You know what's almost as stupid as the supposed "joke" is that it's one of those brainless forwards, falsely attributed to someone famous.
Scene, why don't you contact Larry the Cable Guy and get his reaction to having racist screed attributed to him?

I don't care who you are, it's funny to see the racist assholes out themselves. Particularly when it's likely to cost them their jobs.

The screed is not attributed to Larry the Cable Guy, just the quote, "I don't care who you are, this is funny." Agreed about the stupid part, though.

The names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the 65 members of the Tennessee Hospitality Association's board of directors are in a downloadable Excel document at the Association's website. Perhaps it might be time to start asking them if this is the sort of "hospitality" people can expect in Tennessee.

He cannot have seriously thought that people like Bruce and Ken would approve of this message. Looks like it was meant as a political taunt.

I'm with The Other Scott. Seriously. We want people to come to Tennessee and spend money and this is the kind of leadership we have at the Tennessee Hospitality Association?
Even if we could somehow overlook the blatant racism he expected all of his buddies to share, what kind of moron who wants people to come to Tennessee insults people with a lot of money who might come to Tennessee to spend it?

A movement to boycott the Nashville hospitality industry wouldn't look too pretty in a recession. Remember the firestorm of controversy TNGOP brought on itself for attacking Ms. Obama before she was First Lady? Local industry is a lot more vulnerable to retribution than is a political party. Trouble is, with our reliance on sales taxes, this kind of bone-headed racism opens us all up to the big payback.
Walt Baker should be socially shunned and ostracized to the point of virtual exile. How about it, Chamber of Commerce?

Wait, upon rereading this, I have a question. Is it really possible in this day and age that a white guy could send an email to his friends comparing a black woman to a monkey and he thinks he's being criticized because of the politics of it (a conservative making fun of a liberal)? Because if he doesn't even get how noxious what punchline of his joke is...
I don't know.
Wow.

Cue right-wing response that mean liberals compared George Bush to a monkey in 5... 4.... 3 ....

It concerns me even more who Baker thinks wouldn't be offended by this e-mail. Butch Spyridon? Joe Hall? Bruce Dobie? Abie Del Favero? Ken Whitehouse? These "select friends," as he calls them: what the hell do they talk about that led Baker to believe it would be OK to send such an e-mail to them in the first place?
I hope Tom is right and this is indeed a “political taunt.” These are civic leaders, journalists, reporters. It is worrisome to me that Baker may have thought this message would be acceptable to them. For those who haven't condemned it already, they will need to speak out.
And no, Albie. This isn't about being "politically correct." It's about racism. Not the same thing.

I would not tarnish the names of the recipients just because they received the email. We're all subject to receiving an email from some random douchebag like Baker. It's not their fault.

from some guy who's got a cake that says "Roll Tide."
Old habits die hard.

Its Southern Racism.
The southern repub senators and congressman are pushing this crap.

Oh, my! How are they going to get gigs for the great big ole convention center now with this on the welcome mat?

Other Hotel Industry Issues
Legislative Representation
The primary purpose of the Tennessee Hospitality Association is to provide legislative advocacy for its members and to protect the interests of Tennessee’s second-largest industry from excessive government involvement and from unintended consequences from unrelated government actions.
TN HOSPITALITY ASSOCIATION has three paid lobbyists who represent the Association at the General Assembly at the state Capitol. In addition, through our involvement with the American Hotel & Lodging and the National Restaurant Associations in Washington, advocacy is extended to the federal level, as well.
http://www.tnhospitalityvotes.com/index.php?ht=d/ShowFeedItems/i/3233/guid/1

State Issues
http://www.tnhospitalityvotes.com/index.php?ht=d/sp/i/3187/pid/3187
Either independent of, or in conjunction with the Tennessee Jobs Coalition, the Tennessee Hospitality Association is focused on the following issues in the 2010 Legislative year:
Comp Meals Tax
Mandatory Nutritional Labeling
Guns & Alcohol
Hospitality Licensing
Dram Shop (certifications, limited liability to businesses, etc.)
Hotel Occupancy Tax
Minimum Wage/Tipped Minimum Wage
Unemployment Trust
Immigration
Wine in Grocery Stores
Corporate Campaign Contributions
Department of Revenue Case Hearing Realignment
Uniform School Start Date
Mountain Top Removal Mining
Health Department Inspections and Guidelines
Tourism Marketing Funding
ABC Audits & Procedures
Food Safety Programs
Interlock Devices
Paid Sick Leave
Worker’s Comp Programs
Additional Smoking Bans in the Workplace

Cue right-wing response that mean liberals compared George Bush to a monkey in 5... 4.... 3 ....
And over at Aunt B's we have a winner ....
12:12 pm. Hmm. Y'all are slipping.

