The customer, who asked not to be named, said: "I was recently at Fortes and noticed they have a figurine of a monkey depicted as a human being begging for money. I believe they used it for tips."
So..?
"Given the heightened issue in the pub in the UK displaying golly dolls, and the fact that these types of caricatures are racist towards black people, I asked to speak to the manager about it but they were not there.
"A member of staff seemed to be indifferent about the figurine saying it was just decor. It is highly offensive."
Why do I get the feeling this customer isn't themselves any kind of minority? Except of the sort that get their kicks from taking offense on behalf of others, and bullying people?
Of course, sadly, though they are a minority, people are ceding them the power to act out of all proportion with their numbers...
“I am very glad the owners have since decided to remove the figure. It’s really important that we reflect on how welcoming and inclusive our environments are here in the south west to people of all backgrounds.”
/facepalm
Claire Heard, who runs the cafe with her husband Andy, said: "We would never endorse the use of any item which may have racist connotations as we take this very seriously. The figure of a monkey business card holder was removed as soon as the gentleman mentioned it may cause offence.
"We invite the gentleman to contact us directly for us to apologise further if he wishes and we thank him for his comments."
This kind of reflexive cringing is bound to encourage every Tom, Dick and Karen to have a go at anything they deem 'offensive', so thanks for that Claire...
Why apologise? Just remove it if they feel it's appropriate and, when asked why, simply reply that an offendotron was upset. Never apologise to these people, otherwise they'll be back the next day complaining that black coffee is being served. Whoever this moron is, I hope they never visit Hartlepool. The
ReplyDeletePenseivat
Amazing as it may seem, should I see such a figurine of a "begging monkey" I (like every other 'normal' person out there) would not assume (it wouldn't ever even occur to me) it was in any way, shape or form depicting an "ethnic person".
ReplyDeleteThat such busybody/grifter/attention-whores default/automatic assumption that such a figurine depicts an ethnic person makes ... 'them' the racists, no? (If your first thought on seeing a monkey is ... "ethnic" then 'you' have some serious race issues, not the person with the monkey).
Maybe, just maybe, calling 'them' out for the racist scum they are would be ... a better policy? But since the whole system is set up by, and for the benefit of, such 'actual' racists, that isn't ever going to happen, is it?
Does the complainant see an image of a monkey and immediately thinks it is portraying a black person? That's racist!
ReplyDeletePresumably the customer identified as a monkey.
ReplyDeleteI think biblically, there is only one one race and that's the human race.
ReplyDeleteI think our differences are rather tribal. I'm a member of the white tribe and I'm proud of my tribe.