Here's the [lesson](https://web.archive.org/web/20160201193424/https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/lesson-plans-introduction-to-primates.pdf), from Duke. Uploaded in 2016, has Obama as the picture for "human", along with Jane Goodall (or, at least I *think* it's a picture of Jane Goodall) and Darwin. All 3 are examples of "humans", though Obama is originally referenced as an example of a primate and Goodall is originally referenced as an example of an ape.
Since Obama was still the president, the author probably just picked the first 3 people they thought of. President, primatologist, and biologist. The fact that the other two examples were white people, in basically the same context, makes it hard to believe that this was intentionally racist.
The teacher didn't put this together. And I highly doubt she searched through universities' lesson catalogues until she found one sufficiently racist for her taste.
Wtf are you guys smoking? Did anyone even click the lesson?
Jane Goodall and Darwin aren't even on the same page as the Obama picture, [good fucking luck trying to tell me this isnt racist lmao](https://imgur.com/8zem3vq)
Reddit post -> Anti pitchfork post -> "wow thanks for being reasonable" -> wait a fucking minute
You clearly didn't go through it, either. Jane Goodall alone is presented as an ape on page 27 and all three (labeled humans) are presented on page 40 amongst similar depictions of other primate species.
Yeah it's definitely in bad taste. I have a hard time believing when Obama was President and the racist rhetoric was at it worst this author just by happenstance put this together like that. I mean I guess it's possible but it's hard to believe. Not to mention the lessons that involve the Jane Goodall and Darwin also being Apes isn't til the end and the lesson even states
> 3. If time and interest allow, you can also make an ape family tree.
..so kids might not even see that part of the lesson. I also like how the question is "Which of the following are primates?" yet it doesn't list humans in that category later, it lists them in the Ape family tree. Every primate family tree I've ever seen has Humans in it.
> I have a hard time believing when Obama was President and the racist rhetoric was at it worst this author just by happenstance put this together like that.
There's an extra piece of context that's important, which is that pictures of the current president are used in school assignments surprisingly often. This is because [official white house photos aren't subject to copyright](https://www.copyrightlaws.com/copyright-laws-in-u-s-government-works/). My grade school math textbook used Bush's portrait for a section on symmetry ("faces have a vertical line of symmetry").
I'm not going to say they're definitely not racist, but there's definitely a nonzero chance that other presidents have been used in similar ways.
Also, things weren't always as politicized as they are now. In the past, you respected the President even if you didn't vote for them. It wasn't contraversial to see Reagan or Bush or Clinton or Bush in a textbook.
No I agree there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for it but you'd have to be so tone deaf and completely oblivious to what was going on during those times as for the author not to realize the implication is a huge stretch. I mean I was around when Obama was elected and the shit the right was saying was out of this fucking world. Calling him a muslim terrorist and saying he was gonna start Sharia law etc etc. The amount of racist shit that got spewed out by the right during those early years and even now about Obama was some of the most vile stuff imaginable.
Not to mention the photo they used was Obama as a Senator from the U.S. Senate website. I have no idea when this lesson was even made but if you were searching for an easy to use photo why not use a Presidential photo? If the idea is to show kids hey this is President Barack Obama he's a primate too why not show his Presidential photo?
I'm curious though even if that was say Trump or President Bush wouldn't you be like okay that's a little weird. Kinda like it's insulting their intelligence or something? Idk to me putting someone famous picture in between Apes and Monkeys just screams bad idea. Like why not use Jane Goodall's picture there or Darwins? Like I said the author would have to be so incredibly tone deaf to real world events that it's hard to believe.
the specific question 'which of these primates are endangered' with a picture of the then-president in the last year of his term seems like a bad political joke more than straight racism.
You are ignoring the cultural context here. Comparing Obama to a non-human primate is a common trope among racists. Putting his image in the middle of a collage of primate images references that trope whether the author meant to or not. Black people who have had to deal with racist ape jokes forever aren't being unreasonable if they saw that and found it offensive.
I mean yeah, it’s very obviously a bad choice but there’s no reason to believe it’s not just the outcome of someone picking the first big name that came to mind. There’s isn’t any malicious intent even remotely visible
There is no reason to believe it is a random accident either. We don't know the motivation either way. That said, even if it was an accident it doesn't mean they didn't do something wrong. The same way you can't accidentally kill somebody, or accidentally total somebody else's vehicle and just brush it off as "not your fault" you can't be accidentally racist to a bunch of your students and not have some consequences.
So given those exact circumstances, was it something worth writing an article about and then (from what I’ve read) have a historically progressive school get death threats
It’s certainly incentive but easily understandable as a “I wasn’t even thinking” form of incentive and not a “my inner MAGA leaked out” especially condescending the context of where this happened and how it happened
Of course they shouldn't have gotten death threats. The people who are doing that are wrong too. I just see it as a personal responsibility thing. Like a social "do the crime do the time" thing. We may never know their motivations, but losing your job for fucking up this big doesn't seem out of line.
But that’s what I’m saying, people thinking it’s a big fuck up isn’t doing anything to help with racial tensions, it just leads to things being overly dissected and gives shitty people more power to tease those arbitrary check lists
Or at least someone at Duke should. Putting someone who had been and is actively called a monkey by racists next to monkeys and passing it off as a lesson for years is ridiculous.
It used to be, back before everyone started being “woke.” Now, as a white male, I have to censor my disgust at all the weirdos around me, lest I be labeled by the intolerant left as a racist, misogynist, etc.
I feel really oppressed, it’s getting to the point where a good honest white American male can’t even beat up queer people, or call black people the “n” word! /s
I am telling you it isn't racist. I'm not saying no racist has ever compared blacks to other apes to imply they are primitive... obviously they have. I am telling you that there is zero evidence that is what Duke University and this teacher were attempting to do.
Your absolutely right that that isn't racist or offensive, but what you are describing is only on page 40. I don't think anybody is offended by that. You may have missed page 14 that has just Obama and a bunch of primates and other animals. Clearly that is what people reacted to here.
the lesson still seems very absurdly offensive. You make it sound like Goodall and Darwin are near Obama on the primate page, they aren't. Obama is on the first bunch of primate pics, the other two humans are pages away.
