klueless kraut zoo keepers.
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Clueless? I doubt it.
The zoo keepers said they intended it as an honor:
The baby mandrill, which belongs to a species closely related to the baboon, was born on March 23, Manuela Collmar, zookeeper at the zoo’s “Afrika Haus,” said. Each year the zoo names all newborn animals beginning with the same letter.“This year they all begin with ‘O,’ and one of the zookeepers chose ‘Obama’ – it was meant to be positive and an honour in light of his visit to Dresden in June,” Collmar said, adding that neither she nor her colleagues were aware of the history of using monkeys to caricature and ethnically stereotype black people.
Perhaps an example of the "purple defense". When the facts are in your favor, argue the facts. When the law is in your favor, argue the law. When neither the law nor the facts are in your favor, say whatever you can say without turning purple.