Reagan Called Black People “Monkeys”

Hello Everybody. I have something to say about racist presidents. I’m sure you’ve heard about the racial slurs Donald Trump has been hurling around recently. But Ronald Reagan? One of the most beloved and revered Republican Presidents? No!!!

       Ohh, yes!!!  From the archives of the Nixon Presidential Library an audio tape was just released of a conversation between President Richard Nixon and Reagan, who was then Governor of California. In 1971, Reagan called Nixon and told him about what happened in the United Nations the day Communist China was accepted as a member.

       The delegates from Tanzania apparently did a victory dance on the floor. And from the transcript of the phone call let me quote what Reagan said to Nixon: QUOTE:  “Last night, I tell you to watch that thing on television as I did. To see those monkeys from those African countries, damn them.  They’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes.”

      And Nixon enjoyed retelling that nonsense again and again.

      As a reporter I covered both Reagan and Nixon… and it was hard to imagine them calling black people “monkeys,” and “cannibals,” I only saw them at official events where they acted very presidential. At first, I laughed about the stories, they were so ridiculous. But then I got angry. I remembered that recently my 10-year-old granddaughter at her predominantly white private school, was called a “monkey” on four separate occasions. My cute little granddaughter. She couldn’t understand why her classmates would call her names like that.

       Where do little white boys learn that it’s okay to call a little black girl an ape?  Well, probably at home, or it could be from the media, or maybe even from presidents of the United States.

See you next time.