SB,
I just checked. No posts at TCP mention George Bush, George H.W. Bush, Bush's Best Baked Beans or Moses and the Burning Bush.
Now there are a couple of people suggesting that hate speech and violence inspired by such speech are a problem for both the Left and the Right.
Your problem with that is what?

I received the e-mail. I did not think it funny. Amazing that I have to write to say so. But I am.

I should say that at a certain point, I stopped calling the email recipients for comment. I don't want readers thinking that those not quoted above simply had nothing to say or, worse, were offering their tacit approval. As Joe Hall implies in his comment above, he shouldn't have to defend himself for receiving something he never asked for and wouldn't ever want. Same goes for Terry Clements, Toby Compton and all the others.

Liz,
Thank you for such responsible and professional coverage.
I hope you don't get kicked out of the liberal media for being fair. Clearly some people didn't want your point above to be made, particularly by the author.

I LOL'd.

This is the same city whose allegedly progressive politicians and leaders left the black community high and dry over rezoning.
Why should this kind of mindless, good ol' boy crap surprise anyone coming from a leader in Nashville? It is the prevailing sentiment, even among the so-called Democrats in town.

As Joe Hall implies in his comment above, he shouldn't have to defend himself for receiving something he never asked for ...
He does when the guy who sent it tells the media, "Hey, I was just sharing a yuk-yuk with my good buddies! Boys will be boys, can't you take a joke?"
Looks to me like Walt Baker was looking for some cover. His friends are going to have to make it clear that he won't find it with them, not on this issue at least.
I'm grateful some of the crackpot chain e-mails I've received from my right-wing inlaws haven't seen the light of day, but I never let that kind of crap go un-answered. I *will* hit "Reply All" and let them and everyone else on the recipient list know what I think of such claptrap. When it all shakes down I don't want there to be any doubt in anyone's mind where I stand on such issues. Fortunately, I don't receive too many of these things anymore.
Mark Rogers: I have no clue what you are talking about.

SB,
You wrote:
"Cue right-wing response that mean liberals compared George Bush to a monkey in 5... 4.... 3 ....
And over at Aunt B's we have a winner ....
12:12 pm. Hmm. Y'all are slipping."
I was just pointing out that you were misleading the readers here. I think that there is now some discussion about comparisons to Bush over at TCP. But when you wrote that comment, there were not.

Hmm, I thought the joke was that they had the same expressions. But, I guess I am not as quick to pull the race card.

Oh heck....that was funny. All of you with sticks up your a** need to lighten up. Races have made fun of each of for a really long time. I am sure that the blacks have some really good jokes about us white people...and you know what? They most likely are funny! PC is killing this country...freedom of speech, I say!

Sherry why do we have to have a stick up our a***, because we don't laugh at a joke insulting our first lady? Would you laugh if that was a depiction of you? If you don't see that something is wrong with this picture then something is seioudly wrong. All races need to stop and think before they act as their actions could cost them their jobs. Why is he sending out this type of info on company time anyway? That needs to be addressed. The joke Hmm is that Michele Obama is compaired to looking like a monkey and yes have the same expressions, but if you were black heard your white teachers call black kids little monkeys or white people people call you a jungle monkey, etc etc etc then you may understand the hurt that comes with this "joke." NOT FUNNY!!

This is the same left-leaning hospitality association that fell all over itself hating law-abiding gun owners.

Of course it's funny. You sour pusses get on my last nerve. How do you know what anyone who finds it amusing thinks about the races? In fact JamaJ you are bigoted in you own contorted way for such presumptions.

And, BTW, if it wasn't funny the SCENE would have not put on here. Now, what does that say about the smirkers at the SCENE?

That is really, really vile. I don't know how you keep your job after sending this sort of email.