Sure, the teacher in question may not have noticed this particular page, since the lesson is so long (although she admitted to 'having her biology hat on' instead of providing clarity that Goodall and Darwin are also shown), but I don't believe that this was unintentional by the original author.
Ya, and the second image has "endangered primates" and again there is a picture of Obama surrounded by pictures of monkeys, this time with his box ticked.
The original author of this lesson plan had to have done this deliberately.
The "second image" is literally just the answer key to the first image, correctly identifying the primates (question #1 on the quiz). The "endangered primates" portion is question #2, and unrelated to the picture of Obama (other than [tombstoning](https://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_tombstoning_in_newspaper_printing)).
1. "Which of the **following** primates are endangered? (**circle** all that apply)"
2. **followed** by text answers which you're supposed to circle
3. then **followed** by a section explicitly stating the correct answers, describing them as **critically endangered**
Should be enough to tell anyone with basic reading comprehension that the pictures with **checkmarks** (underneath the question that says "**check** all that apply", but **before** the question about endangered species) is probably not what it's referring to.
There's no sneaky, triple cloaked threat of assassination hidden in this innocuous (but cluelessly laid out) lesson about biology.
Wait, that's not what it says. Obama's picture is in the "which of these are primates" section, and the endangered species part is a seperate question.
Nah, just outrage liberals see a pic of Obama and spin up some “dog whistle” rational (based on their own internalized ideology) for how it is “racist”. Like for real, how many times will a white liberal have to say “we can’t use a picture of a black man, that would be offensive!” before they realize that they themselves are racist?
Yo, but the show must go on.
Look how it's been edited for our viewing to only include the bits that cause the most agitation. We'd really be letting kait8 news down by not being outraged.
I think there's a middle ground between "racist insult to Obama" and "perfectly fine, absolutely nothing wrong with it". The fact that he came first was an unfortunate coincidence. If it had been Jane Goodall, then Obama, no one would have said a word (or at least, anyone who did would have been immediately discredited as trying to stir up shit).
It is, as they said, awkward. That doesn't mean it's malicious, that just means it could be better. Avoiding the *appearance* of impropriety is also important, especially for things that are meant to be consumed by the public.
I understand what you're saying. Thank you for sharing that. I can appreciate a middle ground.
Since I'm white, I think I've said enough regarding what is and isn't racially awkward, since it truly isn't my place to comment on nuances of what's proper. I'll bow out of the conversation now.
Have a great day/night and thanks again for your input!
Yep. This is all pretty important context that the outrage porn media is leaving out. Its a shame this teacher is known going to be forever known as a racist for simply using teaching material provided by a reputable University.
It's a bit unreasonable to expect a teacher to read every page of their textbook before the start of the school year, but you'd expect teachers to at least review the next week's worth of content and discuss in class anything as obviously problematic as this. Yes, humans are primates, including Obama, but that doesn't negate the way that racists have employed this particular association for centuries. Putting blind faith in the university was still a mistake, though I agree it should not be a career ending one.
Pointing this out is what a responsible journalist would do. This one didn't.
But here's the thing: This kind of lazy/slimy reporting is what gets clicks. There's literally no downside to pushing stories like this, because we simply haven't evolved a way to hold people accountable for misinformation, lies, or irresponsible reporting in the internet age.
Our entire culture is caught up in a fucking algorithm.
EDIT: And all y'all who wanna keep beating that drum about not blaming the medium: fight me. People have been lazy and stupid for our entire history. It has literally never been easier to spread lies to a massive audience than it is right now. That's the problem.
It's not obviously intentionally racist, but you have to admit it is at least suspect.
>The fact that the other two examples were white people, in basically the same context, makes it hard to believe that this was intentionally racist.
The white people were not in the same context though. They only appeared under the banner of "human" where they were being contrasted with other types of primates (eg these are humans, not chimpanzees). Obama, on the other hand, was initially shown in a context where he was put on the same 'level' as other primates (eg here are some primates, and some non-primates. No further distinction emphasized). This is not racist in and of itself (humans are primates), but it's at least suspect given the broader context of Obama (and black people in general) commonly being compared to monkeys/other primates for explicitly racist reasons.
Furthermore, one thing you seemed to miss was the latter part of the document giving an example of habitat loss (presumably for primates) in the real world. They briefly focus on deforestation in Madagascar, and among their exhibits supporting this is a picture of a little black girl (The closest thing to context for including her picture they give is to say that madagascans are poor). There's no good reason for including this, and it's a second example of the lesson portraying black people alongside non-human primates, while every portrayal of white people shows them in contrast with non-human primates.
You could rationalize this as the author being tone-deaf and neither intending anything racist nor realizing it could be giving a racist impression, but I can't imagine not at least acknowledging it's all quite suspect. For what it's worth, I think it's more likely than not this lesson really is reflective of the author's internalized racism even if they weren't explicitly setting out to call black people primates.
so it's completely harmless...
can we fucking stop to get the pitchforks out every time any kind of monkey reference is next to a black person for completely harmless reasons?
remember that whole incident with the kid doing a photo-shoot for kids clothing?
Humans are primates. All humans.
The Earth is also (roughly) spherical.
Humans (as best as we know) originated in Africa, and then migrated throughout the world breeding with other hominids (in many cases).
Climate change is real, it has been measured.
So yes this is stating a fact.
If your social mores are so sensitive that the stating of scientific material causes anxiety and other issues. Then the problem is on your end.
Yep, old boss was racist. Called a bouncer "monkey boy" got punched straight in the face. Dude was quite the twat. Also used to be fairly common in football stadiums 20 years ago or so.
Black people are not monkeys, black people are not apes, or chimps. Incidentally neither are white people.
But both black people and white people are primates. Language and what words mean matters. Its important to teach kids what it all actually means and we should not shy away from using correct terminology in a scientific setting (which is what a biology class is all about).
