on gorillas and sacred cows

yesterday, an apology was issued by the brookline schools. for what, you ask? well, it seems that there was a picture in "equity" magazine that was offensive to some. "equity" magazine focuses on the diversity within the brookline schools. in the magazine, there was a picture of a young black boy playing with a gorilla. because of the racist historical representations of black people, this picture caused some consternation. my own view? i'm pretty evenly split between "hey, it's a kid playing with a toy," and "yo, they should have known to be more sensitive," with a slight tilt toward the former. (although, you should know, i'm not black) the school board has apologized for the picture, suspended publication of the newsletter, and revamped their review policies of material. my question is; if they were forced to apologize over this, when will they be forced to apologize for not writing stories on police brutality, poverty, war, health care, and other life and death issues for black and other oppressed youth. "equity" magazine? please.
by the way, i'm still waiting for someone to condemn muhammed ali for calling joe frazier a gorilla, and for taking a toy gorilla out of his pocket, calling it joe frazier, and saying "come on gorilla, we in manila!" ironically, ali often referred to frazier as an uncle tom. others have referred to frazier as "the white man's champion." am i missing something here?
ali, this latter day sacred cow, is, to me, one of the more overrated figures of our time. if he didn't look like he was doing a chubby checker impersonation, maybe people would be more critical toward him. he certainly deserves credit for refusing to fight in vietnam, but doesn't he also deserve blame for saying the most racist remarks every uttered by one black athlete to another?
it could be that white america actually liked how he ridiculed frazier. could it be that it was ali who was actually the "uncle tom?" what do you think of that, dave zirin? perhaps when you get done ball sucking mr. ali, you will take the time to understand him. ali was a man who bemoaned how dark skinned the women were in zaire, as he went looking for ass before his fight with foreman. he told his doctor, ferdie pacheco, that the women "needed some white in their blood." spoken like a real black power advocate. let's face it; to a large extent, ali was a fraud, a posturing, crap talking juvenile who wrote silly poetry and viciously berated his opponents. he had courage, and did have an understanding, however vague, of the evil inherent in our white power structure. but hell, he was no leader of men.
even today, he continues to demonstrate his mediocrity. just last year, he received a medal of honor from president bush. ali, the man of peace, the muslim, accepting awards while baghdad is burning? while the middle east is being murdered? don't tell me he doesn't know what he is doing either. for years, we have heard that his mind is fine. so, which one is it? max schmeling was pilloried for dining with hitler, and in general, not standing up to the nazis. why does ali get a free pass? what dangers would have befallen him if he refused the award? what would have happened to him if he used the platform of the white house to have someone speak for him about the horrors of war? has he thought of all those with similar names to his own who have been killed by the government that honored him?
ranting? perhaps. but i just thought i'd try to balance the slate a little. instead of ali, maybe we can take the time to learn a little more about fred hampton, robert williams, ella baker, ida b. wells, and so many others, black, white, latino, asian, and indigenous, who were not known to speak of black men as gorillas.
fuck sacred cows.