Tuesday, July 28, 2009
MilesTones • Zoo Primate Named Obama Creates Stir in Germany
When a primate in The Dresden Zoo was named, “Obama,” an immediate outcry of racism rose from the “Initiative for Black Germans” organization.The news service, “The Local; Germany’s News in English,” reported that when the newborn mandrill was named Obama, after President Obama, they were apparently unaware that there is a long history of using monkeys to racially stereotype black people.
When confronted, zoo officials renamed the animal, “Okeke.” This made matters even worse since there is a Nigerian football player with that very name, a fact that was loudly articulated to the befuddled zoologists. While this was a Tylenol moment for zoo officials, as well as an irritaion for the, Initiative for Black Germans, it is to be noted that according to Darwin the monkey is the closest relative to all of us…black…white…and all other colors that package the human race. However…now fasten your seatbelts….there is a distinct feature that absolutely links humans to chimpanzees and apes and everything else on earth. We were all created by God.