"I'm grateful some of the crackpot chain e-mails I've received from my right-wing inlaws haven't seen the light of day, but I never let that kind of crap go un-answered. I *will* hit "Reply All" and let them and everyone else on the recipient list know what I think of such claptrap."
SB, many of the recipients did hit reply and let their displeasure known, as Baker himself is quoted as saying in the piece. But in any case, those who receive content like this aren't any more culpable than you are when your inbox is cluttered with it.

Liz,
No one is saying anyone is "culpable" and 99% of the time it's a private matter but the fact that this became a news story makes this incident completely different from the rantings I get from my in-laws.

PC is killing this country...freedom of speech, I say!
Yeah tell it to Sarah Palin who wants to ban the word "retarded."

Mark Rogers --
What is TCP?

I've been employed in the TN tourism/hospitality industry for many years, and know quite a few of the THA board members personally. I will emphatically voice my displeasure with Mr. Baker continuing to represent the industry that is the second largest employer in the state. The tourism and hospitality industry has a difficult enough job in claiming its rightful seat at the economic development table. Now we discover we're represented by someone who thinks racist jokes, about the First Lady no less, are appropriate. I don't want Mr. Baker representing my industry, much less the Tennessee.

The truly sad part is that that kind of racist political trash comments are par for the course in TN. This is a state where people are outraged that former Vice President Al Gore is being torn to shredsin the blogosphere and talk radio shows for being given a honorary degree from UT. This is also a state that religious fanatics hand out flyers speaking against/ridiculing catholics religious beliefs and the blogosphere is overwhelmed with support for the fanatics. The same state where the majority of these same clowns believe bush was a good president and kept us safe from terrorists and believe that President Obama is the anti-christ. The same state where people say poor people are poor by choice and that homeless people should be ran out of town. Welcome to the state on TN. inbred, uneducated and proud.

This is just par for the course in TN. They do not hide their racism and hatred of democrats. This is the same state where they plotted to shoot President Obama when he was campaigning. Tennesseans should be sterilized at birth. Maybe if we prevented them from inbreeding and creating more ignorant republicans we would not have to suffer their ignorance.

I don't care who you are, when you are in a position of leadership in the community, you have a responsibility to conduct yourself in a manner that reflects integrity and is worthy of respect by all people. This man has fallen way short; it doesn't mean he's a bad man, but he isn't leadership material. He needs to go bus tables for a living for awhile.

I would say she looks more like the Wookie from Star Wars.
Grow a sense of humor folks!

You leftist people are always trying to play the race card. Look in the mirror if you want to see a real racist.

I have met but don't know Walt Baker. I'm astonished and saddened that he did what he did and then expressed no remorse the next morning.
I do know Albie Del Favero, Bruce Dobie, Joe Hall, Toby Compton, Ken Whitehouse, and, less well, Butch Spyridon and Pete Heidenreich. If the Bob Davis in Alabama referenced in the e-mail is the journalist I know there, then that's one more.
To amplify what I noted above, I am convinced that none of the folks named in the prior graf would have been happy to receive this message. I'm quite sure none of the recipients would have welcomed it.
It is humiliating for me, as a Nashville native, to have to say this much. The chances that Baker's idiotic indiscretion will end up pilloried in national media seem ample at the moment, and there's not a damned thing we can do about it.

SB,
Tiny Cat Pants. Where you incorrectly wrote that someone had made an argument about liberals and George Bush.

Man ... I bet Walt doesn't like one of those friends anymore ... I'm guessing Dobie ...

Or Whitehouse ... it could have been Whitehouse

I'd like to say I'm shocked by this. But this is Tennessee.
The State that has a Park named after the founder of the Ku Klux Klan.

This is now making national news, which is how I heard about it. Tennesseans, don't feel so bad, I've had republican coworkers in Wisconsin who forward similar stuff among themselves and even to me, since I happen to be lucky enough (I suppose) to be white (they stopped). It's a GOP thing more than a southern thing. Some of the least racist people I've known were in Virginia. The GOP though, is pretty much inexcusable, even if they have a few naive non-racists among them.

I'm Canadian and have lived in the U.S. for 30 years.The first 25 in Arizona and the last 5 in Tennessee.The joke (?)was not only obviously racist ,but also not well written.(No plans to improve it)For the first 25 years in the U.S. I have heard almost n o racist rantings, or read racist material. The latter 5 years have been quite different. In Tennessee there seems to be a cloud or blanket over us spouting racist garbage by the boatload. Will it ever stop? As a "pure whitey" I believe your country coild use a good scolding e.g. From persons like Churchill, and similar folk who know how to carry on .

