Univ. of Kansas Staff: Gorillas Are 'Very Masculine,' 'Triggering'

ashley.rae | September 26, 2016
DONATE
Font Size

Apparently, gorillas are not only racist microaggressions, but they’re also “triggering” because they seem “very masculine.”

Campus Reform reports a housing employee at the University of Kansas cautioned a resident assistant against using a gorilla as part of a floor’s jungle theme because the “very masculine” animal could be “triggering” and reinforce certain “stereotypes.”

In an email to the resident assistant, assistant complex director Dale Morrow wrote:

I think it would be best if your floor chose a different theme animal to be more inclusive. First, gorillas represent a very masculine image, and I feel that this would not be inclusive to all of our residents on that floor. Second, this animal could be triggering to some people as their [sic] are stereotypes that surround this animal. All you have to change is the picture and the words.

Morrow seems to have forgotten there are also female gorillas.

The incident warning against the “very masculine,” “triggering” gorilla comes after resident assistants at another university advised students against making jokes about Harambe the gorilla.

At the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, RAs Colleen and Ryan warned that references to Harambe could be “micro-aggressions” against students and even be considered sexual assault.

It isn’t only universities decrying Harambe memes as racist. According to Fusion writer Charles Pulliam-Moore, “these jokes are all about using ‘Harambe’ as a shorthand for black people and openly mocking them without fear of being labeled as racist."

donate