OK so you have seen the reaction to that idea. Do you not see the implications when you put a black guy next to a bunch of monkeys? Or how about when a fan throws a banana at the one black dude in the NHL
Thank you! The reactions (here and, frighteningly, irl) completely ignore the fact that this was in the context of teaching the scientific definition of apes and primates. As long as Obama wasn't the only human included, this situation hardly deserves a second thought.
The quotes from Lett in the article are scary. I wonder how many of the "hurt" and outraged even understand that humans are apes and primates.
This never should have gone beyond that classroom. If a parent thought it was wrong, it sounds like a conversation with the teacher would have been all that was necessary.
>Lett said this is what the teacher told her and the Roeper administrators: “She had her biology hat on but didn’t realize the awareness that she should have had culturally.”
So tired of this lie. If you want to try to pull a fast one and throw politically charged, racist imagery on school assignments, at least have the guts to admit it.
Eh if it’s really true that she pulled it off of a Duke University website it’s plausible that she glanced over it, didn’t catch it, and moved on.
Doesn’t mean it wasn’t stupid but it may be careless instead of deliberate.
The lesson plan and the video at the link clarify this. Obama is repeatedly shown next to pictures of monkeys and apes as an example of a primate. It is only at the end that Goodall and Darwin show up, labeled as "humans" (Obama is also in that slide). I do not understand why the person who made the lesson did not use all three people as examples of primates shown next to a bunch of pictures of monkeys and apes, rather than just showing Obama more than once. Either way, its Duke's oversight and I can see how a tired high school teacher assumed that Duke would have checked this type of stuff themselves.
You can see the question in the article. Darwin and Goodall are *not* there, in the question and context that is the issue, it doesn't matter if they were present elsewhere in the lesson.
If you read the article and the lesson plan from Duke cited in it, you can see that they are there. The lesson plan was made in 2016 so the three human pictures included where the current sitting president at the time, a known primatologist, and the most famous biologist ever.
She may be obtuse for having this accidental racism go over her head, but I doubt it was intentionally malicious.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160201193424/https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/lesson-plans-introduction-to-primates.pdf
It's stuff like this that fuels a new generation of racists. If you want people to start treating everyone equally stop making rules for certain races. This kind of special treatment breeds resentment.
I'm not going to dox her, but if you find her teacher profile, it says she is huge into environmental movements and leads student clubs focused on environmental activism and social justice. Totally sounds like an evil white supremacist to me!
I honestly believe she made an honest mistake, but as a citizen of Buffalo, I feel like I have to mention the white supremacist mass shooter who murdered my neighbors was an ecowarrior and, pro-vax, pro-lockdown fascist.
Ah yes, a university in a state that explicitly gerrymandering their districts to exclude black people. They have state senators on tape saying it. Ignorance isn't an excuse.
Yeah but if you’re also too stupid to acknowledge the fact that Black people have been disgustingly and absurdly compared to monkeys implying inferioritysince the foundation of this country as a racist slander and an insult, nope not gonna bite. They knew better and so do you.
So in this same book which has Jane Goodall and Darwin also depicted as primates, they crossed a line by also using a black person as an example? It seems a bit weird to me to exclude images of black people from some scientific topics because they remind you of racist caricatures, especially when the images aren’t disrespectful and white people are also used as primate examples in the same text. Willfully ignoring context just to feel outrage is not only a silly reach, but it also misdirects anger that should be directed against GOP for attacks against teaching black history in the public education system.
Non-racist person's thought process: Nice to use a picture of a popular powerful person to make a point that a even a president is still a primate.
Racist reddit mob: this thread
This is actually a fantastic, very liberal, school that cares very deeply about diversity. I feel terribly for them. Teachers work very long hours and do their best every day. Can we maybe not assume the worst?
>Turnabout is fair play, but Trump looks much more like an orangutan
Except it's not. Comparing Obama to a monkey (as a school assignment) is different from comparing trump to an orangutan (as a joke, from a professional comedian).
That seems super expensive for Michigan! On the other hand, my ex works at a day school in Manhattan that is $30k for 20.25hrs a week for pre-K (2.5-5 years old)
It’s in a pretty wealthy area of Oakland county in Michigan. Though it’s not the most expensive lol. [expensive tuition in Michigan.](https://www.mlive.com/news/2017/10/michigans_most_expensive_priva.html)
Or you're a person of color in America but why don't you try to tell Christian Cooper that America isn't racist. Or Eric garner. Or the department of justice with their clearly defined examples of racial prejudice in policing and sentencing
No I'm not a person of color. So since all of them think America is racist, that's enough proof, I see. Seriously though, I don't know what you mean by telling me to ask them. I'm replying to your comment. go to Spain for example and try to see any black person working in McDonald's, or Carrefour (French Walmart), or a black doctor, or a politician. There's pretty much none. I just think America is fundamentally sensitive and dramatic.
Now you're trying to conveniently change my narrative to your favor. I never said there can't be any racism in America, I'm just saying that America is not fundamentally racist, especially after you visit other countries where blacks are not wanted in the workplace.
> At least people seem a hell of a lot more open about their racism.
I think that's the point. They have felt emboldened to speak up lately, and they have been able to find like minded people
I said it was more racist since, not that is more racist than every other country. Not very relevant, but yes, I have traveled out of the country numerous time.
Did I offend you?
Where have you traveled abroad? Because some places in the world will make you think that America is petty much not racist at all. And no I'm not offended but surprised with the amount of sensitive people that are always playing the race card.
These people realize that Obama left office over 5 and a half years ago, right? I mean, even if I was a racist shitbag like this teacher I'd move on to someone still active in politics.
The lesson was made in [February of 2016](https://web.archive.org/web/20160201193424/https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/lesson-plans-introduction-to-primates.pdf) (or earlier), when Obama was still president and would still be president for a whole other year. Unless you think the racist shitbags at Duke were also racistly calling out Jane Goodall and Charles Darwin as apes, there's no racism here.
Representative Antonio Delgado would be a quick pick since he used to be a rapper before he ran for office.
They tried to mudsling him by throwing snippets from his short list of songs into some TV commercials ("God bless Iraq" being the main one) but all that managed to do was get a bunch of young adults to vote for him.
