The Ron DeSantis Monkey Flap

Ron DeSantis is a Republican running for governor of Florida. He is a conservative and staunch support of President Trump. He is running against a super liberal named Andrew Gillum, who happens to be black. A few days ago, DeSantis was speaking and made a comment to the effect that things were running so well in Florida that “the last thing we need to do is monkey this thing up”.

“Let’s build off the success we’ve had with Gov. Scott. The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state. That’s not going to work. That’s not going to be good for Florida.”

Not surprisingly, liberals have jumped all over that remark and are charging that DeSantis equated his black opponent with a monkey. Probably the most hysterical is an op-ed in the Miami Herald by Fabiola Santiago.

The charge is ridiculous on its face given the context of the statement. The word monkey has different contexts apart from describing the primate. As a verb, it means to fool around with something and screw it up, usually, when it doesn’t need fixing. This is precisely how DeSantis was using it. It does, however, raise a valid issue.

I am sure Mr DeSantis now knows full well that one should never use the word monkey in any sentence involving a black person no matter the context. The reason  is that for centuries, whites who didn’t know any better have equated black people with monkeys. It is a definite trope used against blacks. In fact, in the immediate post-war years when American troops occupied Germany, some white soldiers actually told German women that black troops had tails.

On my blog, I often use pictures and cartoons to make written points. Often when I am mocking a stupid statement made by some public figure, I will follow it with an image of people laughing. Sometimes I use an image of a laughing chimpanzee, which actually moves. I would never, however, use it to mock a black person, even though I often take shots at people like Maxine Waters and Al Sharpton. If I were to use that monkey image, I would be quickly labeled a racist, and nobody wants that aggravation-even a humble blogger.

I am definitely not part of the language police, and I think to call DeSantis-and President Trump by extension- for being racists is an embarrassment to the Miami Herald. A simple explanation by DeSantis that he clearly meant no use of racial overtones should suffice. Today, Michael Medved pointed out on his daily radio show (in defending DeSantis) that while we believe in free speech and that speech codes have gone too far, there is a price to pay-and always has been- for speech that offends. We don’t pay it by being arrested or paying a fine, rather in our relationships with the people around us.  For example, if you deliberately call a black person a monkey, you won’t be arrested, but you will lose the respect and friendship of many around you, not just the person affected, but others, black, white, Hispanic or whatever. Do it in the workplace, and you will probably be fired.

But how far are we willing to go to punish someone who used the word monkey (as a verb) in a completely different context? If Mr Gillum were white, nobody would have noticed the use of the word. DeSantis was not referring to Gillum as a monkey, but there is a history there of equating monkeys with blacks, and blacks are understandably very sensitive about it. For Ron DeSantis, lesson learned.