Oh, hell-to the-no. Naive? Yeah, right.

I mean, Bush looks like a monkey to me + that kind of resemblance has nothing to do w/ race (several people, including Jerry Stiller, kind of look monkeyish to me). It usually has more to do w/ the person having big ears, in my opinion.

That said, there's still no way you'll convince me that this was totally innocent.

* having big ears + a roundish head shape, usually

And, often, a short neck.

Not even close to innocent. Do they also sell a McCain-As-Gnarled-Gnome doll? I didn't think so.

I suspect we're going to be seeing a lot of this sort of racist nonsense from the right this year, not-so-subtle racism masquerading as "post-racial" or "innocent" or "unintended". Fox's "baby mama" caption re Michelle Obama comes to mind.

These guys are scum.

yeah right! and not finding wmd in iraq is just another opportunity to 'see the world'.

It is no different than the manufacturing of the Hillary Clinton nut cracker. Where was the out rage when people were holding signs at a Clinton rally saying "iron my shirts." Why is it funny to be sexist? It is just as hateful as being racist. The people in the obama camp are so quick to play the race card and the media runs to his defense. When Hillary called something sexist the media said she was wining. Why the double standard?

Max, give me a fuckin' break. This has nothing to do w/ a "race card" being played. The proof is right there in the puddin', as they say, which is the doll itself. It would be different if there was an argument being made here that Obama faced racism + Hillary didn't face sexism, but that's not the case. The point of this particular post is that this "toy" is rubbish.

let's hope they make a tap dancing obama next

Reminds me of Black Sambo, Rochester (Jack Benny's man servant) and Amos & Andy.

As far as I know it wasn't until a divine revelation around 1973 that the Mormon church accepted blacks as full fledged humans capable of entering their priesthood (gender issues aside), etc.

Still with modern mass communications, there's no excuse for this insensitive ignorance and racism.

This is not right, but I think its just the beginning. Fox News has hired Huckabee after all.

That's SO CUTE! I want one! Does it say Whitey when you pull its tail?

Half my Family are Mormons from Salt Lake City, jeez what were the odds the G*D DAMNED Mormon state found nothing offensive comparing Obama to an ape. Until the 1970's they taught Blacks bore the Mark of Cain (from the first fratracide), and weren't allowed in the priesthood.Only after multiple NAACP law suits did the mormons miracuously get a NEW revelation that Blacks could join the priesthood.
I wonder if this company has a lily white, blood sucking leech named Cheney?

Mark - how can the NAACP sue a church?

I saw a picture yesterday of Michelle O. on one side and a monkey on the other. It was a perfect match. They looked like sisters. I wish Queerty let us include pictures in our posts because I'd love to share it with you.

Correction to Edwardo: 1978. Yeah, it was almost the 80's.

Mormons have notoriously bad memory when it comes to race relations. As far as naivete goes, I wouldn't be shocked if they were telling the truth. That certainly doesn't excuse them from anything, but you wouldn't believe the shit I hear from otherwise well-meaning people living in this state. I'm sure at least half the population of Utah wouldn't even know what the word "blackface" meant when asked.

Obama is a monkey.

Utah doesn't have any black people. It's 99% white. So, they may really be naive about the black/monkey thing.

I've got two dolls like that, but you can't really tell because they're wearing white hoods. I call them RCPV and Churchill-y.

Where is your outrage at the Hillary Nutcracker? If you didn't complain about that, don't complain about an Obama Monkey Doll.

Max & Whatever - if I recall, there has been a lot of coverage looking at sexism and the way HRC was covered. I think it was front-page yesterday in the New York Times.

Besides, it's a false-analogy to say "If you didn't complain about A then you cannot complain about B." It would be like me saying, where is the outrage about the Burmese junta? It's out of context.

I'm still not sure if this is blatantly racist or just really, really dumb and naive. One of the guys on my team, a really big, muscled, tattooed, dark-skinned guy, is an Obama supporter and has a Curious-George (or whoever that is) sticker. I don't think he's aware of the connotations, and I'm not about to be the one to explain it.

Fuck a Hillary nutcracker.

When they post an article about that, I'll complain.

Jaroslaw,
One case the Boy Scouts were sued because a Black scout was refused advancement because only boys whose fathers were in the preisthood could reach a certain level,(in Utah scout troops.) the NAACP won that suit in the mid 70's. Another case involved a personal injury on Temple Grounds, but I can't recall the particulars. Searching google for NAACP and Mormons should bring up the cases.

I erred in the boy scout case I described the Boy Scout was banned because he couldn't join the preisthood, not his father, they join at 12 yo.
Here's the case of a policeman shot involving a man named Wallace who illegally ordained the first black to the preisthood.
"The Mormon leaders' fear of Mr. Wallace led to a tragic incident in which a policeman was accidentally shot and permanently paralyzed. This occurred about the time of the church's conference held in April, 1977. On April 5, 1977, the Salt Lake Tribune reported:

Mormon dissident Douglas A. Wallace charged Monday that a Salt Lake City police officer, shot early Sunday was keeping surveillance on him in a nearby residence.

Acting Police Chief Edgar A. Bryan Jr. denied it.

He said his men were not keeping surveillance on Mr. Wallace, an excommunicated member of the Church . . . but he would not say what the stakeout's purpose was.

Officer David W. Olson remained in critical condition Monday . . . where personnel said he suffered a severed spinal cord from a single shot in the neck. The policeman was shot accidentally by his partner . . . Wallace was staying at the home of a friend, Dr. John W. Fitzgerald . . .

He was in Salt Lake City to try to make an appearance at the LDS World Conference last weekend. Attorneys for the church, however, obtained a temporary restraining order . . . which prevented the dissident from visiting Temple Square.

"I have not committed any crime, and I don't intend to commit any crime. I have been raised in the Mormon faith and I am a man of peace . . . This is not Russia; this is not Nazi Germany; there is no reason why I should be under surveillance of the police" Mr. Wallace said.

On April 6, 1977, the Salt Lake Tribune related:

Ex-Mormon Douglas Wallace . . . Tuesday afternoon said he will subpoena various high ranking police and sheriff's deputies to establish the fact . . .

Mr. Wallace said also, "It is clear from the evidence that we have uncovered that I was under surveillance. The police department's denial of that simply compounds the wrong. Is this going to be Salt Lake's sequel to the Watergate scandal?"

http://www.utlm.org/onlinebook....._part3.htm

Let's just work extra hard to make sure Obama wins.