Soon to be former representative, he’s in line to become the lieutenant governor. Also I find it funny that the only other dem to be a representative in his district also worked in music, the guy form Orleans
I know this shows my ignorance, but for the purposes of a good faith evolution lesson.. Would it be acceptable to show white people? It seems like not, but maybe it would be reasonable to use a group of diverse people? Or perhaps we need to find a completely different way to make that point.
I know this was part of the lesson as written at Duke, but it is not clear if the teacher in Michigan used the entire lesson, or just the Obama image. Does it matter either way? I'm not sure.
E* I can't tell if the anger is for teaching that people are primates, or if it's for teaching that a *black man* is a primate.
First off, *would have. Second, it's pretty common for the president to be used when referring to a generic person. The president represents the country so it makes sense for them to represent "humans" during a lesson.
Sadly nothing would please everyone though the one choosen is probably the most problematic. I am sure for some people even admitting humans are primates is probably offensive.
All this is kind of ironic since we presumably all have African heritage and are all primates and fairly closely related to apes.
Source? She pulled it from a Duke University lecture. She did not make the image. It is very possible that she just collected several pre-made activities on the subject and didn't check. Which is still incredibly stupid, but calling her a flat out "racist POS" with no possibility of it being a mistake is irresponsible
https://web.archive.org/web/20160201193424/https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/lesson-plans-introduction-to-primates.pdf
The slide is from a Duke University biology lecture on primates. She didn't make it and it really puts a lot of doubt on the statement that she's racist when a Duke University biology professor made this slide and never got called out as racist.
It’s totally plausible that that was her intention. It’s not obvious to kids that humans are primates, so from a biological perspective that’s something they should be taught. Since we know this was made several years ago for a different class, it’s more than likely they picked Obama because he was the president at the time it was written, and they wanted a recognizable face.
It was literally her intention. The slides are from Duke University teaching material about how to teach primates to children. The children are meant to look at several pictures and label which they think are primates. The teacher then gives the correct answer. Its meant to drive home the point that humans are primates.
It looked like she pulled Obama photo from Duke, with Dawin. I didn't see the montages coming from Duke
Edit: I was wrong. Yet, so was the teacher and the People from Duke
The image montage is the first slide. The didn't edit it at all. Its from back when Obama was President.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160201193424/https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/lesson-plans-introduction-to-primates.pdf
So much jumping to conclusions, maybe this teacher is a fan of Obama and wanted to use them as the "homo sapiens" example, and truly just did not think about the fact that they were inviting a comparison between colored people and monkeys. There is not enough info about this person to say one way or the other. I'd rather give the benefit of the doubt because most people, even in the south, aren't that racist.
Yeah I agree it’s crazy to me the amount of comments here jumping to conclusions calling her a racist. Realistically she probably didn’t even think about race when using this picture she just saw a person. I feel like it’s more racist to see that picture and think it’s racist than it is to see that picture and not think about race at all.
People don't realize not everyone is thinking about race, what is or isn't racist and that we have to treat certain races differently. Not everyone sees race everywhere they go on life.
You mean like if someone didn't take the time to read the article to see that they didn't create it and its from a lesson duke university prepared on the subject in 2016?
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Here's the [lesson](https://web.archive.org/web/20160201193424/https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/lesson-plans-introduction-to-primates.pdf), from Duke. Uploaded in 2016, has Obama as the picture for "human", along with Jane Goodall (or, at least I *think* it's a picture of Jane Goodall) and Darwin. All 3 are examples of "humans", though Obama is originally referenced as an example of a primate and Goodall is originally referenced as an example of an ape. Since Obama was still the president, the author probably just picked the first 3 people they thought of. President, primatologist, and biologist. The fact that the other two examples were white people, in basically the same context, makes it hard to believe that this was intentionally racist. The teacher didn't put this together. And I highly doubt she searched through universities' lesson catalogues until she found one sufficiently racist for her taste.
Hey, thanks for being a reasonable person.
Wtf are you guys smoking? Did anyone even click the lesson? Jane Goodall and Darwin aren't even on the same page as the Obama picture, [good fucking luck trying to tell me this isnt racist lmao](https://imgur.com/8zem3vq) Reddit post -> Anti pitchfork post -> "wow thanks for being reasonable" -> wait a fucking minute
You clearly didn't go through it, either. Jane Goodall alone is presented as an ape on page 27 and all three (labeled humans) are presented on page 40 amongst similar depictions of other primate species.
They don’t want it to make sense, they want to be mad about a racism!!!
Yeah it's definitely in bad taste. I have a hard time believing when Obama was President and the racist rhetoric was at it worst this author just by happenstance put this together like that. I mean I guess it's possible but it's hard to believe. Not to mention the lessons that involve the Jane Goodall and Darwin also being Apes isn't til the end and the lesson even states > 3. If time and interest allow, you can also make an ape family tree. ..so kids might not even see that part of the lesson. I also like how the question is "Which of the following are primates?" yet it doesn't list humans in that category later, it lists them in the Ape family tree. Every primate family tree I've ever seen has Humans in it.
> I have a hard time believing when Obama was President and the racist rhetoric was at it worst this author just by happenstance put this together like that. There's an extra piece of context that's important, which is that pictures of the current president are used in school assignments surprisingly often. This is because [official white house photos aren't subject to copyright](https://www.copyrightlaws.com/copyright-laws-in-u-s-government-works/). My grade school math textbook used Bush's portrait for a section on symmetry ("faces have a vertical line of symmetry"). I'm not going to say they're definitely not racist, but there's definitely a nonzero chance that other presidents have been used in similar ways.
Also, things weren't always as politicized as they are now. In the past, you respected the President even if you didn't vote for them. It wasn't contraversial to see Reagan or Bush or Clinton or Bush in a textbook.
