A black mother is candid about how she is still stunned after her daughter was named “gorilla” in a racist greeting card she received from a friend a few years ago.
Shavonya Poole, 34, from Florida, took to Tic Toc last week to share a memory video of her eldest son Zuri reading the newspaper aloud while surrounded by friends.
The homemade card had illustrations on the front and inside that looked like gorillas and wrote on the boy: “Congratulations, Zuri. I rock gorillas!’
“Am I still trying to understand why these racist people are sending their daughters to a children’s party?” Poole commented on the images showing the map from all angles.
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Shavonya Poole, 34, from Florida, revealed on TikTok that her daughter Zuri received a racist birthday card from a friend who calls her a “gorilla”.
The homemade card had illustrations on the front and inside that looked like gorillas and wrote on the boy: “Congratulations, Zuri. I rock gorillas!’
Also, the mother of two young children revealed that she was unaware that Zuri’s birthday message contained racist comments.
“Can you hear the little girl laughing?” she asked. “My baby didn’t understand.”
Poole noted that the gorillas had nothing to do with his daughter’s birthday party, making it clear that the illustrations and message were racially motivated.
“But in reality, gorillas go crazy when it’s not even his birthday theme,” he wrote. “The sad thing is that the same people invited my daughter to their house for a pajama party. You think you sent him to hell.
The mother admitted that she wasn’t even sure if a child had drawn the gorillas on the map.
Poole said he still couldn’t understand why “these racists” sent their daughter to his son’s party, while Zuri said she didn’t understand that it was slander.
Poole stated that the gorillas were not in any way related to his daughter’s birthday party, making it clear that the illustrations and the message were racially based.
“Who really designed it? Child or mother or father or brother or sister?’ He wondered, “It’s these people who keep racism alive in these days and ages.”
The video has been viewed more than 256,000 times, and many have shared Poole’s anger over the racist card.
“Wow, that’s what I would say” [child’s] parents are so quick,” one person said, another added: “If my anger had risen, I would have been in jail.”
Poole therefore agreed by saying “let it go” and chose not to confront the child’s parents, choosing to be the “bigger person” in the situation.
Some viewers were even convinced that the boy’s parents helped prepare the ticket.
Poole admitted that he wasn’t entirely sure whether it was Zuri’s friend or a relative who charted the gorillas.
The video was watched more than 256,000 times and many shared Poole’s anger over the racist card.
“That kid didn’t write there without parental influence,” one TikToker wrote. ‘I would be very angry. How do you explain that kind of hatred anyway?’
Another said, “I wonder if the little girl who gifted it understands what that means?” she asked. †[I] I think the idea for the card may have come from the parents.’
Poole said his daughter “was exposed to racism at a young age” and “had to talk to him” because she “didn’t understand”.
Dehumanizing blacks by confronting gorillas and apes, an image used to promote slavery and colonization, has a long racist history.
A study done more than a decade ago found that many Americans unknowingly associate blacks with monkeys.
In a later video, the mother-of-three explained that the party was held two years ago and did not appeal to the parents due to mood swings.
Instead, Poole said he talked to Zuri about racism and immediately ended his friendship with the other girl.
The study also found that “society is more likely to forgive violence against suspected black criminals because of the broader failure to acknowledge African Americans as fully human beings.”
In a follow-up video, Poole explained that his daughter received the card two years ago but never forgot it.
“If you had read the caption, you would have seen that I said I was still trying to understand why these racist people sent their kids to my party. Because that’s what I’m trying to do,” he said. “Two years later, I’m still trying to understand why they did it.”
The mother of three also sent a message to the commentators, insisting that her baby face her family.
“Something about me: I don’t let people control me, honey. If I’d let people control me in situations like these, I would often be in jail,” she said. [done] I kept my mouth shut and ended their friendship.
“What I did was the best thing for me and my family,” he added, “You don’t always have to react the way people expect.”
Source: Daily Mail