This is not a Southern thing, a GOP thing, or a Tennessee thing. This IS stupid, and stupid is as stupid does. I also have seen this sort of gutter "humor" thrown at Republicans, remember the Condoleeza Rice cartoons? We also thought that was in horrific taste.
I give this idiot about four days before he is "out on his backsides" and looking for work in a terrible economy.

Trainmaster is right. Baker ought to be given the heave-ho. He and his organization have grand access to the public purse, soaking up hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars for a project with specious benefit:cost forecasts that were about as reliable as the TennTom Waterway. He is no different than Earl Butz, Lyndon Johnson's Ag Secretary, who lasted about 8 minutes when caught on an airplane telling a similar offensive "joke" in front of the world largest piker, John Dean. Buh bye, Walt oldboy.

I feel compelled to weigh in here as a friend of Walt's and a recipient of the e-mail. And yes, SB, to give my friend Walt some cover.
Racism involves prejudice or discrimination or implies superiority of one race over another. This cartoon is considered “racist” only because we have been conditioned to believe that any comparison of African-Americans to monkees or apes,no matter how innocent the intent, is automatically an issue of comparative intelligence. If this photo comparison were part of a group of photos of other folks, black and white, with facial expressions that mimic animals, it would be funny and much less likely to be considered racist (although that would never happen because of our heightened racial sensitivity.)
But the point here should be whether Walt Baker is a racist. He is not. He may have done something stupid but he is not a racist.
And Liz, you're an excellent journalist, and I'd like to know if you have any second thoughts on whether this was newsworthy? (If Dwight Lewis weighs in on the subject tomorrow, we'll know it's not.) And, by the way, what happened to the days when the Scene toppled real douchebags like David Stringfield?
Finally, Wee Davey, please don’t expect me to believe that in your 25 years in Arizona, you never heard an unkind word about Mexicans.

Mark Rogers,
Oh duh. Tiny Cat Pants. That should have been obvious. Well SaysUncle linked to a Google page of all the images liberal blogs put up of Bush comparing him to a monkey.
Albie, I obviously don't know Walt Baker so I can't speak for his character. The point is that this country has a long, shameful history of comparing African Americans to monkeys and apes, not to disparage their intelligence but as a means of dehumanizing and entire race and thereby justifying institutionalized oppression. It goes far deeper than just an "insult." Here's a study that may interest you. You might pass it on to your friend Walt to help him understand why these kinds of jokes aren't funny.
Is the story newsworthy? The fact that so many people came forward indicates to me that it was. The fact that we're still talking about it indicates that it was.

Wow. I could not be more shocked and disappointed to read that. "This cartoon is considered 'racist' only because we have been conditioned to believe that any comparison of African-Americans to monkees [sic] or apes,no matter how innocent the intent, is automatically an issue of comparative intelligence."
Are you kidding? You think that's what this is about? I am dumbfounded. At this point, I wish this were deliberately racist (let's not be mistaken, it is racist, shockingly racist), because I'd rather believe there's a small core of prominent men in Nashville with attitudes straight out of the WCC era than to learn that these pillars of the community are just so damn clueless and insulated from real life.
This is the best Nashville can do? A guy who thinks that comparing black people to monkeys is a problem because it's some kind of comparison of intelligence?
That scares the shit out of me. It sincerely scares the shit out of me that our community is being lead by Mr. Del Favero and his buddies if this is the best they can do when flailing around for a reason as to why people are upset by this.
Mr. Del Favero, when black men marched in Memphis wearing signs that said "I am a man," why do you think they had to insist upon it? What, perhaps, other group might they have been lumped into for the past 400 years?
The fact that you and Baker seem to only understand this as funny or inappropriate because it might be suggesting that black people are stupid is such a glaring position of privilege that I almost can't believe it.
In the future, just for the record, if you are thinking of forwarding a joke that blatantly says that a black person is a monkey (as is the case with saying that Mrs. Obama is Cheetah) and that a black man is fucking a monkey (which is the obvious subtext of this joke as well, since Obama has kids with his wife), know that the joke is racist and you will deserve any bad publicity that comes of it.