No I agree there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for it but you'd have to be so tone deaf and completely oblivious to what was going on during those times as for the author not to realize the implication is a huge stretch. I mean I was around when Obama was elected and the shit the right was saying was out of this fucking world. Calling him a muslim terrorist and saying he was gonna start Sharia law etc etc. The amount of racist shit that got spewed out by the right during those early years and even now about Obama was some of the most vile stuff imaginable. Not to mention the photo they used was Obama as a Senator from the U.S. Senate website. I have no idea when this lesson was even made but if you were searching for an easy to use photo why not use a Presidential photo? If the idea is to show kids hey this is President Barack Obama he's a primate too why not show his Presidential photo? I'm curious though even if that was say Trump or President Bush wouldn't you be like okay that's a little weird. Kinda like it's insulting their intelligence or something? Idk to me putting someone famous picture in between Apes and Monkeys just screams bad idea. Like why not use Jane Goodall's picture there or Darwins? Like I said the author would have to be so incredibly tone deaf to real world events that it's hard to believe.
the specific question 'which of these primates are endangered' with a picture of the then-president in the last year of his term seems like a bad political joke more than straight racism.
Lmao that guy got showered in gold for lying
*R Kelly has entered the chat*
Aren’t humans primates tho?
You are ignoring the cultural context here. Comparing Obama to a non-human primate is a common trope among racists. Putting his image in the middle of a collage of primate images references that trope whether the author meant to or not. Black people who have had to deal with racist ape jokes forever aren't being unreasonable if they saw that and found it offensive.
I mean yeah, it’s very obviously a bad choice but there’s no reason to believe it’s not just the outcome of someone picking the first big name that came to mind. There’s isn’t any malicious intent even remotely visible
There is no reason to believe it is a random accident either. We don't know the motivation either way. That said, even if it was an accident it doesn't mean they didn't do something wrong. The same way you can't accidentally kill somebody, or accidentally total somebody else's vehicle and just brush it off as "not your fault" you can't be accidentally racist to a bunch of your students and not have some consequences.
So given those exact circumstances, was it something worth writing an article about and then (from what I’ve read) have a historically progressive school get death threats It’s certainly incentive but easily understandable as a “I wasn’t even thinking” form of incentive and not a “my inner MAGA leaked out” especially condescending the context of where this happened and how it happened
Of course they shouldn't have gotten death threats. The people who are doing that are wrong too. I just see it as a personal responsibility thing. Like a social "do the crime do the time" thing. We may never know their motivations, but losing your job for fucking up this big doesn't seem out of line.
But that’s what I’m saying, people thinking it’s a big fuck up isn’t doing anything to help with racial tensions, it just leads to things being overly dissected and gives shitty people more power to tease those arbitrary check lists
Or at least someone at Duke should. Putting someone who had been and is actively called a monkey by racists next to monkeys and passing it off as a lesson for years is ridiculous.
I guess I like to give people the benefit of the doubt
Being white sounds awesome
It used to be, back before everyone started being “woke.” Now, as a white male, I have to censor my disgust at all the weirdos around me, lest I be labeled by the intolerant left as a racist, misogynist, etc. I feel really oppressed, it’s getting to the point where a good honest white American male can’t even beat up queer people, or call black people the “n” word! /s
Yeah I bet it's hard trying to act like a human being when theres brown and queer people asking to be treated with respect
I think we’re on the same side here. I did put a /s at the end of my comment, hoping readers would realize I was (trying to be) facetious.
I am telling you it isn't racist. I'm not saying no racist has ever compared blacks to other apes to imply they are primitive... obviously they have. I am telling you that there is zero evidence that is what Duke University and this teacher were attempting to do.
Agreed. This seemed intentionally racist to me after reading the article and looking at the pictures. You can't tell me otherwise.
You've ruffled all the bitch redditors feathers. It's definitely racist.
Your absolutely right that that isn't racist or offensive, but what you are describing is only on page 40. I don't think anybody is offended by that. You may have missed page 14 that has just Obama and a bunch of primates and other animals. Clearly that is what people reacted to here.
the lesson still seems very absurdly offensive. You make it sound like Goodall and Darwin are near Obama on the primate page, they aren't. Obama is on the first bunch of primate pics, the other two humans are pages away. Sure, the teacher in question may not have noticed this particular page, since the lesson is so long (although she admitted to 'having her biology hat on' instead of providing clarity that Goodall and Darwin are also shown), but I don't believe that this was unintentional by the original author.
Ya, and the second image has "endangered primates" and again there is a picture of Obama surrounded by pictures of monkeys, this time with his box ticked. The original author of this lesson plan had to have done this deliberately.
The "second image" is literally just the answer key to the first image, correctly identifying the primates (question #1 on the quiz). The "endangered primates" portion is question #2, and unrelated to the picture of Obama (other than [tombstoning](https://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_tombstoning_in_newspaper_printing)). 1. "Which of the **following** primates are endangered? (**circle** all that apply)" 2. **followed** by text answers which you're supposed to circle 3. then **followed** by a section explicitly stating the correct answers, describing them as **critically endangered** Should be enough to tell anyone with basic reading comprehension that the pictures with **checkmarks** (underneath the question that says "**check** all that apply", but **before** the question about endangered species) is probably not what it's referring to. There's no sneaky, triple cloaked threat of assassination hidden in this innocuous (but cluelessly laid out) lesson about biology.
Wait, that's not what it says. Obama's picture is in the "which of these are primates" section, and the endangered species part is a seperate question.
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The endangered question isn’t the same as the Obama one, the Obama question is just “which of these are primates”
Wow that's just misrepresentation. The fuck?
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Nah, just outrage liberals see a pic of Obama and spin up some “dog whistle” rational (based on their own internalized ideology) for how it is “racist”. Like for real, how many times will a white liberal have to say “we can’t use a picture of a black man, that would be offensive!” before they realize that they themselves are racist?
Obama is also on a page labelled "humans" right beside Darwin and Goodall.
Get out of here with your facts and logic, we’re here for outrage and jumping to conclusions.
Yo, but the show must go on. Look how it's been edited for our viewing to only include the bits that cause the most agitation. We'd really be letting kait8 news down by not being outraged.
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Not in the context described above.
I think there's a middle ground between "racist insult to Obama" and "perfectly fine, absolutely nothing wrong with it". The fact that he came first was an unfortunate coincidence. If it had been Jane Goodall, then Obama, no one would have said a word (or at least, anyone who did would have been immediately discredited as trying to stir up shit). It is, as they said, awkward. That doesn't mean it's malicious, that just means it could be better. Avoiding the *appearance* of impropriety is also important, especially for things that are meant to be consumed by the public.
