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Jim, I appreciated your take on the Church scandal. I, too, deplore the way it seems to be devolving into a intramural political battle, when the focus should be cleaning house.
Could someone please explain to me why monkeying around is considered to be a pejorative expression? My father used it when I was growing up to mean something needed to be done soon so don’t monkey around. I assumed monkeys were slow about getting tasks done. How has that changed?
This doesn’t bother me so much, because I think the past should be kept in the past, no matter how evil it was. But the fact remains that some people used to call black people monkeys. And, considering that the nominee for Gov. of Florida is black, much of the media is going to focus on this poorly worded statement by our nominee. As public relations go, it was an awful mistake, and it may do DeSantis in.
Who are those people? I have never known anyone who referred to black people as monkeys. In fact, I used to call my own Caucasian children monkeys when they were little and still use it with my grandchildren. I’ll bet you black mothers call their little ones monkeys too, and it has nothing to do with race. It’s a term of endearment if anything. Primates are popular and protected animals in our culture.
Look, you asked for an explanation and I gave you one. I do not know of anybody who did this either. That does not mean it didn’t happen. I never met a slave either. That does not mean there wasn’t slavery. If you want to stick your head in the sand because you personally don’t know about this, that’s fine. The fact remains that DeSantis has hurt himself with this. We don’t have to like that. But we have to recognize it.
If something this innocuous does him in, voters are looking for a reason to hate DeSantis rather than assess pros/cons, Gillum’s job as mayor, etc. and to me feels like an excuse more than a cause.
Why not just drop the name on the Senate Office Building entirely? Then I can address my concerns to “Senator Foghorn Leghorn, SOB” without being too personal.
I am an educated, 73-year old woman who stays abreast of current events, reads both fiction and non fiction books on many different subjects and was raised in Arizona by parents originally from the deep South. I can honestly repeat that I have never heard anyone refer to black people as monkeys as a pejorative. The press must have some really low class sources to come up with this.
You are not wrong. I never said you were wrong. But this is a reality. The news media didn’t make it. Why do you think these guys brought it up? If we want DeSantis to win – and I presume you do – we have to admit that he made a mistake. but go ahead, stick to your guns. and possibly see a Socialist walk into the Governorship of the Sunshine State.
It’s just my opinion, but I firmly believe we need to fight fire with fire or get rolled over. I saw a video on the net today where Obama used similar words, yet no one accused him of racist talk. I am sick and tired of the left calling our side racists with impunity. It’s just not right, and it’s about time we stand together and shout it from the rooftops.
But what good with that do? We live in a world where the media is unfair. Much of it anywhere. Where Chuck Todd asks tendentious questions; Andrew Chomo and George Stephanopoulos have no business even being employed at a news outlet; and race hustlers like Al Sharpton get to have their own show. But it is the world we live in. Playing tit for tat might only get us the things we want least. The goal is to win elections, not satisfy our need for revenge.