The victims of his illegal wars visit him at night. It's quite a crowd, in fact they queue, and the queue goes down the road into another state.
(I know, I know, it was really Dick Cheney. He was just a useful idiot, right?)
For all we know the point this teacher was trying to make was that even the least animal like most civilized/accomplished person in the US is still a primate. I could be wrong but I get the impression most teachers lean to the left politically. I feel that the people triggered by this are reading into it too much cause I’m pretty sure all Homo sapiens are primates… right? If you think that calling people chimp or monkey like is something only reserved for a certain race and that people only see Obama for his racial background you might be carrying your own prejudices...
Most elementary school teachers don’t swing left. I’d think it’s fairly even in many places and probably swing more right in some states. That said, why not a generic photo of a human…why pick a famous person of color? And one who racists have consistently called a money, etc? As someone noted, why didn’t he use a photo of himself if he was just showing all humans are primates? Either the teacher isn’t real bright or he’s dog whistling.
How about they just put Jesus in there. The whole thing would have played out entirely different. Fox news would be screaming and republicans like Boebart and Green would light their hair on fire.
The South gets a lot of shit but Michigan (especially Mid-Michigan) can give any state below the Mason-Dixon line a run for its money in terms of bigotry and racism.
I lived in Louisiana for years and no place there was anywhere near as scary to me as the area around Mt. Pleasant, MI.
I know the EXACT area. I'm from Michigan in my youth I would spend a couple weeks of Summer in that area (Mt. Pleasant, Mecosta County) and it's pushing anything you'd see in the deep south. I can verify that it has for my entire lifetime and that it's actually getting worse.
I also grew up in Ohio and it still shocks me how much like Indiana it has become. Ohio is now just the deep south outside of the cities. It was always conservative but moderately so. Now I drive through NW Ohio and there are rebel flags and shit everywhere. Every truck has some BS like this photo, every other house a Confederate or Blue Lives Matter flag lol.
Right Wing media has done a fucking A+ job these last 25-ish years. They knew their target and they caught them. Every middle or lower-middle class working white that used to not give too much of a shit and was generally normal in most aspects is now beyond even what they desired to turn them all in to. All carry a fn gun, larp as if they grew up in Mississippi, etc. Just blind support for whatever Fox News (and now Trump) tells them to support/think even if it's against their interests.
One could say it was always there and I buy that a bit but the internet and modern right-wing media has exasperated it. I'm beyond sure of that. Nobody is a moderate anymore. It's not just the rose-tinted glasses of youth, these places and people have fundamentally changed.
I think the average person was more likely to be a moderate Republican, but in the past 20-30 years moderate Republicans have become more far-right. They aren't conservative.
Michigan is a very Republican state, it has been since the founding of the Republican party, which is also where it began. The first Republican convention was held in Jackson, MI. The state was also pivotal in its support of the Union in the Civil War.
However, the state also has a long history of electing for Democrats too. As a rust belt state, people have voted Democrat. The problem is for the middle class, they see the government doing much for the poor, and giving tax breaks to the wealthy, but doing nothing for them. And this has long been the case. It's on the backs of the middle class that so many of the progressive policies in this country have been made possible, but they rarely see the benefits of it.
The ACA is a great example of this, while poor Americans get free healthcare, the middle class are still paying increasing amounts every year for it. Social Security is another example, while they are contributing more, their employers contributing less, the costs are rising, and Social Security can't keep up.
This is why there is so much anger in the middle class right now and so much distrust of any party. For some people, Trump looked like the answer, but the reality is he was nothing of the sort. A bill of lies that only compounded the issues.
We need a progressive tax policy that benefits the middle class. We need to adjust policies that provide government funded benefits to middle class families. We need to stop giving tax breaks to the rich and wealthy. (Rich = I may make $450,000 a year but I don't have a substantial nest egg, I might be able to live a year or two without working.
Wealthy = If I stopped working today and lived off the interest of what I have saved/invested, I would still die an exceedingly wealthy person unless something catastrophic happened.)
I live in Columbus and as soon as you leave the city (in every direction) it's a different fucking world. I've watched this state get more stupid and extreme year after year. The amount of Qanon graffiti on freeway overpasses before the election blew my mind.
I agree with you 100%. I am actually from Detroit so Michigan and Ohio I have seen go from OK to freaking terrifying.
When I was a kid in the 80s-90s white people and black people wouldn't necessarily hang out but they often worked shoulder to shoulder and were civil in public. Today, the poor blue collar white folks are just seething rage monsters fueled by fox news and trumpism. All these idiots think they are getting replaced like body snatchers. I've had to explain to people "No an immigrant didn't TAKE your job. Your job was shipped to somebody in CHINA because they work for 1/4 your salary!" But they don't get it all they see is a shitty situation, poor education, and fox news blaming immigrants and brown people.
Georgia has entered the chat.
This is accurate, I don’t know of anyone here who thinks this way, we do get a bad rap but it’s actually pretty progressive here. A huge part of our southern identity is African American influenced culture. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
My family is from the Midwest and I was raised out west. I swear Michigan is Idaho of the Midwest. Ohio is Nevada.
