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A Black mother was enraged after her daughter received a hand-written birthday card with a racial slur inside.
Shavonya Poole, a.k.a. TikToker @lifezamstyle, posted a video clip showing her daughter opening the card in front of her friends and reading aloud the card's contents, which read:
“Happy birthday, Zuri. Gorillas rock!”
Poole clarified the party's theme had nothing to do with gorillas rocking.
She wrote in the text overlay:
“I’m still trying to figure out why these racist people sent their daughter to my kid’s party?”
Another voice-generated audio text said, “Did you hear the little girl laughing? My baby didn’t get it" the moment after the birthday girl read the card out loud.
The voice-generated text continued:
"Like for real though, gorillas rock that wasn’t even her birthday theme."
"What’s sad is these same people invited my daughter to their house for a sleepover. You think i sent her ….hell naw."
The video has over 143,800 views.
Parents who were appalled by the card voiced their frustrations.
@lifezamstyle/TikTok
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@lifezamstyle/TikTok
These moms shared how things would've played out if they witnessed the incident.
@lifezamstyle/TikTok
@lifezamstyle/TikTok
@lifezamstyle/TikTok
@lifezamstyle/TikTok
The racist comparison of Black people to simians has a deep-rooted history tracing back to European cultures in which apes were viewed as ugly and devilish figures and Africans were seen as an inferior race.
Edith Campbell wrote an article in the School Library Journal explaining how the dehumanization of Black people, by comparing them to monkeys, continues today. First Lady Michelle Obama was often the target of such racism during her husband's presidency.
In the TikTok comments, Poole responded to a user expressing their sympathy for her daughter being exposed to the racial slur on her birthday.
"She got introduced to racism at an early age and I had to talk to her about it," Poole wrote, adding, "she didn’t get it."
And when asked if she might confront the parents of the child who gave the card, Pool said, "No I may lose my cool I just stopped her from hanging out with her."
This person observed a reason why things don't change.
@lifezamstyle/TikTok
Another TikToker mentioned the harsh reality of consequences for people taking action.
@lifezamstyle/TikTok
To which Pool replied:
“That’s y I left it alone."
@lifezamstyle/TikTok
Heartbreaking.