Monkey Business

I'm so tired of reading about racists (yes, that's what they are) who refer to black people as monkeys and then say, "But I'm not racist!" The latest case involving a doctor in Denver who posted on Facebook that Michelle Obama has a "monkey face" claimed she didn't know saying a black woman resembled a monkey was racist. As Judge Judy would say, "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" These folks know damn well that referring to black folks as monkeys is racist. I remember when I was a teenager working as a cashier at KMart in Southfield, Michigan, one of my fellow employees, a young white woman, told me that another employee, a young black man, looked like a monkey. She prefaced it with something ridiculous like, "I'm not racist, but..." and then the monkey business started. Now why this woman felt the need to share her racism with me (a black woman) is unknown, but she went there. I just rolled my eyes and walked away. Now, I would have told that chick off. Now, it probably wouldn't have happened and I can only hope that woman grew up, saw the error of her ways, got her shit together, and stopped being racist. (Maybe she didn't, but I hope she did.) I'm just tired of people saying racist things and then claiming they're not racist. Yes, you are, folks. Own it or change your ways and disown it. Be the change, people. Be the change.