The racist image that the president posted of Barack and Michele Obama should remove any doubt as to how the he feels about Black people. Of course its nothing new and since its Black History Month, let's talk about it. This is a practice known as simianization and is intended to dehumanize Black people by stripping away our status as "human" and reclassify us as "animal."
This was used to move the treatment of Black people outside the realm of human ethics. If a group is viewed as animalistic, then acts that would be considered atrocities against humans like slavery, lynching, and forced sterilization can be rationalized as "management" or "control" of a dangerous species. It creates a psychological environment where violence is not only excused but seen as a necessary measure for public safety.
Simianization is inherently racist because it is rooted in scientific racism, the false belief that there is a biological hierarchy of human value. It suggests that Black people are governed by primitive instinct rather than intellect, justifying the denial of our political and civil rights.
It creates a permanent "otherness" that cannot be bridged by education or wealth, because it claims the inferiority is encoded in the body.
By framing Black bodies as inherently "wild" or "stronger/more dangerous" than white bodies (a direct byproduct of the ape comparison), it provides a shield for police brutality and systemic over-policing today.