“Thursday night I spontaneously forwarded - to a small group of people - an email that had been sent to me as political humor. As I forwarded it, I did not think or consider its implications, other than that it was political humor. I am saddened that anyone misinterpreted the sentiments behind the email. I deeply apologize to anyone who is offended by this action. I hope that those who know me realize that the message was not intended to be malicious or hurtful in any way and can find it in their hearts to forgive me.”

Walt,
Ridiculous, you're sorry it got out, you're not sorry for the email.

I don't think you understand that your email can only be taken to be malicious. That's the only way to view it. When you compare the First Lady- a Princeton and Harvard Law grad who is more intelligent and accomplished than you could dream of being-- to a primate, that's not political humor. That's just flat-out racist.
You need to work on that apology some more.

I'm sorry. How is this "racist"? It's okay to constantly criticize white people, especially if they're conservative! Was there ANY outrage when Sarah Palin AND her family were getting skewered DAILY?
Oh, and the imposters in the White House are ugly, anti-American, racist Communists!

Hah, MattP. You think Walt Baker actually wrote that little non-apology apology? Check the records next month for the charge to a PR agency.
Aunt B. You are exactly right. I hated Bush and got those Smirky the Chimp links. I haven't seen but have heard of the ones with Sarah Jessica Parker and a horse. Anyone who cannot sense automatically the difference between comparing Michelle Obama to a chimpanzee is utterly tone deaf and uneducated. I suggest Walt and his apologists take a field trip to the Tennessee State Museum for a tour of the We Shall Not Be Moved exhibit. It was 50 years ago and in the sweep of history that's a mere few seconds. Racism, white supremacy, male supremacy is still very much with us. I didn't see a woman's name on that recipient list. Or Ken Lavendar's.
And Mr. DelFavero, oh yes, this is news. I'm amazed you don't see that! Listen to Aunty Bea. Read that response carefully and think about it when you are next at the Belle Meade Country Club.
This shows such poor judgment on Mr. Baker's part that that alone should be grounds for his termination.

Please stop using Mr. Baker's email as an opportunity to paint all Tennesseans as obnoxious, backwoods, inbred, racist, uneducated rednecks. Plenty of native Tennesseans are disgusted with this incident. When you're out there pointing out the prejudice this kind of email spurs, don't turn around and use it as an opportunity to be prejudiced about Tennesseans.

As a white southerner it is unmistakeably clear to me that this email was racist. I cannot believe anyone who would see it would think otherwise. Mr. Baker may not have composed it, but he forwarded and, in my mind, that means he was acting as a racist. All that aside, his actions have brought discredit to his organization, its members and the citizens of the State of Tennessee. There is only one clear path forward and that is his immediate dismissal. I hope that the THA takes the opportunity to salvage a little bit of dignity by doing so before the national media have a field day with this embarrassing incident.

Mr. Del Favero just doesn't get it.
In his book of reflections on the hostile imagination writer Sam Keen shows a 1970 political poster with caricatures of "The Ape" and "The Negro" side-by-side with a list of physiological traits intended to support the notion that "Scientists Say Negro Still in Ape Stage." That is an illustration of a segment of popular assumptions recurring in American history. It's a comparison of intelligence AND race inextricably bound up in each other to discourage "uppity" behavior.
For Mr. Del Favero to minimize and to defend his buddy Walt Baker's despicable behavior is to deny a shameful legacy in American history. Baker's e-mail fits in a larger context of prejudice and racial inequality. It was an expression of hostility toward intelligence and race intertwined. Placing it on the same level as a comparison of whites-to-monkeys only promotes the bad habits of forgetting history and ignoring prejudice.

Aunt Bea, thank you for validating my point. Walt is clueless...but not a racist.
And Mike B, I am certainly not defending his actions (go back and read the story), only making the point that I know Walt and know that he is not a racist.
Nor did I say that the email was not racist. I was only trying to make the point that many (maybe indeed because they're"clueless and insulated") might not.

On the one hand, it's disappointing that in 2010 someone in such a visible and influential position would still have the audacity to express such racism openly; it's also disappointing that even a few folks would twist themselves into rhetorical pretzels trying to excuse it.
The bright side, though, is that such behavior is now so widely considered unacceptable by Tennesseans that the offender and his apologists see the need to retreat in such pusillanimous fashion.
Bravo, Tennessee. Most of you, that is.