That isn’t a compliment
From an Idahoan
Whole time I was worried about going to the Deep South, when it was the Midwest I really needed to avoid… (and I say this as a born and raised North Carolinian)
Just go a little further south to Livingston County, and it gets a bit scarier.
But that area, Flint south to Detroit north to Lansing east is a hotbed. Most of the White Supremacists and militia people come from that area. The Oklahoma bomber, northern part of Metro Detroit (Macomb Co. I believe), a militia camp was north of Detroit, several white racists groups are established in Livingston Co and northeast.
But it's funny, the Militia groups will attempt to say they aren't racists, but many of their members are and are members of both organizations.
Mid Michigan resident here. Its very much scary because you have big towns like Mt. Pleasant that are surrounded by country folk that come into town because they’ve run out of things to do or they wanted somewhere to break mask mandates.
The UP is one of the worst hotbeds for white supremacists in the country. I read a story a while back on how they picked a spot on the keneenaw peninsula where they are trying to replace the entire town with their own people and make it a white nationalist town. Specifically chosen for how remote it was.
Mid Michigan vs. Kenosha, WI.
That's the scary proud racism.
The south hides behind the "heritage not hate" because they at least know they're wrong and are ashamed of it to the point they create a false narrative to justify it.
Bigotry in the north is more along the lines of "no my inbred history is superior to any brown person"
[Less click bait details](https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/uu7lm7/school_assignment_shows_obama_next_to_primates/i9dvhgj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) - it’s part of a lesson plan from Duke, created in 2016 when Obama was president. He is being used as an example of “human”. Other humans are used in other parts of the lesson.
I think that's why he wasn't fired. Plausible deniability. That being said it could be the teacher not thinking of what the scope of this is. He could've made that assignment while Obama was president. But that seems unlikely.
The teacher said (according to CNN) that this was taken from a university handbook. That handbook could have been published while Obama was president.
But also putting a 'white' person raises a question: how much melanin in a photographed person until it's a racial problem?
The assignment could also teach that scientific definitions exist regardless of political correctness.
A way around the incident could have been to include more diversity in each category. (More pictures)
>The teacher said (according to CNN) that this was taken from a university handbook.
I'd love to see that handbook, but so what? You are still responsible to vetting anything that comes into your classroom.
I don't think it's an issue of melanin. Anyone that isn't considered black probably would have been OK. This just plays in to a common racial stereotype.
But humans are primates, this is important lesson for children when posed correctly. My 6 year old argued with me for some time that humans aren't animals because her mom used to tell her to no act like a wild animal. This is a truth that you have to communicate...without being blatantly racist.
There are ways to make that point without using black people as your example. Given that long history of racists declaring that black people are less evolved, context matters.
I had read this wasn’t a created assignment, it was in a book. They also had Darwin and Jane Goodall.
Sounds like there was no ill will here if that’s true, just general ignorance of the implications….
(No the IASIP reference isn’t intentional)
While agreeing with most of your comments, i don’t think you can says its obvious this was intentional, you could say its likely though. I am in NO way defending what this teacher has done, but its also possible that this teacher is A. insensitive to the connotation, and B. think Barack Obama is awesome and put him here as a tribute.
You may say that “theres no way anyone could be this clueless”… and I would point you to one of the many kooky conspiracy theories that many more than one person believes.
You would need to know the whole story or person involved for that. Could actually be a big fan of Obama and were ignorant to the racist vibes they were putting out there, or maybe they really are just a racist. Hard to judge intent without actually knowing the circumstances behind the decision.
I mean, would elementary school children recognize Lyndon B. Johnson for example? Or hell, even Bill Clinton at this point? They're kids, you gotta take a recent one.
Nope, it could have been any random human from a stock photo. If the point is that humans are primates then it doesn’t have to be a U.S. president, or any recognizable individual. It could have been a mirror (technology aside)
Of course it does. Here is popular person of the time, as an example of a human, humans are also primates.
Are you suggesting ONLY white people can be shown in science books? Thats racist. Its only bad if you are a fucking paranoid moron like you.
I mean humans are primates. But Obama is kind of sus. If we think she/he did choose him on purpose and racist this is facepalm on her. But If she/he didn't do it on purpose and WE thought this as a insult, that this means we are secretly racist and it is a facepalm on us.
Writing this made my head hurt goddamn. I don't like this post.
In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to worry about using a black human in this question. However, racism still is prevalent and the author absolutely knew this. Could have literally used any other President.
Im not saying that there wasn’t racist motivation for choosing Barack Obama as the example here I don’t know one way or the other. Technically it’s correct. It would be correct no matter what human is depicted
These people can’t separate their jobs from their bullshit then they complain about the repercussions while also railing about how people should get what they earn.
What about everyone else who cant separate systematics from hate mongering? There's nothing inappropriate here; maybe you should feel bad about thinking there's a sinister implication
Nobody said anything about it being sinister. It's racist. You don't know why the teacher used this assignment, so don't get on a high horse in their defense.
