# A quick giggle for you - Michelle Obama **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 25, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900 "2009-11-25T14:00:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/41 "2009-11-27T03:29:02Z")
Anyone who is going to seriously try to deny the racist intent is not even worth responding to. There’s no debate about it. it’s racist, and you know it and trying to deny it, or feign confusion about it is borderline subpontian. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/42 "2009-11-27T03:55:39Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > But Michelle Obama doesn’t look simian and neither of the Obamas are known for their lack of intelligence. Most humans look reasonably simian - it really doesn’t take much photoshop work to make anyone look like an ape. > [@](#): > > And there is that long tradition of black people being compared to apes. Whoever did it had to have known what buttons they were pushing. I guess, tho this is the first I’ve heard of it. I just think that automatically assuming it is because of race is just as racist. > [@](#): > > It’s like when they were calling Mahlia Obama all those horrible things for daring to wear a peace sign, and then someone on these boards was all, maybe it’s not about race. These insults don’t really make sense if you take out race from the equation. Um, so as not to hijack, can you post a link to the peace sign thing? [QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Anyone who is going to seriously try to deny the racist intent is not even worth responding to. There’s no debate about it. it’s racist, and you know it and trying to deny it, or feign confusion about it is borderline subpontian. [/QUOTE] Wow, it’s amazing how much you know about faceless people on the internet! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/43 "2009-11-27T04:03:00Z")
Here’s the stuff on Malia: [http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-malia-obamas-peace-shirt-sparks-criticism/](http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-malia-obamas-peace-shirt-sparks-criticism/) > [@](#): > > After the photo was posted on a conservative blog called “Free Republic,” commenters went wild: “A typical street whore.” “A bunch of ghetto thugs.” “Ghetto street trash.” “Wonder when she will get her first abortion.” These hateful accusations appear to be the completely random, wild rantings of people with some serious amounts of pent-up rage. Mainly it was Freepers but still. It was truly appalling. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/44 "2009-11-27T07:24:41Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Here’s the stuff on Malia: > > [http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-malia-obamas-peace-shirt-sparks-criticism/](http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-malia-obamas-peace-shirt-sparks-criticism/) > > Mainly it was Freepers but still. It was truly appalling. Bizarre. What they are saying doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the picture! ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/45 "2009-11-27T08:07:40Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Whatever the case may be, people who use monkey-related imagery in conjunction with a racist agenda do it because they _know_ it will stir up a hornet’s nest of outrage and righteous indignation. They are being trolls, and everyone is feeding them. Or just maybe they do it because they are racist. > [@curlcoat](#): > > Isn’t it racist to assume that a monkey was used in Obama’s case because of color rather than intelligence? No. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/46 "2009-11-27T08:13:14Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Bizarre. What they are saying doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the picture! Well, yeah. They’re taking an innocuous picture and using it to spout racial hatred. It’s sad that there are still attitudes like that around. But at least they’re in the minority. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/47 "2009-11-27T08:26:31Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > It’s also the correct answer. You are not this stupid, you know exactly why calling Bush a chimp is not racist, I’m not going to bother explaining things to you as if you were five when you are being deliberately dense. Explain it to me as if I were five please, because I _really_ don’t get the whole line of thinking behind this particular outrage. Yes I’ve heard the idea before that comparing blacks to monkeys is somehow racist and offensive. Yet comparing anyone else to a monkey is fine. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/48 "2009-11-27T08:40:27Z")
Because there’s a difference between comparing an individual to a monkey because of specific, personal characteristics, and comparing an entire _race_ to monkeys, and saying they’re subhuman _because of their race_. Can we please stop playing dumb and pretending we don’t get it now? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/49 "2009-11-27T08:49:13Z")
I’ll tell you I’m outraged about. I’m outraged that the liberal media hasn’t reported on Michelle Obama’s naked photos. They are obviously pornographic, and yet the the mainstream press does nothing! I know that this board won’t let me post pornographic pictures, so I’ll only link to the “cheesecake”. It’s still full frontal nudity, but the arms are covering her nipples so it should be safe for work. [link](http://www.jamesfinngarner.com/images/blogimages/monkey-centerfold.jpg) How can we, as a Christian nation, allow this woman to talk to our children? I had to post the joke. Just had to. But on a more serious note, anybody who can’t see that photoshoping a black person into a chimp is racist is a freaking moron ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/50 "2009-11-27T09:15:21Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > I had to post the joke. Just had to. But on a more serious note, anybody who can’t see that photoshoping a black person into a chimp is racist is a freaking moron I’d give someone a pass on that if they weren’t from America and were unfamiliar with our historical racial stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/51 "2009-11-27T15:25:46Z")
