Utah Monkey Doll

[Moksha]

KUTV News
Salt Lake City
6/14/2008

Monkey Doll Named For Obama Called Racist

The company said it did not mean to offend anyone with the doll of Barack Obama, portrayed as a monkey. A Utah company offering online a sock monkey named for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says it didn't mean to anger anyone with a ``cute and cuddly'' toy that some are calling racist.

"We simply made a casual and affectionate observation one night, and a charming association between a candidate and a toy we had when we were little,'' according to a statement issued Saturday by Sock Obama LLC.

Jeanetta Williams, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called the toy "pure racism at its extreme.''

I wish folks in Utah would not do things like this.

Deseret News | Utahns' Obama monkeys racist?

[Fiannan]

Oh come on, who hasn't seen that picture circulated around the internet and turned into t-shirts that compares Bush to a chimp?

[Elphaba]

Originally Posted by Fiannan

Oh come on, who hasn't seen that picture circulated around the internet and turned into t-shirts that compares Bush to a chimp?

But Bush really is a chimp.

Elphaba

[SmilingRedhead]

Originally Posted by Elphaba

But Bush really is a chimp.

Elphaba

hahahaha!

[WANDERER]

Tacky. Perhaps they'd consider making a kRUDD doll. MMMmmm perhaps not.

[Jbs2763]

just wait and see what happens if that silly goose gets elelceted.....PC speech violations will get you put in a gulag

[Gwen]

i can see how someone who has possibly never even seen a black person in their entire life could not understand the inferences they were making with such a product. but that doesn't excuse it. if you even pretend to know anything about history or watch the news this election one should know that such a reference is offensive to many. i think it was a very very poor decision, and they will suffer the consequences for it.

yes there is a double standard where such things are concerned. double standards are everywhere, doesn't mean one shouldn't pay attention to what they say and do.

[Misshalfway]

What? A cute a cuddly representation? Please!

But even as I say that, I realize that Utah is not the South. We get accused of racism, I know. But I have lived here all my life and never seen anything like what is experienced in other parts of the country. My experience with such things is either in print or on the news or maybe second hand stories of something that happened somewhere.

Could it be that these people really were ignorant of the racially charged image they conjured? Maybe. But I still say that someone somewhere in that company should have seen thru it and put a cabash on the whole thing.

OUCH!

[Truegrits]

``cute and cuddly'' toy

I think it is quite ugly, and from the picture it sure doesn't look very cuddly!

[Gwen]

from what i've seen ppl with sock monkey obsessions are very odd and will make a sock monkey representation of anything/anyone. so take that and someone that really is clueless to the geneological history of some groups of ppl it's a dangerous combination that has come to pass.

if i recall correctly there was a big stink on the news about a black neighbor calling obama's kids monkies (refering to their climbing ability, i do it to mine all the time) and it hitting the fan.

yes some ppl are out to make a fuss over anything (what i think the neighbor got caught in) but producing this toy should have ramifications, not as huge as i think this could end up being but consequences. they should have done their homework or at least followed the news better (they would have known) before putting it out there.