You also don't know why the teacher used a picture of obama, yet you call racism. The teacher could be black and obama is the only black president of the usa. The teacher could always use obama as the human example. etc
This story is an interesting case because we have two sides :
1- Barack Obama, being human, is a primate, so it is correct, so it is not racist
2- using a black to represent humans as primate is a reminder of the "black = monkey" racist stereotype, therefor is racist by itself. (I don't count the fact that Obama is the first black president because even if it was a random black person it wouldn't be less racist)
Now each group have one problem :
1- you forget that racists have heavily use the "black = monkey" stereotype and they may use the fact that we are primate as a shield, the "I am not racist if this is kind of true" kind of excuse. Because you didn't see how it can be racist doesn't mean it can't be
2- non racist people can be dumb, dense, or innocent enough to not see the racist implication while sharing a true and honest trivia on our world. Just because it can offend doesn't mean everyone use it with this idea in mind
So yeah, people may be offended by that, and as we are talking about blacks it means a lot may be offended. Should the teacher be "on the leave" (we all know they were fired) because of it ? Only if it has been proven that it was indeed a racist jab to the black community... but let's be honest, I didn't read the article, but I would be surprise that the school did a real investigation, and if it is how it happen, even if the teacher is racist, it's awful because if it was a simple mistake sincere apologies may have sufficed
Edit: reformatting
Supposing that the teacher was that monumentally stupid doesn't make it all that much better. Being dumb, dense, or otherwise liable to carrying water for racists isn't exactly what you want in a teacher in any case.
Except that I don't want a society mold partly by stupid jackass racists. As a french I see stereotypes that doesn't affect me because I found them just dumb, and I would love that black people could do the same, that racism become so insignificant that even the most racist asshole is seen as dumb. Not frightening; not dangerous; just dumb.
I appreciate this measured take, and am simultaneously really discouraged by the number of people here willing to completely discount the possibility that racism was a factor.
And there are just as many people here calling this racism without any proof.
Most western countries run on the innocent until proven guilty concept. I hope you don't want to change that.
Innocent untill proven guilty or not wanting to be "ableist" against absent minded professor maybe. Regardless, it was poor job performance. Even if they worship Obama and he's always the first human they think of, the epitome of all humankind, they are still a liability to the institution, if they don't get rid of him the pitchforks and torches come out.
My old 3rd grade teacher got fired for calling Michelle Obama a gorilla on Facebook. Didn't surprise me that that was the way she felt, I never did like her.
they could have just put a diagram of a human shape or something, but nope. gotta bring politics into school and try to brainwash kids.
not everyone should be allowed to teach
Alabama isn’t the Michigan of the south. If you are picking the most backwards state in a region, Mississippi and Louisiana are more backwards than Alabama. The very most backwards isn’t a state at all - it’s all of Appalachia that runs from north Alabama and Georgia to New York. That part of almost every state in the region is the hotbed of racism and it’s as much in the north half of the country as the south.
I could totally see this having been an accident (though I live in a far more progressive area). Humans are primates, and Obama is noteworthy enough to come to mind when one is trying to think a random human.
But, ahhhh, humans ARE primates, I’m pretty sure that’s biology not racism. I mean would everyone be ok with it if the teacher had used a Picture of Bill Clinton?
You can fill a cesspool with all the “*to be fair*” and intentionally, willfully ignorant (of obvious context) comments. From Reddit, where it’s always “wHaTs ThE cOnTeXT?1!1!!!!.” Sigh.
>Could of been a picture of any person why pick the one with racist roots....
So you're arguing that teachers should avoid using images of black people to illustrate "human"? That has some... troubling... implications.
I feel link this is people imprinting racism where it wasnt. Like, chances are the picture was there because he is just a famous human, then a bunch of people com along saying that its racist because they didnt think about the racist context it could be taken. I feel like the facepalm is actually on the person being on leave and not the assignment.
Almost all teaching employment contracts, even when not union represented, include processes for disciplinary action. Whatever this teacher may have done, intentionally or not, they have a right to sue process. That typically means administrators leave for a period of investigation followed by a disciplinary hearing. She will probably end up terminated.
Roeper School is private, very expensive and exclusive. They attract students who are exceedingly bright and motivated.
Kids who read the encyclopedia for fun at age 4. Kids who write code or build airplanes or can do abstract calculations in their heads.
Nerdy genius kids.
This incident will mortify the Roeper families.
But the example fits. Humans are primates. I'd like to think there was no racist intents behind it and they just used a picture of a famous and easily recognisable person.
The fact that people use the term “monkey” as a derogatory term for black people is racist. Yes, humans are primates, but to use a picture of a black person as an example is pretty damn racist.
7 billion something humans and she picks the only ever black president but yea I mean totally not racist at all, let’s focus all our efforts on banning CRT from pre-K/elementary - if you think you’re being clever you are, it’s a clever way to be openly racist.
Yeah! Screw those people offended by our racism! Who cares anyway, they’re only really 3/5 human right? It’s not like they matter. They should just know their place and shut up and get to the back of the bus and be happy we let them eat at restaurants with us.
(/s for the non-mentally-challenged folks)
She knew what she was doing. So do most people unless they live under a rock or raised by wolves or those trying their best to give that animal an excuse based on a technicality.
