a young black boy wearing a top that read, “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle”. The meaning would have been totally different if the boy was white as there would have been no historical context/implication to it.
It’s key to why it’s important that when it comes to advertisement and marketing, the input and views of people from diverse backgrounds are taken into account.
#Selah
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Susan Popoola
Mosaic Fusions
Mosaic Fusions: https://mosaicfusions.com/
Author: Consequences: Diverse to Mosaic Britain
#Mosaic #BlackHistoryMonth