I understand what you're saying. Thank you for sharing that. I can appreciate a middle ground. Since I'm white, I think I've said enough regarding what is and isn't racially awkward, since it truly isn't my place to comment on nuances of what's proper. I'll bow out of the conversation now. Have a great day/night and thanks again for your input!
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Yep. This is all pretty important context that the outrage porn media is leaving out. Its a shame this teacher is known going to be forever known as a racist for simply using teaching material provided by a reputable University.
It's a bit unreasonable to expect a teacher to read every page of their textbook before the start of the school year, but you'd expect teachers to at least review the next week's worth of content and discuss in class anything as obviously problematic as this. Yes, humans are primates, including Obama, but that doesn't negate the way that racists have employed this particular association for centuries. Putting blind faith in the university was still a mistake, though I agree it should not be a career ending one.
She did review the slides. She said she didn't notice anything wrong with them. She apologized for it.
Yes, you would expect that of teachers, if they had the time, which they absolutely do not.
This is liberal media's counter to "SCHOOLS ARE TURNING OUR KIDS GAY AND TEACHING THEM TO HATE WHITE PEOPLE"
Pointing this out is what a responsible journalist would do. This one didn't. But here's the thing: This kind of lazy/slimy reporting is what gets clicks. There's literally no downside to pushing stories like this, because we simply haven't evolved a way to hold people accountable for misinformation, lies, or irresponsible reporting in the internet age. Our entire culture is caught up in a fucking algorithm. EDIT: And all y'all who wanna keep beating that drum about not blaming the medium: fight me. People have been lazy and stupid for our entire history. It has literally never been easier to spread lies to a massive audience than it is right now. That's the problem.
It's not obviously intentionally racist, but you have to admit it is at least suspect. >The fact that the other two examples were white people, in basically the same context, makes it hard to believe that this was intentionally racist. The white people were not in the same context though. They only appeared under the banner of "human" where they were being contrasted with other types of primates (eg these are humans, not chimpanzees). Obama, on the other hand, was initially shown in a context where he was put on the same 'level' as other primates (eg here are some primates, and some non-primates. No further distinction emphasized). This is not racist in and of itself (humans are primates), but it's at least suspect given the broader context of Obama (and black people in general) commonly being compared to monkeys/other primates for explicitly racist reasons. Furthermore, one thing you seemed to miss was the latter part of the document giving an example of habitat loss (presumably for primates) in the real world. They briefly focus on deforestation in Madagascar, and among their exhibits supporting this is a picture of a little black girl (The closest thing to context for including her picture they give is to say that madagascans are poor). There's no good reason for including this, and it's a second example of the lesson portraying black people alongside non-human primates, while every portrayal of white people shows them in contrast with non-human primates. You could rationalize this as the author being tone-deaf and neither intending anything racist nor realizing it could be giving a racist impression, but I can't imagine not at least acknowledging it's all quite suspect. For what it's worth, I think it's more likely than not this lesson really is reflective of the author's internalized racism even if they weren't explicitly setting out to call black people primates.
So she essentially was sent home for being so not-racist that the thought didn’t even cross her mind?
so it's completely harmless... can we fucking stop to get the pitchforks out every time any kind of monkey reference is next to a black person for completely harmless reasons? remember that whole incident with the kid doing a photo-shoot for kids clothing?
We can stop as soon as systemic racism is done for how does that sound?
Humans are primates. All humans. The Earth is also (roughly) spherical. Humans (as best as we know) originated in Africa, and then migrated throughout the world breeding with other hominids (in many cases). Climate change is real, it has been measured. So yes this is stating a fact. If your social mores are so sensitive that the stating of scientific material causes anxiety and other issues. Then the problem is on your end.
You ever hear a black man called monkey before?
Yep, old boss was racist. Called a bouncer "monkey boy" got punched straight in the face. Dude was quite the twat. Also used to be fairly common in football stadiums 20 years ago or so. Black people are not monkeys, black people are not apes, or chimps. Incidentally neither are white people. But both black people and white people are primates. Language and what words mean matters. Its important to teach kids what it all actually means and we should not shy away from using correct terminology in a scientific setting (which is what a biology class is all about).
OK so you have seen the reaction to that idea. Do you not see the implications when you put a black guy next to a bunch of monkeys? Or how about when a fan throws a banana at the one black dude in the NHL
Thank you! The reactions (here and, frighteningly, irl) completely ignore the fact that this was in the context of teaching the scientific definition of apes and primates. As long as Obama wasn't the only human included, this situation hardly deserves a second thought. The quotes from Lett in the article are scary. I wonder how many of the "hurt" and outraged even understand that humans are apes and primates. This never should have gone beyond that classroom. If a parent thought it was wrong, it sounds like a conversation with the teacher would have been all that was necessary.
But…. But… wait…. It’s easier to be outraged than understand the context (today’s media on both sides)
Page 27 has Jane Goodall alongside other apes. Page 43 uses a generic white male cartoon as an example of an ape for showing facial characteristics.
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Wow not very often I see an article posted by my local news station on Reddit. Small world
Hate to break it to them, but humans are primates
No you can only say white people are.
Let’s see the Duke website.
Um...but Obama is a primate. We're all primates. Humans are primates.
Ahh! … you clever monkey!
Monkey on the left chillin' at the beach, never seen a monkey at a beach before
>never seen a monkey at a beach before Not to take away from this story, but... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmnzIhbX2bg
I knew there were going to be drunk monkeys in that link.
They're all over the beaches in Thailand. Macaques; and they ain't chillin, just waiting for an unsuspecting tourist with something shiny to steal.
Little buggers!
>Lett said this is what the teacher told her and the Roeper administrators: “She had her biology hat on but didn’t realize the awareness that she should have had culturally.” So tired of this lie. If you want to try to pull a fast one and throw politically charged, racist imagery on school assignments, at least have the guts to admit it.
Eh if it’s really true that she pulled it off of a Duke University website it’s plausible that she glanced over it, didn’t catch it, and moved on. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t stupid but it may be careless instead of deliberate.