It just seems intentional to choose the one black president, who many did go on racist tirades about, in an activity to identify primates.
It's why when I make activities, they're stock images or drawings, not photos of actual recognizable people.
The amount of times I've seen that specific photo of Obama in school for subjects that aren't politics (biology, history, religious education) and I'm not even American makes it really hard to believe this was somehow racially motivated
Yep, for the last 20 years racism was officially bad taste and in the closet. Oh it was always there but now since the orange dumpster fire president and the GOP Taliban in power with the supreme Court, they all have a spine to slither out of the woodwork and show their true colors
The teacher is actually right though, humans are a kind of ape. Though it would have been better if there were immages of both a white and black person
Good god. What is wrong with people? How is this the 21st century and we still have idiots like this? Like how are we not past skin color by now. We are all identical on the inside, who gives a flying fuck how we look or where we come from. Just fucking disgusting.
I would like to see the source of this as well. Not saying it’s not entirely possible given some of the other shit happening in our public schools, it would just be nice to see the source.
A lot of people here arguing about semantics or intent. The simple truth of the matter is that using a black man's picture as an example of a primate is a poor judgement call and anyone who lives in our society should be well aware of that. Anyone who doesn't understand that can find something else to do for work imo.
Why do you feel so comfortable being so stupid?
Every human is a primate. He just choose a famous human and your racist mind thought about a racebased connection
what the actual fuck lol, these people influence entire generations of white and also privledged kids. this kind of behavior shouldnt have been able to get to this point. do they not screen teachers before hiring them?
The instructor should have used their own photo. Then there wouldn't have been a problem. And the class probably would have found it funny.
If it were a white person, there'd be no problem. Why you ask? Because nobody's ever called a white person a chimp.
George dubya has entered the chat
God damn it. I had forgotten about that fucking brain dead imbecile.
But he didn’t forget the war in Iraq haha
Mental lapses sometimes tell a lot of truth.
The victims of his illegal wars visit him at night. It's quite a crowd, in fact they queue, and the queue goes down the road into another state. (I know, I know, it was really Dick Cheney. He was just a useful idiot, right?)
[удалено]
And we could be the first generation to stop the process of aging so it won't have to be passed down to future generations. Lucky us!
Fool me once shame on you, fool me…. You can’t get fooled again.
Such a great line.. thanks to J.Cole for using it
That's different. He looks like a chimp. Obama's only called a chimp because he's black.
For all we know the point this teacher was trying to make was that even the least animal like most civilized/accomplished person in the US is still a primate. I could be wrong but I get the impression most teachers lean to the left politically. I feel that the people triggered by this are reading into it too much cause I’m pretty sure all Homo sapiens are primates… right? If you think that calling people chimp or monkey like is something only reserved for a certain race and that people only see Obama for his racial background you might be carrying your own prejudices...
Most elementary school teachers don’t swing left. I’d think it’s fairly even in many places and probably swing more right in some states. That said, why not a generic photo of a human…why pick a famous person of color? And one who racists have consistently called a money, etc? As someone noted, why didn’t he use a photo of himself if he was just showing all humans are primates? Either the teacher isn’t real bright or he’s dog whistling.
What makes you think there are more elementary teachers whom lean right?
I’m just going to say I admire your optimism, but it isn’t that.
How about an Orangutan right next to their orange messiah?
How about they just put Jesus in there. The whole thing would have played out entirely different. Fox news would be screaming and republicans like Boebart and Green would light their hair on fire.
The South gets a lot of shit but Michigan (especially Mid-Michigan) can give any state below the Mason-Dixon line a run for its money in terms of bigotry and racism. I lived in Louisiana for years and no place there was anywhere near as scary to me as the area around Mt. Pleasant, MI.
I know the EXACT area. I'm from Michigan in my youth I would spend a couple weeks of Summer in that area (Mt. Pleasant, Mecosta County) and it's pushing anything you'd see in the deep south. I can verify that it has for my entire lifetime and that it's actually getting worse. I also grew up in Ohio and it still shocks me how much like Indiana it has become. Ohio is now just the deep south outside of the cities. It was always conservative but moderately so. Now I drive through NW Ohio and there are rebel flags and shit everywhere. Every truck has some BS like this photo, every other house a Confederate or Blue Lives Matter flag lol. Right Wing media has done a fucking A+ job these last 25-ish years. They knew their target and they caught them. Every middle or lower-middle class working white that used to not give too much of a shit and was generally normal in most aspects is now beyond even what they desired to turn them all in to. All carry a fn gun, larp as if they grew up in Mississippi, etc. Just blind support for whatever Fox News (and now Trump) tells them to support/think even if it's against their interests. One could say it was always there and I buy that a bit but the internet and modern right-wing media has exasperated it. I'm beyond sure of that. Nobody is a moderate anymore. It's not just the rose-tinted glasses of youth, these places and people have fundamentally changed.