Obviously our "leaders" are living in another century. The public perception of Tennesseans has just diminished in a most significant way. Why should neighboring states pay for lobbyists to increase state tourism? Let the morons like The TN Hospitality Association do it for them. Who on earth would want to visit TN a gun in bars toting racist state hosting tea parties financed by republican big wigs in FL and TX.

>>And Liz, you're an excellent journalist, and I'd like to know if you have any second thoughts on whether this was newsworthy? (If Dwight Lewis weighs in on the subject tomorrow, we'll know it's not.) And, by the way, what happened to the days when the Scene toppled real douchebags like David Stringfield?

Is this newsworthy? In 2010? OF COURSE.And what is so fascinating is that these "esteemed pillars" of the TN Hospitality Association don't see that This story will make national and international news. TN will be viewed negatively.This and Lamar Alexander's support of the John Birch Society/Tea Party. What next.TN get a grip. Fire these idiots NOW.The TN Hospitality Ass needs new leadership ASAP!! Apparently as per the comment above about selling the Scene to an out of state owner it is obvious they are out for their own gain. Certainly not for the public interest.

The 'I don't care who you are, this is funny' sentence is interesting. First, I wonder if Baker wrote it or if it came with the email when he received it. (and yes, I realize Larry the Cable guy originally wrote the line.)
In any case, it seems to me the use of that line is an attempt to preempt any objection someone may have by implying, 'It doesn't matter whether you're black or white, male or female, Republican or Democrat, etc., this is just an all-around funny joke and if you don't think so, it's either because you have no sense of humor or you are just too darn politically incorrect.'
So that's a tip for all you tellers of racist jokes out there. Preface your ignorant joke by saying 'I don't care who you are, this is funny...' and then if someone doesn't like the joke, it's their fault, and not yours for telling the racist joke to start with.

Touché, Tom Wood, Touché.
So, it's been quiet for a while now - has Albie called you to try to negotiate a joint public statement to calm this thing down?
btw, Liz, HOW/WHY DID you become aware of the email in the 1st place?

Albie, in my own way, I have a reputation to uphold and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't try to spin this so that I was validating your point.
That email is racist. Baker, at the very least, should be very mortified and sorry and take this as a lesson that he needs to do some serious self-reflection and learn some stuff.
Please don't take my willingness to believe that Baker wrongly didn't think this was "really" racist to somehow mean I have any sympathies for your position.
I'm mortified to discover that you would somehow try to defend this.

We were vacationing in your town this winter, but you won't have to worry about us coming back. And we had a great time, but we feel like the best way to get your kind of people is to keep our green dollars out of your white towns

Here's how I judge whether something is racist: I ask a black person. I'll be at Metro General Hospital on Monday, which is a client of Mr. Baker's, is mostly black-run and has a minority clientele, so that should give us a pretty good cross-section of responses.

"We were vacationing in your town this winter, but you won't have to worry about us coming back. And we had a great time, but we feel like the best way to get your kind of people is to keep our green dollars out of your white towns."
There you go! Don't spend a dime in that racist state. It's one message that'll sink in pretty quick.

Co-Signing P Berry
Money talks & bullsh!t walks.

Is it too late for the SEC to move the basketball tournament to Alabama or Mississippi or someplace more "hospitable"?

I just sent an email to the entire BOD, imploring them to respond to this in an appropriate way to bring attention to the fact that this sort of behavior cannot and will not be tolerated.
As a white man with 2 adopted children from Ethiopia I have become increasingly sensitive to issues of race. There is no question this is racist and it should not be defended.
If anyone would like an easy way to email the Board of Directors you are welcome to email me and I will send you my email with all the addresses.
chad.holtz@duke.edu

Well, based on what I've learned about Nashville politics and civic leadership, Walt Baker will be the communications director of the Tennessee Republican Party in a few months. And Gov. Bredesen will continue to tell us that we need to work across the aisle in a bipartisan manner and focus on the family budget, which means we can't let our rich cousins and siblings bear any more burden for the needs of the poor cousins and siblings. Because, see, that's what families do. They screw each other over.

