One of my buddies had a patient, a little black kid, who fell and hurt his coccyx (tailbone). Was showing the parents the xray and explaining it to them. The mom pointed to the xray and asked “whats that?”. My friend said, “ thats the coccyx, or “tail bone”. A long time ago that would have developed into a tail, like what monkeys have”.
A couple of days latter, called into the directors office for “official counseling” on a patient complaint. Mother had called stating “the doctor insulted my child, called him a monkey, he’s a racist”. Best part, my colleague was as liberal a Jew as has existed, outside of Woody Allen. After that, he was just a little less liberal....
I heard a story of a black boy whose catholic school teacher (a nun) called him “cute as a monkey”. She did not mean anything by it, in some places folks use that expression just like I’ve heard “cute as a button” although I never understood that one either. He complained to his mom and the nun got in trouble. I really think blacks walk around with a chip on their shoulder.