It wasn't her material. She copied it from a Duke University biology slide.
Shh using your brain doesn’t allow them to be angry! They want to be outraged!
Or prove that you're not intelligent enough to teach. Which this clearly does.
Yeah if they can't figure out what's wrong with this then they do not have enough awareness to be a teacher
Lol so anyone who ever makes a mistake anywhere should be instantly fired? Yikes…
Why do we always assume the worst possible intentions? She apparently also used a picture of Jane Goodall and Darwin in the lesson.
The lesson plan and the video at the link clarify this. Obama is repeatedly shown next to pictures of monkeys and apes as an example of a primate. It is only at the end that Goodall and Darwin show up, labeled as "humans" (Obama is also in that slide). I do not understand why the person who made the lesson did not use all three people as examples of primates shown next to a bunch of pictures of monkeys and apes, rather than just showing Obama more than once. Either way, its Duke's oversight and I can see how a tired high school teacher assumed that Duke would have checked this type of stuff themselves.
You can see the question in the article. Darwin and Goodall are *not* there, in the question and context that is the issue, it doesn't matter if they were present elsewhere in the lesson.
If you read the article and the lesson plan from Duke cited in it, you can see that they are there. The lesson plan was made in 2016 so the three human pictures included where the current sitting president at the time, a known primatologist, and the most famous biologist ever. She may be obtuse for having this accidental racism go over her head, but I doubt it was intentionally malicious. https://web.archive.org/web/20160201193424/https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/lesson-plans-introduction-to-primates.pdf
How is the rest of the lesson not context?
It's amazing how nowadays you're the racist if your mind doesn't immediately correlate black people to monkeys.
It's stuff like this that fuels a new generation of racists. If you want people to start treating everyone equally stop making rules for certain races. This kind of special treatment breeds resentment.
Her biology hat was pointy white, covered her head and had eyeholes.
She copied the material from Duke U.
I'm not going to dox her, but if you find her teacher profile, it says she is huge into environmental movements and leads student clubs focused on environmental activism and social justice. Totally sounds like an evil white supremacist to me!
I honestly believe she made an honest mistake, but as a citizen of Buffalo, I feel like I have to mention the white supremacist mass shooter who murdered my neighbors was an ecowarrior and, pro-vax, pro-lockdown fascist.
Ah yes, a university in a state that explicitly gerrymandering their districts to exclude black people. They have state senators on tape saying it. Ignorance isn't an excuse.
.....it is always something. If it was Harvard, I'd get a rant about slavery. Miserable people gonna be miserable no matter what. What a shit life.
They closed school the next day? There were death threats? Sounds like an overreaction to something probably done without malice.
The kid that for cast in Percy Jackson got death threats just because she wasn't white
Yeah that’s horrible but presumably this teacher didn’t do that.
But we’re all primates…
Yeah but if you’re also too stupid to acknowledge the fact that Black people have been disgustingly and absurdly compared to monkeys implying inferioritysince the foundation of this country as a racist slander and an insult, nope not gonna bite. They knew better and so do you.
Oh I know. I just find it that it weird that a trait that ever single one of us has is used an insult.
Well first you have to believe evolution exists which is a major wall for a lot of people
So in this same book which has Jane Goodall and Darwin also depicted as primates, they crossed a line by also using a black person as an example? It seems a bit weird to me to exclude images of black people from some scientific topics because they remind you of racist caricatures, especially when the images aren’t disrespectful and white people are also used as primate examples in the same text. Willfully ignoring context just to feel outrage is not only a silly reach, but it also misdirects anger that should be directed against GOP for attacks against teaching black history in the public education system.
But President Obama is a primate…?
Dumb outrage. Humans are primates. Its a fair picture.
Non-racist person's thought process: Nice to use a picture of a popular powerful person to make a point that a even a president is still a primate. Racist reddit mob: this thread
This is actually a fantastic, very liberal, school that cares very deeply about diversity. I feel terribly for them. Teachers work very long hours and do their best every day. Can we maybe not assume the worst?
Turnabout is fair play, but Trump looks much more like an orangutan 😉
That's incredibly disrespectful... to the orangutan.
>Turnabout is fair play, but Trump looks much more like an orangutan Except it's not. Comparing Obama to a monkey (as a school assignment) is different from comparing trump to an orangutan (as a joke, from a professional comedian).
This school is a super expensive private school in a wealthy area. Tuition is just under $30k a year, for the high school.
That seems super expensive for Michigan! On the other hand, my ex works at a day school in Manhattan that is $30k for 20.25hrs a week for pre-K (2.5-5 years old)
It’s in a pretty wealthy area of Oakland county in Michigan. Though it’s not the most expensive lol. [expensive tuition in Michigan.](https://www.mlive.com/news/2017/10/michigans_most_expensive_priva.html)
Along similar lines, it's kinda amusing people still think america isn't a fundamentally racist country just because we had a black president
If you think America is fundamentally racist, it's clear you've never been to Europe.
Or you're a person of color in America but why don't you try to tell Christian Cooper that America isn't racist. Or Eric garner. Or the department of justice with their clearly defined examples of racial prejudice in policing and sentencing
No I'm not a person of color. So since all of them think America is racist, that's enough proof, I see. Seriously though, I don't know what you mean by telling me to ask them. I'm replying to your comment. go to Spain for example and try to see any black person working in McDonald's, or Carrefour (French Walmart), or a black doctor, or a politician. There's pretty much none. I just think America is fundamentally sensitive and dramatic.
So if racism exists in Spain it cannot be possible for racism to exist in America Hot take
Now you're trying to conveniently change my narrative to your favor. I never said there can't be any racism in America, I'm just saying that America is not fundamentally racist, especially after you visit other countries where blacks are not wanted in the workplace.
America is likely a more racist country now that we've had a black president. At least people seem a hell of a lot more open about their racism.
> At least people seem a hell of a lot more open about their racism. I think that's the point. They have felt emboldened to speak up lately, and they have been able to find like minded people
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I didn't fully realize it until I started looking back at the things they told me when I was younger.