\*\*Q. “What? It’s just President Obama! We put him in a top hat and white gloves, you know, to make him look classy!” Q. “Okay, but his face is black already, right? We just made him a little blacker, just to enhance the contrast! You know, chiaroscuro!” Q! “Aw, come on… everybody knows he’s a good dancer! And who doesn’t love a nice big watermelon? You’re just looking for any excuse to be offended! Lighten up! Heh… not that he \*can \*lighten up, eh? Heh heh!” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/52 "2009-11-27T15:43:27Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Isn’t it racist to assume that a monkey was used in Obama’s case because of color rather than intelligence? No. It’s the correct interpretation of the picture. That’s the level these people are on. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/53 "2009-11-27T16:00:45Z")
Maybe Irish people were more often depicted as monkeys than black people; maybe they weren’t. I don’t know. In that one cartoon **Argent** posted, the guy looked more like Mr. Hyde than an ape. But nobody ever really believed Irish people had tails and were subhuman, like some people really believed about blacks. Nobody’s grandmother ever claimed Irish people have extra bones in their feet, and are otherwise truly different from regular humans. That’s what makes the act of depicting a black person as a monkey so offensive. Some people have really believed this stuff, and some people still do (I hope not the tail part, but the other stuff). ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/54 "2009-11-27T16:39:44Z")
And I think it goes beyond just trolling. That is, people aren’t saying these things just to get a reaction. It’s out of this racism mindset that was a huge part of our culture and isn’t entirely gone. It’s something we like to think is gone, anyway, and sometimes we get a huge shock when we realize it’s still there. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/55 "2009-11-27T17:03:53Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > And I think it goes beyond just trolling. That is, people aren’t saying these things just to get a reaction. It’s out of this racism mindset that was a huge part of our culture and isn’t entirely gone. It’s something we like to think is gone, anyway, and sometimes we get a huge shock when we realize it’s still there. There’s real racism out there, but especially when you’re dealing with the internet it’s hard to distinguish the real thing from stuff people say just to get a reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/56 "2009-11-27T17:12:37Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > There’s real racism out there, but especially when you’re dealing with the internet it’s hard to distinguish the real thing from stuff people say just to get a reaction. True. But I do think that the kind of person who thinks that getting a reaction out of something this racially charged probably has a better than average chance of being bigoted. I also just don’t get the people whose automatic reaction is to defend the ones who are doing it and to condemn the people whose reaction is “Racism.” ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/57 "2009-11-27T20:56:17Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No. It’s the correct interpretation of the picture. That’s the level these people are on. OK. So it isn’t the same thing as some random black person saying that they are the victim of racism “simply because they are black”? > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I also just don’t get the people whose automatic reaction is to defend the ones who are doing it and to condemn the people whose reaction is “Racism.” I didn’t see anyone defending whoever did the photoshopping, nor anyone condemning those that think it was racism. I don’t know about the others, but my question came from the feeling that some black people tend to blame everything on their color, and not on their actions, so it just seems that the racist card is played too often and too easily. Not to mention all the folks that rally around any black person who has had a bad knock and claim they couldn’t help it/won’t get fair treatment/were oppressed and all the other stuff they blame other than the guy just happens to be a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/58 "2009-11-27T21:20:41Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > OK. So it isn’t the same thing as some random black person saying that they are the victim of racism “simply because they are black”? No, it isn’t the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/59 "2009-11-27T22:03:09Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > … but my question came from the feeling that some black people tend to blame everything on their color, and not on their actions, so it just seems that the racist card is played too often and too easily. Your “feeling” is incorrect, and does not have a bearing on what is happening in reality. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900/60 "2009-11-27T22:35:45Z")
In fact, Michelle Obama hasn’t made any comment on this situation as far as I know, and not everybody posting to this thread is black, so… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-quick-giggle-for-you-michelle-obama/518900.md?page=4)