Posted on 02/02/2016 9:03:40 AM PST by Jack Hydrazine
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - The Sacramento Kings scrapped plans for a T-shirt giveaway at the last-minute on Monday after DeMarcus Cousins reportedly objected to them.
The shirts were part of the Sacramento Kings' celebration of the Lunar New Year in February. The shirts depicted a purple monkey symbolizing the year of the monkey in the Chinese New Year in the team's color.
The giveaway seems to have been unfortunately planned as Monday was the first day of Black History Month. Referring to African-Americans as monkeys or lower forms of primates has been considered racist, and a shirt with a monkey on the first day of Black History Month appears to have raised concerns in a league that is predominantly African-American.
Teams across the NBA are looking for ways to reach out to a growing Chinese middle class as the league tries to expand its borders. Part of that outreach includes events around the Lunar New Year, like the ones the Kings tried on Monday.
The Golden State Warriors' approach doesn't prominently involve a monkey and instead is a re-imagining of the team's logo with Chinese characters added inside the team's circular logo.
The Kings decided relatively late in the night to make the change as the shirts were laid out in the arena, then removed shortly before fans entered Sleep Train Arena on Monday. Milwaukee Bucks analyst Marques Johnson said Kings star DeMarcus Cousins voiced his disapproval.
After the game, Kings President Chris Granger said there were concerns the shirts could be offensive, so the team opted to be cautious and remove them.
Essentially, they’re admitting that blacks look like monkeys, and behave worse.
Did my local supermarket pull watermelons off the shelf? Did my local fried chicken place close for the month?
Insanity.
I’ll be looking out for those specials because I like both!
This doesn’t really have anything to do with this, but the song you linked to reminded me of it. My brother sent me this dopey thing yesterday. Have to say, I thought it was pretty funny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONRDwJlCpn4
Or Tales from the Gold Monkey?
Like!
White people are often compared to monkeys/chimps, etc.
Sometimes insultingly - like calling Bush Chimpy McBush (or whatever the heck they called him) or saying someone is a big gorilla.
And sometimes it’s meant sweetly, how many toddlers have been told: you’re little monkey?
This is so stupid, I didn’t look at the link yet, but they sound like they might be pretty cool shirts.
They’re “admitting” that there are morons out there who actually do claim that blacks look like monkeys.
Only those looking under every rock for a reason to be offended...
Realize it is the team color, but they messed up all the way around.
This year is the year of the Red Monkey, or Fire Monkey. All depictions show a red monkey; so this would have seemed weird to Asians too. Sort of like portraying Barney the Dinosaur in yellow.
Stoopid, stoopid, stoopid! Now, if it had been MONTH of the monkey, that would be different.
Racists hate Asians.
Hate to date myself, but I was born in a year of the Fire Monkey. Yikes!
The black (& gay) guy who shot that female reporter on TV last year apparently had a persecution complex and accused everyone around him of racism. He even complained about the local 7/11 because it carried watermelon popsicles.
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