Since when did it become “racist” to call someone from Persia a “monkey”? The quick answer to that question is: Never. Of course he answered that it was false. But if you didn’t know that referring to someone from the Middle East or the region or Asia or North Africa as a monkey, Sen. John McCain’s recent Twitter controversy, as covered by Yahoo News, should concern you.
Of course it was bad form and tasteless, but there is no doubt that McCain’s tweet offering Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a space monkey that the Iranian Space Agency launched from the planet last week was meant as a racist or reflective spike of his views of any one or Arab and / or Persian ethnicity. Even the senator himself said it was a joke.
However, “sand monkey” is commonly used pejoratively to denote Arabic or middle-class stock or derivatives. Given McCain’s military background, it’s very likely that he’s also heard the derogatory word used on occasion (as the military often uses derogatory terms to dehumanize others). Some people feel it is wrong and it is plain racist.
What he tweeted was: “So Ahmadinejad wants Iran to be the first in space – wasn’t he just there last week?” Iran launches monkey into space “http://news.yahoo.com/iran-launches-monkey-space- display-missile-progressio-003037176.html…”
He received such negative backlash to the tweet that he later posted: “Re: Iran space tweet – smart people, can’t everyone get the joke?”
Even Republican Rep. Justin Amash, a second-generation Arab-American of Syrian and Palestinian descent, chided McCain: “Maybe you should be smart & don’t make racist jokes.”
Unfortunately for McCain, a man the old white man and a member of long standing. The Republican Party (known for its minority-biasing views) leaves him open to quick posts, some of which he says are superstitious, prejudiced, or racist. But whatever happens to humans, can humans be made fun of and/or compared to other animals? The monkey little has long been called a diminutive man or a very big man a big ox or a big ape. simple comparison method. Yes, it is often used derogatorily, but it does not often include the whole genre.
Sometimes, it seems that modern society has taken political correctness a little too far, where the slightest comparison hurts the speaker with his audience. Take, for example, Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler’s comments about rookie “American Idol” judge Nicki Minaj, where called him a racist for saying he was going to send the likes of Bob Dylan to the crop. Where Minaj extrapolated racism is anyone’s guess, but Tyler was referring to Dylan’s middle-aged roots. As reported by the Huffington Post, although the singer apologized for any mistake that might have been caused, Minaj seemed to be the one who, for some reason, decided to