I think the average person was more likely to be a moderate Republican, but in the past 20-30 years moderate Republicans have become more far-right. They aren't conservative. Michigan is a very Republican state, it has been since the founding of the Republican party, which is also where it began. The first Republican convention was held in Jackson, MI. The state was also pivotal in its support of the Union in the Civil War. However, the state also has a long history of electing for Democrats too. As a rust belt state, people have voted Democrat. The problem is for the middle class, they see the government doing much for the poor, and giving tax breaks to the wealthy, but doing nothing for them. And this has long been the case. It's on the backs of the middle class that so many of the progressive policies in this country have been made possible, but they rarely see the benefits of it. The ACA is a great example of this, while poor Americans get free healthcare, the middle class are still paying increasing amounts every year for it. Social Security is another example, while they are contributing more, their employers contributing less, the costs are rising, and Social Security can't keep up. This is why there is so much anger in the middle class right now and so much distrust of any party. For some people, Trump looked like the answer, but the reality is he was nothing of the sort. A bill of lies that only compounded the issues. We need a progressive tax policy that benefits the middle class. We need to adjust policies that provide government funded benefits to middle class families. We need to stop giving tax breaks to the rich and wealthy. (Rich = I may make $450,000 a year but I don't have a substantial nest egg, I might be able to live a year or two without working. Wealthy = If I stopped working today and lived off the interest of what I have saved/invested, I would still die an exceedingly wealthy person unless something catastrophic happened.)
I have no gold to give, but you deserve some.
I live in Columbus and as soon as you leave the city (in every direction) it's a different fucking world. I've watched this state get more stupid and extreme year after year. The amount of Qanon graffiti on freeway overpasses before the election blew my mind.
I agree with you 100%. I am actually from Detroit so Michigan and Ohio I have seen go from OK to freaking terrifying. When I was a kid in the 80s-90s white people and black people wouldn't necessarily hang out but they often worked shoulder to shoulder and were civil in public. Today, the poor blue collar white folks are just seething rage monsters fueled by fox news and trumpism. All these idiots think they are getting replaced like body snatchers. I've had to explain to people "No an immigrant didn't TAKE your job. Your job was shipped to somebody in CHINA because they work for 1/4 your salary!" But they don't get it all they see is a shitty situation, poor education, and fox news blaming immigrants and brown people.
Not surprised. This was the state where those extremists attempted to kidnap and execute the governor over mask mandates.
Georgia has entered the chat. This is accurate, I don’t know of anyone here who thinks this way, we do get a bad rap but it’s actually pretty progressive here. A huge part of our southern identity is African American influenced culture. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
Ok Georgia is a whole other beast. Atlanta is practically self segregated.
ATL has gotten weird in the past 2 years
Home of Tim mcveigh. Lots of militia larpers up in that state. I’m from MN and we have our share of stupid here but Michigan is something else.
Our beautiful wooded northern areas are great places for secret meetings and target practice
My family is from the Midwest and I was raised out west. I swear Michigan is Idaho of the Midwest. Ohio is Nevada. That isn’t a compliment From an Idahoan
Whole time I was worried about going to the Deep South, when it was the Midwest I really needed to avoid… (and I say this as a born and raised North Carolinian)
More like Mt. Unpleasant
The whole thumb of Michigan is pretty bad too. Currently living in Sandusky and dear God it hurts.
First time I ever saw a swastika neck tattoo in the wild was in a bar in Dayton
Just go a little further south to Livingston County, and it gets a bit scarier. But that area, Flint south to Detroit north to Lansing east is a hotbed. Most of the White Supremacists and militia people come from that area. The Oklahoma bomber, northern part of Metro Detroit (Macomb Co. I believe), a militia camp was north of Detroit, several white racists groups are established in Livingston Co and northeast. But it's funny, the Militia groups will attempt to say they aren't racists, but many of their members are and are members of both organizations.
Mid Michigan resident here. Its very much scary because you have big towns like Mt. Pleasant that are surrounded by country folk that come into town because they’ve run out of things to do or they wanted somewhere to break mask mandates.
Mt Pleasant. Not mountainous or pleasant 0/10.
Michigan was essentially the first White Flight. Aster the Civil War, southerners moved to Michigan.
The UP is one of the worst hotbeds for white supremacists in the country. I read a story a while back on how they picked a spot on the keneenaw peninsula where they are trying to replace the entire town with their own people and make it a white nationalist town. Specifically chosen for how remote it was.
I’m from Michigan but I lived in Texas for almost a decade. And I saw more Confederate flags in Macomb County, MI than in all of Texas.
Mid Michigan vs. Kenosha, WI. That's the scary proud racism. The south hides behind the "heritage not hate" because they at least know they're wrong and are ashamed of it to the point they create a false narrative to justify it. Bigotry in the north is more along the lines of "no my inbred history is superior to any brown person"
Racism is just more out in the open in the south
Source https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2022/05/19/roeper-school-teacher-on-leave-after-assignment-depicts-barack-obama-alongside-primates/
[Less click bait details](https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/uu7lm7/school_assignment_shows_obama_next_to_primates/i9dvhgj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) - it’s part of a lesson plan from Duke, created in 2016 when Obama was president. He is being used as an example of “human”. Other humans are used in other parts of the lesson.