Alabama news station picked up Nashville story of Walt Baker comparing FLOTUS to a chimp
http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12095111

I am just an ordinary citizen and I think Walk Baker should be shunned in Tennessee.
We have to overcome bad publicity of being rednecks and clans people. This doesn't help.
Tennessee is still quite backward in their thoughts of women in Professional Careers.
Lots of prejudices against blacks, Jews, Gays.
We are now in 2010. Shame on anyone who thinks they are better than anyone of us.
I believe Walt Baker has ended his career here and he should close the door on his way out.

And you know what makes this really ironic? Look what else happened Thursday:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/03/04/travel.promotion.act/
President Obama signed legislation into law Thursday to create the United States' first national travel promotion program.

Without for a moment endorsing Mr. Del Favero's underlying thesis, let me say that I agree that the historical context is important in this matter.
As a general principle, I'm not certain there is anything inherently offensive in comparing a photograph of a person to a photograph of an animal. Had the photos in Baker's email been of a white person with a long neck and a swan, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.
There is, however, because of over 200 years of racially-motivated stereotyping, something inherently offensive about comparing any black person to any kind of monkey. Such comparisons have been used for centuries as weapons to denigrate, diminish, and justify the subjugation of persons of African descent. Any decently educated person (which includes both Mr. Baker and Mr. Del Favero) should have known this, and known better.
I'll go further and say that such an image is inherently offensive for precisely the same reason that calling all Tennesseans "inbred" is inherently offensive -- it plays upon a long-held-and-widely-circulated stereotype that is deeply offensive to the victim.
I lived out West for five years, and heard the inbreeding stereotype over and over, from people who should have known better, but thought they were being funny. It never failed to make me want to punch the speaker in the mouth. That's a pretty good gut-level barometer of offensiveness.
Mr. Baker was wrong and he ought to be fired, for his bad judgment if not for his racism.

Indeed, the email wasn't terribly funny nor was it smart to forward it on like that. But I submit that nearly everyone is guilty of such lapses of judgment from time to time. That circle of friends has received stuff, that while not considered racist might be deemed by Gloria Steinem as less than politically correct toward women. So I find it funny that THIS is the one that gets someone in front of the firing squad. I find it even funnier that Whitehouse is on the list and then claims "not funny." Of course, he would say that. At this point, it's all about denial and distance for any of the recipients. I pose this, however, if someone received a skit from Chris Rock stereotyping African-Americans as he does in his stand-up routines and then sends it to all white people as funny, would that be racist too? Would it still be racist if the email list was all African-American?
In this world where virtually nothing is private, some small act can be blown out of the water and have everyone scrambling to to ruin someone. No wonder shit is so screwed up. Baker should take his lumps but the talk of having him fired and basically shunned forever is absurd. What's the great Christian deal of he who is without sin cast the first stone?
Whoever made the point about white liberals in this community was dead on. They are the biggest hypocrites of all. They sure don't mind blasting someone for "politically incorrect" statements but are among the first to do nothing in helping the city's largest minority community. It's as if they are saying, while patting them on the head, "Hey we'll get angry about people making racists comments against you but sit down and shut up when it comes to anything else. We'll let you know when we think something is good for you." That to me is racist.

"In a world where virtually nothing is private", Baker still saw fit to circulate a clearly racist 'joke.' But according to you, Insider, we should cut him some slack because he was also involved in circulating sexist 'jokes', too. And such a 'joke' from a middle-aged white man is no more racist than a black entertainer satirizing other black people.
And oh, those white liberal hypocrites. Even though they aren't comparing educated, accomplished black women to chimpanzees, they've got no right to criticize another white person's racist behavior because-- well, I guess because you said so, Insider. I don't know how you quantify or even qualify doing "nothing helping the city's largest minority community," but I'm guessing you think proving that negative is easier than justifying calling the nation's first black First Lady a fucking chimp.

She looks like a monkey. Just a fact. Get over it.

Sam you missed the whole point. You're too charged up to think clearly and you chose to pick and choose what you responded to.

well, it's been a pretty interesting couple of days here!

The joke is racist and forwarding it was stupid.
But is forwarding one email proof that Mr. Baker is a racist? It seems to me that he is going to suffer a great deal for being unwise. Anything more deserves real scrutiny.
Before we start playing pin the sheet on the klansman, perhaps we should wait for people who know him to speak out on his character and his actions.
I suspect that his employers will look carefully into his job performance for evidence as to whether this was more than stupidity.
I am certain that the local media will interview numerous friends and associates to fill out the public's profile of him. One hopes that it will be Liz Garrigan who does this for the Scene because of her singular (at the Scene one might say 'unique') objectivity there.

