There isnt an uproar. The thing said 12 people protested the shirt and then Plime debates it calmly.

Plus Rosie doesnt have a good reputation and weight-ism hasnt caught the media's or the public's attention yet. Im not saying those arguements are right, its just how things are.

I agree with you. Its not right, but the fact that Racism is still touchy with people means that people should be careful with it. Just like you would be careful with open flames around nitrogen.

The message is negative. If racism wern't an issue and something else was, Im sure the T-shirt would be different and just as offensive. They just used a racist message because its easy and its powerful

If he wasn't dead, you could ask Howard Cosell how people view the monkey comparison...

From Wikipedia:

Howard never really lived that one down.

Even something as nice as putting up baby toys will offend some. They see it as racist even when it isn't. Similar to the hoopla that was raised because Florida was using the slogan "shine" as part of its tourism campaign. It turns out that decades ago 'shine' was in a limited use as a racist term. Therefor any other use of the word is Evil.


Yes, the shirt is racist. I didn't say it wasn't.
I was merely bringing up again that it was okay to make fun of Bush but not Obama. That too many in this country think racism is a one-way street.

Forget about making fun of Obama. Even discussing him in ways that are not worshipful, even disagreeing with his policies are often times labeled racist. Most people who don't vote for him, do so because they feel he is not the best candidate. Are there some that will vote against him simply because he is black (even though he is as much white as he is black)? Yes there are, but they are a minority. However many try to label those who are against him as racists because it helps Obama's cause.

As racist as the shirt is, the purpose of the shirt isn't racism. It doesn't even mean the bar owner is racist necessarily (he may be, not saying he isn't). The purpose of the shirt was to cause a stir and result in publicity which would result in a better bottom line. that purpose succeeded tremendously.

That doesn't make it any better, just agreeing that the main purpose of the shirt is to advertise the business.

Ok, granted, there isn't an uproar (but I didn't say anything about an uproar that I recall). However, it obviously made news somewhere, or we wouldn't have an article to comment on. :)

I think this also supports my theory. Racism is a pet theme of the American media, and (probably there fore) the American public. It is treated very differently from other types of discrimination, and especially when it is used against blacks.

Yes, when Rosie made fun of a chinese person's language and stereotypical accent, there was some small notice, some complaints reported by the media, but it was quickly dropped.

Was it because it wasn't against blacks?
Was it because it didn't come from a conservative?
Was it because it didn't come from a white male?
Was it because people realized that it wasn't done maliciously, it wasn't done out of hatred, but was done for humor?


I wish the answer was the last one, but I doubt it.

Not to draw attention from the real issue, or be nit-pickey

I agree with that. Racism is blamed too much for things that arn't but this shirt isn't one of those things. It is true that many anti-Obama people are "racisit"(note the quotes) and that isnt right, Im sure some voters feel the pressure of being called racist when they vote which also isnt right.

but just because one thing is wrongly labeled racist doesnt mean everything is.

People don't make fun of Bush because he's white. They make fun of him because he's a dumbass. Make fun of Obama's intelligence all you want. It probably won't get you anywhere because he hasn't really displayed any lack thereof, but if you say that he can't run a country because he's black, you're a racist.

For the record, I'm not calling 2many racist. I'm pretty sure that the shirt in question was meant as a "We can't let a black guy into the White House" kind of thing.

typical woman

Whoops! My mistake. :) I'm a goober.

The monkey makes this racist. If they had been calling him a dumbass, they'd be fine; but they're not - they're calling him a monkey.

Bush is compared to a monkey, because he's an idiot. Obama is being compared to a monkey because he's black.

Davbob, I understand that you and several others didn't make the monkey-black connection; but the connection is there. If it isn't a monkey-black connection; what does it mean? There has to be a reason the Curious George is on there above the name Obama, so what other possible interpretation is there?

It was done purely as a racist comment, that is obvious and I am sure this a*****e will now find himself in court for copyright violation.

I live very close to East St. Louis, if you think this is NOT a racist t-shirt, come visit me and wear that shirt. Once we go for a drive down to the city, I think you will have a change of heart, if you still have one left.

The question is should this even be in the news in the first place. It would have been a small blip on the screen and then gone away, but now this guy gets what he wants, attention.

The media needs to stop covering this kind of stuff, all they do is keep it going.


Now back to reading about shrimp that can see through my clothing.... :)

I'm really happy to see so many comments on this issue. When I first saw it I thought...WTF? Then I thought...WTF? As you can see I haven't changed my mind. The monkey thing is just wrong. Bush looks more like a monkey IMHO.

So what if the shirt was using the monkey to call Obama an idiot. Is that okay?

There are people who disagree with him... and after his "57 states" confusion, some are calling him an "dumbass." So then, I guess the shirt's okay?

A lot of this seems to be coming down to political opinion. If you think that Obama is a great candidate... "the shirt must be racist, because who could criticize Obama for anything on substance?"

As I have said before, this is a big indication about what's going to happen over the next few months, and potentially the next few years. There was a lot of nastiness that came out towards the Bush Administration... and if the Democratic Nominee wins the White House, that nastiness is going to start coming fast and furious from the other side. And there are going to be a lot of angry people screaming, "Not fair," when they start seeing the same things they were doing for four years, coming back at them.

(Sorry for being somewhat unrelated to the thread...)

You're kidding, right? See, my first interpretation of the shirt was that the designer was calling Obama simple. Curious George's "thing" is to misunderstand how the world works and get himself into a huge amount of trouble that someone else has to bail him out of. Cute, but dumb as a stump.

Upvoted you to make up for the Dastardly Lowlife who downvoted you.

Thats what I thought. Never once made the black/minkey connection. I must be naive.

started a forum thread on a similar topic