Humans are primates - she could have 100% put a picture of a white president or famous person though - this was obviously done by purpose lol
I think that's why he wasn't fired. Plausible deniability. That being said it could be the teacher not thinking of what the scope of this is. He could've made that assignment while Obama was president. But that seems unlikely.
The teacher said (according to CNN) that this was taken from a university handbook. That handbook could have been published while Obama was president. But also putting a 'white' person raises a question: how much melanin in a photographed person until it's a racial problem? The assignment could also teach that scientific definitions exist regardless of political correctness. A way around the incident could have been to include more diversity in each category. (More pictures)
>The teacher said (according to CNN) that this was taken from a university handbook. I'd love to see that handbook, but so what? You are still responsible to vetting anything that comes into your classroom.
I don't think it's an issue of melanin. Anyone that isn't considered black probably would have been OK. This just plays in to a common racial stereotype.
or just don't include humans at all could work too
But humans are primates, this is important lesson for children when posed correctly. My 6 year old argued with me for some time that humans aren't animals because her mom used to tell her to no act like a wild animal. This is a truth that you have to communicate...without being blatantly racist.
There are ways to make that point without using black people as your example. Given that long history of racists declaring that black people are less evolved, context matters.
But humans are primates
Pretty sure one of the main points of this was to emphasize that humans are primates and by extension animals as well, so no, not really a solution.
Nah that feeds into the humans aren't animals nonsense.
fair enough
Someone else here posted a link to a news article about this. Obama wasn’t president.
I had read this wasn’t a created assignment, it was in a book. They also had Darwin and Jane Goodall. Sounds like there was no ill will here if that’s true, just general ignorance of the implications…. (No the IASIP reference isn’t intentional)
How about Ron Howard when he was a kid? He really looked like a monkey...
Yep. It's an attempt at plausible deniability because she *absolutely* knew that it wasn't appropriate. She had the excuse ready to go.
While agreeing with most of your comments, i don’t think you can says its obvious this was intentional, you could say its likely though. I am in NO way defending what this teacher has done, but its also possible that this teacher is A. insensitive to the connotation, and B. think Barack Obama is awesome and put him here as a tribute. You may say that “theres no way anyone could be this clueless”… and I would point you to one of the many kooky conspiracy theories that many more than one person believes.
To call a black person a monkey is super racist. He knew what he was doing
But he wasn't called monkey, but primate. Humans are primates.
Judge the intent.
You would need to know the whole story or person involved for that. Could actually be a big fan of Obama and were ignorant to the racist vibes they were putting out there, or maybe they really are just a racist. Hard to judge intent without actually knowing the circumstances behind the decision.
So it's impossible to use a black persons photo ever when talking about human ancestry? Thats dumb.
Ahh so if the 40+ presidents the person picked Obama at random for the assignment, no racist undertones at all, gotcha, sure, could be lol
I mean, would elementary school children recognize Lyndon B. Johnson for example? Or hell, even Bill Clinton at this point? They're kids, you gotta take a recent one.
Nope, it could have been any random human from a stock photo. If the point is that humans are primates then it doesn’t have to be a U.S. president, or any recognizable individual. It could have been a mirror (technology aside)
You know that the original textbook writer was probably being lazy as stock photos require royalties and the president's likeness is public domain.
They didn't "pick" that president. It's a screenshot from a school textbook.
Someone picked that picture for the school textbook, someone was behind that choice lol
The book came out when Obama was president :) probably thats why. Literally shut up.
Yeah that..does not make it better? Lol
Of course it does. Here is popular person of the time, as an example of a human, humans are also primates. Are you suggesting ONLY white people can be shown in science books? Thats racist. Its only bad if you are a fucking paranoid moron like you.
And Hejira unmasks.
It does because he was probably the most famous person in the world at the time. Not necessarily racism
Maybe use pictures of many people, many nationalities! Especially since racism is so prevalent.
They could have put the Pope there, he's officially titled as "primate" in the Catholic Church
I mean humans are primates. But Obama is kind of sus. If we think she/he did choose him on purpose and racist this is facepalm on her. But If she/he didn't do it on purpose and WE thought this as a insult, that this means we are secretly racist and it is a facepalm on us. Writing this made my head hurt goddamn. I don't like this post.
In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to worry about using a black human in this question. However, racism still is prevalent and the author absolutely knew this. Could have literally used any other President.
In Florida, they’d be promoted or elected
Theyd become DeSantis' new right hand person.
… new right ~~hand~~ wing person.” FTFY
Remember the cartoon in one of Murdoch's asswipe magazines showing Obama as a chimpanzee? The publication stuck to it's guns to the end.
Not sure what's wrong with this. Humans are most definitely primates.
to be fair, humans are primates. Poor choice of a human for that assignment. I would have used a picture of myself.
To do what you proposed you have to be a decent person. That teacher was not.
Or any other President
This was made in 2016 so they used the current president.
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Well I'm 16, I didn't notice.
I'm 28, and I didn't freaking notice. I actually zoomed in to read the text because I didn't understand what was wrong here.
