# Sleep with a monkey mask to fool the negroes **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 2, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417 "2007-01-02T15:32:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/21 "2007-01-02T16:09:51Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Wait a minute! You … you’re BLACK? [/QUOTE] You didn’t know? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/22 "2007-01-02T16:10:11Z")
I fondly remember that book when it first came out. I read it so many times it’s pages came out. I was 7 years old and it was thrilling reading. But as far as accuracy, I’d say it about as accurate as that other great 1960’s book, “Everything You’ve Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask”. Does it still have the entry on what to do when encountering aliens stepping from a flying saucer? All jokes aside, I will say that while reading it late at night was scary and fun, it also gave me a certain confidence when I was confronted in real life with somewhat less severe situations. The fact that I’d read so much about the worst-case-scenario made my little mishaps seem rather mediocre. So if the author’s intent was to help us eliminate fear from paralysing us, I’d say it worked with me. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/23 "2007-01-02T16:11:10Z")
[QUOTE=Scylla] Do burglars sleep with their burglaring masks on? [/QUOTE] They do if their stealing a quick nap! ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/24 "2007-01-02T16:11:11Z")
From one of the reader reviews. > [@](#): > > What stopped this book getting 5 stars though, is the writing, which I found a little ‘odd’ in parts. At the very beginning of the book I was put off by such statements as, “flaming electric blanket murders family”… an inanimate object ‘murdering’??? I know it’s not much, but it grated. At various stages I found myself wondering whether the book had been badly translated into english! So that’s what hung him up, eh? Anybody else reminded of Twain’s “_A Double-Barreled Detective Story_?” ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/25 "2007-01-02T16:13:41Z")
[QUOTE=Scylla] Do you know how much those cost to replace? [/QUOTE] Not much, with a [del]five[/del] four finger discount. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/26 "2007-01-02T16:17:05Z")
“Anthony Greenbank” is the literary pseudonym of (ex-) Virginia Senator George Allen? Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/27 "2007-01-02T16:17:15Z")
> [@](#): > > They do if their stealing a quick nap! Booooo!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/28 "2007-01-02T16:18:47Z")
[QUOTE=Scylla] Do burglars sleep with their burglaring masks on? [/QUOTE] Well, no. And I think that’s supposed to be the joke right there - an extremely sarcastic and absurd suggestion that a burglar would sleep with his mask on even in his own home. It may seem like a stretch, but this kind of humor pops up all the time in farcical movies and shows like _Mr. Show._ Given the absurdist tone of all the other excerpts of the book, it seems like this kind of gag may have been what the author was going for. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/29 "2007-01-02T16:30:17Z")
[QUOTE=Crotalus] She wears a Doris Day mask when she posts. Fooled me for the longest time. [/QUOTE] Funniest post of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/30 "2007-01-02T16:36:43Z")
[QUOTE=you with the face] You didn’t know? [/QUOTE] It was a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/31 "2007-01-02T16:45:22Z")
[QUOTE=monstro] Funniest post of the year. [/QUOTE] Faint praise on January 2. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/32 "2007-01-02T16:48:21Z")
[QUOTE=monstro] Funniest post of the year. [/QUOTE] I rather prefered post #25. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/33 "2007-01-02T16:49:22Z")
[QUOTE=SkipMagic] Not much, with a [del]five[/del] four finger discount. [/QUOTE] He said, offhandedly. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/34 "2007-01-02T16:56:46Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Given the absurdist tone of all the other excerpts of the book, it seems like this kind of gag may have been what the author was going for. [/QUOTE] None of the [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) reviewers are in on the joke. The original book came out in 1968, by the way - so I’m guessing it’s real extreme racism, not comic extreme racism. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/35 "2007-01-02T16:58:56Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Faint praise on January 2. [/QUOTE] What can I say? I don’t like stroking egos. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/36 "2007-01-02T17:05:40Z")
Scylla, if you had read the complete chapter you would have understood it. The author wasn’t talking about surviving in Harlem or South Central. That chapter was “How to Survive if Your Spaceship Crashes on the Planet of the Apes”. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/37 "2007-01-02T17:05:50Z")
Not all [monkeys](http://www.tradingfaces.org.uk/images/workshops/monkey_mask.jpg) are the same color. In fact, some of 'em look as [White](http://www.sillyjokes.co.uk/images/dress-up/masks/rubber-animal/monkey.jpg) as I do. Or [Whiter](http://www.fancydresscostumeshop.com/images/small/1658.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/38 "2007-01-02T17:11:14Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] In fact, some of 'em look as [White](http://www.sillyjokes.co.uk/images/dress-up/masks/rubber-animal/monkey.jpg) as I do. Or [Whiter](http://www.fancydresscostumeshop.com/images/small/1658.jpg). [/QUOTE] Those are biracial monkey masks. You’d wear those if you were being robbed by Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/39 "2007-01-02T17:12:28Z")
[QUOTE=monstro] What can I say? I don’t like stroking egos. [/QUOTE] …joke…too…cheap…must…resist… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417/40 "2007-01-02T17:14:06Z")
And **Beware of Doug** blows the easy George W. Bush/chimp joke! The crowd sits in stunned disbelief! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleep-with-a-monkey-mask-to-fool-the-negroes/386417.md?page=3)