“Assassinate the Nigger Ape[]”: Obama, Implicit Imagery, and the Dire Consequences of Racist Jokes
Parks_Heard_Formatted_Note[1] 9/7/2010 1:42 PM ―Assassinate the nigger ape[]‖1: Obama, Implicit Imagery, and the Dire Consequences of Racist Jokes Gregory S. Parks‡ & Danielle C. Heard† ABSTRACT: In 1994, Congress passed legislation stating that presidents elected to office after January 1, 1997 would no longer receive lifetime Secret Service protection. Such legislation was unremarkable until the first black president—Barack Obama—was elected. From the outset of his campaign until today, and likely beyond, President Obama has received unprecedented death threats. These threats, we argue, are at least in part tied to critics‘ and commentators‘ use of figurative language and imagery that characterize Obama as a primate. As a point of departure, we refer specifically to the racist humor in Sean Delonas‘ controversial New York Post cartoon of February 2009. Against this backdrop while looking to history, cultural studies, theories of humor, federal case ‡ Gregory S. Parks, J.D., Ph.D. – Law Clerk, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. † Danielle C. Heard, Ph.D. – Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities, Stanford University, Assistant Professor of English, University of California at Davis. We thank Kristen Aiken, Kelso Anderson, Stacie Bundzinski, Nathaniel Canfield, and Sandi Pessin-Boyd for their invaluable research assistance. In addition we extend gratitude to Dr. Nicole Waligora-Davis for offering fruitful conversations about racial stereotype and the law. We also appreciate the helpful insights of Andrea L. Dennis and Jeremi Duru. 1. Morgan v. McDonough, 540 F.2d 527, 531 (1st Cir. 1976) (stating in a school desegregation case, that white students harassed black students by chanting ―assassinate the nigger apes‖); see also infra notes 109-13 and accompanying text.
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