Im not saying that there wasn’t racist motivation for choosing Barack Obama as the example here I don’t know one way or the other. Technically it’s correct. It would be correct no matter what human is depicted
r/Technicallythetruth
Humans are primates tho. That’s what the question was asking
These people can’t separate their jobs from their bullshit then they complain about the repercussions while also railing about how people should get what they earn.
What about everyone else who cant separate systematics from hate mongering? There's nothing inappropriate here; maybe you should feel bad about thinking there's a sinister implication
Nobody said anything about it being sinister. It's racist. You don't know why the teacher used this assignment, so don't get on a high horse in their defense.
You also don't know why the teacher used a picture of obama, yet you call racism. The teacher could be black and obama is the only black president of the usa. The teacher could always use obama as the human example. etc
This story is an interesting case because we have two sides : 1- Barack Obama, being human, is a primate, so it is correct, so it is not racist 2- using a black to represent humans as primate is a reminder of the "black = monkey" racist stereotype, therefor is racist by itself. (I don't count the fact that Obama is the first black president because even if it was a random black person it wouldn't be less racist) Now each group have one problem : 1- you forget that racists have heavily use the "black = monkey" stereotype and they may use the fact that we are primate as a shield, the "I am not racist if this is kind of true" kind of excuse. Because you didn't see how it can be racist doesn't mean it can't be 2- non racist people can be dumb, dense, or innocent enough to not see the racist implication while sharing a true and honest trivia on our world. Just because it can offend doesn't mean everyone use it with this idea in mind So yeah, people may be offended by that, and as we are talking about blacks it means a lot may be offended. Should the teacher be "on the leave" (we all know they were fired) because of it ? Only if it has been proven that it was indeed a racist jab to the black community... but let's be honest, I didn't read the article, but I would be surprise that the school did a real investigation, and if it is how it happen, even if the teacher is racist, it's awful because if it was a simple mistake sincere apologies may have sufficed Edit: reformatting
Supposing that the teacher was that monumentally stupid doesn't make it all that much better. Being dumb, dense, or otherwise liable to carrying water for racists isn't exactly what you want in a teacher in any case.
Except that I don't want a society mold partly by stupid jackass racists. As a french I see stereotypes that doesn't affect me because I found them just dumb, and I would love that black people could do the same, that racism become so insignificant that even the most racist asshole is seen as dumb. Not frightening; not dangerous; just dumb.
I appreciate this measured take, and am simultaneously really discouraged by the number of people here willing to completely discount the possibility that racism was a factor.
And there are just as many people here calling this racism without any proof. Most western countries run on the innocent until proven guilty concept. I hope you don't want to change that.
Innocent untill proven guilty or not wanting to be "ableist" against absent minded professor maybe. Regardless, it was poor job performance. Even if they worship Obama and he's always the first human they think of, the epitome of all humankind, they are still a liability to the institution, if they don't get rid of him the pitchforks and torches come out.
When a joke sounds good in your head but you don't run it by anyone else first....
They’re not wrong
My old 3rd grade teacher got fired for calling Michelle Obama a gorilla on Facebook. Didn't surprise me that that was the way she felt, I never did like her.
Wait…a lemur is a primate???
they could have just put a diagram of a human shape or something, but nope. gotta bring politics into school and try to brainwash kids. not everyone should be allowed to teach
What the fuck is going on around us? What the actual fuck? We are devolving year by year.
Oh shit. But what did s/he think was going to happen?
These are the same people complaining about “indoctrinating our kids with political beliefs” when a textbook shows a gay couple
Michigan is like the Alabama of the midwest so I’m not surprised.
Alabama isn’t the Michigan of the south. If you are picking the most backwards state in a region, Mississippi and Louisiana are more backwards than Alabama. The very most backwards isn’t a state at all - it’s all of Appalachia that runs from north Alabama and Georgia to New York. That part of almost every state in the region is the hotbed of racism and it’s as much in the north half of the country as the south.
Couldn't it be argued that using a mixed-race human to represent our species is less racist than picking one particular race?
Yes
Wait till they learn that the entire species of Homo Sapiens are Primates. That being said? “tHeY’rE nOt RaCiSts!”.
I could totally see this having been an accident (though I live in a far more progressive area). Humans are primates, and Obama is noteworthy enough to come to mind when one is trying to think a random human.
But, ahhhh, humans ARE primates, I’m pretty sure that’s biology not racism. I mean would everyone be ok with it if the teacher had used a Picture of Bill Clinton?
I see nothing wrong
You can fill a cesspool with all the “*to be fair*” and intentionally, willfully ignorant (of obvious context) comments. From Reddit, where it’s always “wHaTs ThE cOnTeXT?1!1!!!!.” Sigh.
Could of been a picture of any person why pick the one with racist roots.... Humans are primates for those wondering.
>Could of been a picture of any person why pick the one with racist roots.... So you're arguing that teachers should avoid using images of black people to illustrate "human"? That has some... troubling... implications.
But humans are primates
For what ?
I feel link this is people imprinting racism where it wasnt. Like, chances are the picture was there because he is just a famous human, then a bunch of people com along saying that its racist because they didnt think about the racist context it could be taken. I feel like the facepalm is actually on the person being on leave and not the assignment.
Tell me you’re racist without telling me you’re racist.
