SC GOP Activist Calls Gorilla "Just One of Michelle's Ancestors"
Rusty DePass, a prominent South Carolina GOP activist, is in trouble after describing an escaped gorilla at a South Carolina zoo as an “ancestor” of First Lady Michelle Obama.
The bout of "foot-in-mouth" disease started when Trey Walker, an advisor to S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster, posted a Facebook update about the escape of a Western Lowlands Gorilla from Columbia’s Riverbanks Zoo, which occured on Friday.
DePass then replied:
“I’m sure it’s just one of Michelle’s ancestors — probably harmless."DePass, after facing criticism even from his own party, told WIS-TV:
"I am as sorry as I can be if I offended anyone. The comment was clearly in jest."Comparing an African-American to an ape has long been known to be racist. Of course, over and over again, the excuse made for such comments has been either that it was a joke or that the person involved didn't know it was a racist comment.
Unfortunately, since these comments, when they occur, have been highly publicized, it becomes harder and harder to believe the excuse that the commenter simply didn't know.Columbia, SC Mayor Bob Coble said the following:
"You know, I don't think there's anything funny about that comment. That is the First Lady of the United States. We've had a long tradition of wonderful first ladies, and I don't think any of them deserve that type of comment."The comment has since been removed from Facebook and DePass' Facebook account has also been deleted.
13 comments:
Lest we forget, George W. Bush was called an ape and a chimp in words and in graphic images during his terms as President.
I'm not saying he didn't deserve it.
I am saying that the Obamas are not the first people to be insulted in that way.
Abraham Lincoln was portrayed as an ape, an ugly one at that.
You don't have to be African-American to be insulted with the comparison to apes and chimps.
Therefore, such insulting comparisons are not necessarily racist.
Even so, there is no other explanation that fits the South Carolina GOP activist's description of a gorilla as an ancestor of our First Lady. That was no joke. It was a shameful, hateful comment.
This is the same kind of $hit that the neocon GOP ultrarightwing eunuchs used in South Carolina, in their negative phone call campaign against John McCain in 2000. Remember -- when Bush-Rove minions sent 800,000 robocalls to South Carolina Republicans during their primary, telling them about "McCain's colored daughter ?" The little girl they adopted from Asia ?
The haters are still in charge at the GOP. The ignorance and corruption are still winning. Based on their failures and devisiveness of the last twenty years, truly decent Americans should be ASHAMED to call themselves a Republican.
"neocon GOP ultrarightwing" ???
Neo-Conservatism is from the FAR FAR FAR LEFT!!!!
Leo Strauss and the original "Neo-Cons" referred to themselves as "Trotskyites." Leon Trotsky was, of course, the man who first coined the term "racism" (right after he mass murdered 65 million innocent people who JUST HAPPENED to be of a different race and religion than he was...
WOW - yeah that was an UGLY comment. And cleary had racist undertones. I cannot defend it by saying it was said before about bush or Clinton or Lincoln. In those cases it was a comment on stature or social Graces or intellect, each of which is innocuous. The calling of a Black person an APE or a monkey goes way back and is a CORE racial epitaph, when said about a black person it is hardly a comment on intellect, and in this persons case it was clearly a comment of her ancestry being likened unto primates and therefore being less than human. Derogatory no matter how you slice it.
she can't help it.
she does have long arms,but her knuckles don't drag the ground yet.
Obama must be sorry he did'nt get a nice pretty white girl to marry.but he will have white girls and keep his baby mama too. I'm not a republican either.I voted for him,and I am sorry I did...
That fat old white boy from SC should be tarred and feathered for his comment about the First Lady. At least he was deleted from facebook for his nasty comment.
While it was on a public venue, it was a comment so what.
2. ALL OUR ANCESTORS ARE APES...
3. He never specifically mentions Michelle Obama, which either means he is not as clever as he thinks, or he was talking about a different Michelle. By his reaction, I assume Michelle.
I don’t know what latent or subconscious issues or perhaps deliberate tactic prompted Rusty DePass to make such a juvenile comment, but the challenge for me personally is to deal with this controversy in as high-minded manner as humanly possible. First, with sincere humility, I acknowledge that like Mr DePass, I am a flawed human being who has also made comments that are offensive to others. We all have our dark side, our “ID” or elementary subconscious part of our mind that prompts us on occasions to do, say, or “think” things that do not represent us at our best. I acknowledge the comment appears to have been made in “jest” and has racially insensitive overtones with an undercurrent of an unflattering assessment of another person’s appearance. As another human being, I find it offensive and I accepted Mr DePass apology and absolutely forgive him for the offense.
It’s not easy sometimes to not hate the person who makes an offensive comment. I believe as Christians, we should hate racially insensitive, and offensive remarks, that divides us a people, but not hate the person who makes them. Indeed, the Bible teaches us how to deal with these situations. We “turn the other cheek” in a sense that we respond to hate and intolerance with love and tolerance. We don’t say things back to offend the offender and potentially escalate the situation. We try to make the offender see that our high minded ideals make us capable of forgiveness and charity toward others who would do us harm. The worst thing to do is to respond with hate and anger. Your blood pressure spikes, you diminish your spirit and multiply the negative energy created by the perpetrator.
Because we are emotional creatures, we are capable of taking the actions of others in a very personal way. The intent of the offender is often perceived to be a minor consideration. When someone deeply offends me on a personal level, I play a little game of visualization. I imagine that “hateful” person jumping into a river and saving my daughter from drowning. How can I hate a person who has saved my kids life? (It works most of the time!)
And for the record, I also acknowledge that comments about a person’s appearance is a hot button issue in our society that is obsessed with the superficial and external appearance. In the final analysis, none of our comments about the way other people look is important. God judges us for our character and I’m afraid good looks won’t score any points with the Father! I have met President Barack Obama on a couple of occasions and he seems to be a wonderful person and I have no doubt that First Lady Michelle Obama is also.
God bless you Rusty DePass! Go forward and sin no more.
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Passive aggressive anonymous Republican posters should man-up to their comments.
PDN has not responded to the accusations of passive racism, so it is hard to say whether it is an oversight on their part, or something more sinister. It appears more to be a symptom of the culture.
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