When adjectives like “xenophobic” and “racist” keep getting attached to your state, the last thing you want is a radio host in Arizona comparing Obama to a monkey, and then making no apologies for it. Barbara Espinosa, host of a radio show called “Hair on Fire”, described her sentiment this way:
“I don’t believe in calling him the first black president. I voted for the white guy myself. I call him a monkey.”
It is hard to believe, but unfortunately it is true. Normally in these cases, when the public erupts in anger, the typical response is a retraction, or an apology, or anything that might make your remarks seem less terrible. Not so for Barbara Espinosa. What better way to defend against allegations of racism than by claiming that, “With a last name of Espinosa I’m anything but racist”?
A version of this defense is often common with closeted racists, who like to argue that because they have a black friend, they could not possibly be racist. The argument is the same, and equally idiotic.
To make matters worse, Espinosa gleefully upheld her views in a blog post, titled “YES! I did Use the Word Monkey and Obama in Same Sentence,” in which she calls upon her First Amendment right to say whatever is on her mind.
“Yes I did say I voted for the white guy,” she writes.” Unless there has been a takeover of America and free speech is no longer allowed and I can be put to death for making a remark, I refuse to take the fifth.”
She then goes on to copy paste a paragraph on evolution from Wikipedia, and two on monkeys, from the same source. Interestingly, she highlights the part that says “Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent.”
It seems like she’s suggesting that by calling Obama a monkey, what she was really doing was complimenting him.
Did somebody say something about a “post-racial” era?