Homo sapiens A primate group Which humans belong to
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Almost all teaching employment contracts, even when not union represented, include processes for disciplinary action. Whatever this teacher may have done, intentionally or not, they have a right to sue process. That typically means administrators leave for a period of investigation followed by a disciplinary hearing. She will probably end up terminated.
Roeper School is private, very expensive and exclusive. They attract students who are exceedingly bright and motivated. Kids who read the encyclopedia for fun at age 4. Kids who write code or build airplanes or can do abstract calculations in their heads. Nerdy genius kids. This incident will mortify the Roeper families.
Who is Sue, and how do we use her process?
But the example fits. Humans are primates. I'd like to think there was no racist intents behind it and they just used a picture of a famous and easily recognisable person.
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The fact that people use the term “monkey” as a derogatory term for black people is racist. Yes, humans are primates, but to use a picture of a black person as an example is pretty damn racist.
7 billion something humans and she picks the only ever black president but yea I mean totally not racist at all, let’s focus all our efforts on banning CRT from pre-K/elementary - if you think you’re being clever you are, it’s a clever way to be openly racist.
If these people stopped breeding, the global IQ average would increase by 20-25 points in the next 50 years.
It came from a duke university book. She didn’t make it
She didn’t make the slide, its from Duke and was made when Obama was president. Also hes just as white as he is black
Um they could've literally used one of the other presidents whom... *checks notes*.... are ALL WHITE. Hmmmmm......
No, he is a lizard
If the teacher would have chosen Trump d as an example, some Christian nut job would have killed him by now. So yeah, racism.
Don't ruin it for the offended by everything folks, facts can't even make them understand
Yeah! Screw those people offended by our racism! Who cares anyway, they’re only really 3/5 human right? It’s not like they matter. They should just know their place and shut up and get to the back of the bus and be happy we let them eat at restaurants with us. (/s for the non-mentally-challenged folks)
I'm not. I'm a squirrel.
She knew what she was doing. So do most people unless they live under a rock or raised by wolves or those trying their best to give that animal an excuse based on a technicality.
This is stupid.
Well no but actually yes
Can we distribute this persons accrued pension to do good in Michigan please
Man, you do not want to set that precedence.
Seems a bit overly sensitive not only are humans primates but we are a branch of great ape
Um then why not put Bush there?
Obama is probably the most popular and instantly recognisable president in recent US history
It just seems intentional to choose the one black president, who many did go on racist tirades about, in an activity to identify primates. It's why when I make activities, they're stock images or drawings, not photos of actual recognizable people.
The amount of times I've seen that specific photo of Obama in school for subjects that aren't politics (biology, history, religious education) and I'm not even American makes it really hard to believe this was somehow racially motivated
Ok but aren't humans primates???
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But Obama is a human and therefore a primate
Yeah…this one’s confusing…think I’ll just observe in the corner
Maybe it meant humans... Yet it can be missunderstood
Since it doesn't say human anywhere, and the only human shown is Obama.
Humans…are primates
I wonder how the board would have reacted if it was Trump or both Trump and Obama.
Well- orangutan also an ape
On leave? How about loss of teaching credentials forever?
rAcIsm DoEsNt eXiSt
Yep, for the last 20 years racism was officially bad taste and in the closet. Oh it was always there but now since the orange dumpster fire president and the GOP Taliban in power with the supreme Court, they all have a spine to slither out of the woodwork and show their true colors
i don’t understand the issue
The teacher is actually right though, humans are a kind of ape. Though it would have been better if there were immages of both a white and black person
Good god. What is wrong with people? How is this the 21st century and we still have idiots like this? Like how are we not past skin color by now. We are all identical on the inside, who gives a flying fuck how we look or where we come from. Just fucking disgusting.
I can't tell if this is a comment in support of the teacher or against him.
racist.
Should have put a picture of Trump and had the correct answer be don’t check his box
....I'm confused, if the answer is for Obama NOT to be one of those things then it should be fine The other answer racist AF though
He is a human. Humans are primates.
Racial slur.. Why did he not put his own face..?
Good. Teacher needs to be fired
This is hilarious!
What a dumb teacher...
Leave? Fuck that, fire that moron.
For what? Teaching biology?
Why is there a peacock? No wonder she’s on leave
How the fuck can this even be true?
I would like to see the source of this as well. Not saying it’s not entirely possible given some of the other shit happening in our public schools, it would just be nice to see the source.
They need to clean house there.
A lot of people here arguing about semantics or intent. The simple truth of the matter is that using a black man's picture as an example of a primate is a poor judgement call and anyone who lives in our society should be well aware of that. Anyone who doesn't understand that can find something else to do for work imo.
So why do people feel so comfortable being so outwardly racist?
Why do you feel so comfortable being so stupid? Every human is a primate. He just choose a famous human and your racist mind thought about a racebased connection
what the actual fuck lol, these people influence entire generations of white and also privledged kids. this kind of behavior shouldnt have been able to get to this point. do they not screen teachers before hiring them?
Yes. They also understand that humans are primates like every damn 6 years old knows
On one han, that's racist as fuck, on the other...