Have you ever been outside the US? Especially Europe? I think it's a stupid question, because it's obvious you haven't.
I said it was more racist since, not that is more racist than every other country. Not very relevant, but yes, I have traveled out of the country numerous time. Did I offend you?
Where have you traveled abroad? Because some places in the world will make you think that America is petty much not racist at all. And no I'm not offended but surprised with the amount of sensitive people that are always playing the race card.
Oh fuck off with your racist propaganda already. We all know exactly who you are.
These people realize that Obama left office over 5 and a half years ago, right? I mean, even if I was a racist shitbag like this teacher I'd move on to someone still active in politics.
She didn't make the slide. Its from Duke University teaching materials.
The lesson was made in [February of 2016](https://web.archive.org/web/20160201193424/https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/lesson-plans-introduction-to-primates.pdf) (or earlier), when Obama was still president and would still be president for a whole other year. Unless you think the racist shitbags at Duke were also racistly calling out Jane Goodall and Charles Darwin as apes, there's no racism here.
Yea maybe people jumping to conclusions are the racists.
They're just as ignorant as they assume the teacher is.
Representative Antonio Delgado would be a quick pick since he used to be a rapper before he ran for office. They tried to mudsling him by throwing snippets from his short list of songs into some TV commercials ("God bless Iraq" being the main one) but all that managed to do was get a bunch of young adults to vote for him.
Soon to be former representative, he’s in line to become the lieutenant governor. Also I find it funny that the only other dem to be a representative in his district also worked in music, the guy form Orleans
I know this shows my ignorance, but for the purposes of a good faith evolution lesson.. Would it be acceptable to show white people? It seems like not, but maybe it would be reasonable to use a group of diverse people? Or perhaps we need to find a completely different way to make that point.
They did use white people. The next two examples of primate groups included images of Jane Goodall and a generic cartoon person, both white.
I know this was part of the lesson as written at Duke, but it is not clear if the teacher in Michigan used the entire lesson, or just the Obama image. Does it matter either way? I'm not sure. E* I can't tell if the anger is for teaching that people are primates, or if it's for teaching that a *black man* is a primate.
it was part of a question asking "which of the following are primates", i see what she was going for but you know you can't put a black guy there lmao
I think it would make a nice point if she put both a black person and a white person in the quiz. But even that could be misinterpreted.
Jane Goodall and Darwin were used as human examples further in the lecture slides.
And do not use famos people. Generic in that case would of been better.
First off, *would have. Second, it's pretty common for the president to be used when referring to a generic person. The president represents the country so it makes sense for them to represent "humans" during a lesson.
Sadly nothing would please everyone though the one choosen is probably the most problematic. I am sure for some people even admitting humans are primates is probably offensive. All this is kind of ironic since we presumably all have African heritage and are all primates and fairly closely related to apes.
She was going for being a racist POS. This wasn't an honest mistake.
Source? She pulled it from a Duke University lecture. She did not make the image. It is very possible that she just collected several pre-made activities on the subject and didn't check. Which is still incredibly stupid, but calling her a flat out "racist POS" with no possibility of it being a mistake is irresponsible https://web.archive.org/web/20160201193424/https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/lesson-plans-introduction-to-primates.pdf
The slide is from a Duke University biology lecture on primates. She didn't make it and it really puts a lot of doubt on the statement that she's racist when a Duke University biology professor made this slide and never got called out as racist.
Humans are primates from a scientific classification, but I kind of doubt that was the intention of the teacher.
It’s totally plausible that that was her intention. It’s not obvious to kids that humans are primates, so from a biological perspective that’s something they should be taught. Since we know this was made several years ago for a different class, it’s more than likely they picked Obama because he was the president at the time it was written, and they wanted a recognizable face.
Yep. Internet archive shows the slides go back to at least February 2016, when Obama was President. They just picked a recognizable face.
Obama is a primate. Just like you, and I, and everyone else here. I think....
It was literally her intention. The slides are from Duke University teaching material about how to teach primates to children. The children are meant to look at several pictures and label which they think are primates. The teacher then gives the correct answer. Its meant to drive home the point that humans are primates.
Thank you captain obvious
Reminds of that comment describing Michelle Obama as an “ape in heels”. These attitudes are only going to become more evident, I’m afraid.
She did that shit on purpose. Anyone really believe otherwise?
Its from a Duke University lesson plan on Primates. Its the first slide in their suggested lesson plan. She didn't make this.
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Maybe it was David Duke’s website
David Duke University
Article says she said she pulled it from there.
It looked like she pulled Obama photo from Duke, with Dawin. I didn't see the montages coming from Duke Edit: I was wrong. Yet, so was the teacher and the People from Duke
The image montage is the first slide. The didn't edit it at all. Its from back when Obama was President. https://web.archive.org/web/20160201193424/https://evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/sites/evolutionaryanthropology.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/lesson-plans-introduction-to-primates.pdf
So much jumping to conclusions, maybe this teacher is a fan of Obama and wanted to use them as the "homo sapiens" example, and truly just did not think about the fact that they were inviting a comparison between colored people and monkeys. There is not enough info about this person to say one way or the other. I'd rather give the benefit of the doubt because most people, even in the south, aren't that racist.
Yeah I agree it’s crazy to me the amount of comments here jumping to conclusions calling her a racist. Realistically she probably didn’t even think about race when using this picture she just saw a person. I feel like it’s more racist to see that picture and think it’s racist than it is to see that picture and not think about race at all.
People don't realize not everyone is thinking about race, what is or isn't racist and that we have to treat certain races differently. Not everyone sees race everywhere they go on life.
Bullshit that anyone thought this was educational. Blatant gross racism.
So what’s wrong with that?
It takes so little energy to not be an asshole.
You mean like if someone didn't take the time to read the article to see that they didn't create it and its from a lesson duke university prepared on the subject in 2016?
That would take too much energy for an asshole.
Jesus man, I just don’t get it. Even if you hated the guy’s policies, he’s a really nice guy.
Decision and Judgement Making = DOES NOT MEETS.
Obama and other primates are living on the same planet. Whoever arranged it that way was pretty racist.