So recently I was just scrolling through my newsfeed in my spare time and I saw that a videotape of Ronald Reagan had been unearthed of him calling the African delegates in the U.N monkeys after they had chosen to allow what is now modern Communist China to join the U.N. Now I'm just gonna say ahead of time that I in no way condone or support the idea of calling anyone a racial slur but my main talking point is the idea of unearthing archived footage like this and analyzing it with a modern view. We have to recognize that Reagan lived in the 1980s and even then he was in his mid 60's to late '70s but the point is that in that era movements like the modern liberal movements of today didn't exist so it wasn't as necessarily taboo to say slurs like monkey. More importantly, however we have to live in the present and not focus on nonsense like a now-deceased former president saying one racial slur because deciding how and what political changes we intend to make for the betterment of our nation in the future is far more worthy of news coverage and discussion.
-Thomas Luong
I also agree with the point you are trying to convey. During different times of history, there were many different customs that suited that time. Because it happened so long ago when it was actually not considered an offensive slur, it shouldn't be held against him.
ReplyDeleteI very much agree about you're point. That would be like saying that Lincoln is a racist and a terrible president for thinking about sending free slaves back to Africa. Overall, Lincoln was a great president for saving the nation and shouldn't be talked down for because of something that was normal during his time.
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