And now it's on Fox.
Just as NASA uses one "Garn" as the maximum possible unit of space sickness (in honor of Utah Senator Jake Garn's memorable ride on the Shuttle), perhaps negative impact on economic development will someday be measured in Walts.

As a University of Alabama Birmingham graduate who looks like Peter Griffin, he probably should've thought twice before sending racist emails about someone looking funny.

You can't reasonably do anything about (or to) a person's opinions, feelings, or prejudices, however odious you might think them. You can't even discern them reliably.
Behavior is different, and a person who occupies an executive position in a marketing organization who behaves in such a way as to bring embarrassment to the organization has acted incompetently and non-professionally. To then attempt to rally his friends to the cause of saving his bacon through the old boy network is reprehensible and only compounds the incompetence and lapse of professionalism.
If I were this gentleman's employer, he would already be on the street. The fact that it needs to be discussed at all is an indication that the organization itself is non-serious and irresolute.
Anybody who is entrusted with a business email account should know better than to use it to send personal email. Period. Personal email wastes the resources of the organization and damages its image in the perception of mail recipients whose inboxes are cluttered with megabytes of unwanted images, clip art, lame jokes, years-old hoaxes, propaganda, and supposedly inspirational tripe. Even in the eyes of recipients who are supposedly "friends" of the sender. In the present day of countless providers of free personal email accounts, there is no excuse for embarrassing your employer with the personal email you use to irritate your "friends". None at all.
It's got nothing to do with whether or not the man is a racist, or what his opinions are. It's all about behavior, and this behavior is unquestionably embarrassing and, for a marketer, incompetent. Arguably, it would be so had he sent the email in question from a personal account; professional and personal lives cannot be entirely disentangled.

I just don’t know!! I'm a business owner that owns 12 Salon and Spa in Indiana and Florida
My wife family is moving to Tenn. and wants me to open a Spa. I just can't after hearing about this.
I would love to, but I’m a man of color and I don’t want my kids to have to deal with people like Baker

The e-mail is repugnant. The e-mail is indeed racist. Forwarding it was wrong. People on here equating it with a "lapse in judgment" are also wrong. I can't believe we're still having this kind of conversation (if you want to call it that) in 2010.

Does anyone know who first started this embarassing e-mail which is so offensive to any American. This e-mail disgraces The Office of The President of the United States of America. Where did it (the e-mail) originate from.

Worst apology ever. Not only full of excuses, but also conditional - it's your fault if you were offended. This guy claims to be a public affairs expert?

There is no excuse for Baker's actions. Many of his supporters who have left comments don't seem to realize that they have outed themselves as well. I am okay with that, frankly. Now we know.
If we lived in a vacuum, the email may not have been so bad. But, we don't. We have to look at and live with the cultural context. That is what makes it all so offensive.
The commenter who talked about TNans being held out as inbred, backward people may have come as close as you can to the perfect non-racial analogy for this situation.
Over in Hawaii, I deal with small-minded ness of a whole different type. The Hawaii Tourism Authority's CEO used his WORK computer to forward racist cartoons and language about the President, sexist material about the Secretary of State. He added some pornographical content for flavor as well. A real gem. Little action was taken at first. After marching in the streets, the people prevailed, and he was fired from his job, receiving a $290K severance payout. Check out the links below for more info.
http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/2008/11/05/rex-johnson-former-president-hawaii-tourism-authority-to-get-290000
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20080929192848345
Strangely (sadly?) I have to say TN is ahead of the game compared to some other places.
I also included a link to more incidents of racism in recent years in HI, a place people love to call a melting pot. Prepare to shake your head.
http://www.starbulletin.com/news/hawaiinews/20081025_Racism_and_prejudice_linger_in_Hawaii_says_chief_justice.html

I sat on the THLA Board for 2 years and I have to say, after some of the comments I heard at board meetings, I am not surprised at the ugliness of this email.

Comment removed.

I despise anybody who blindly forwards stupid emails. If you have an original though, say it.

Dumb Dumb Dumb move from a communications professional, to say the least. Lots more to say, but many of you have already made great points..
The latest?
Baker being defended by DelFavero:
http://politics.nashvillepost.com/2010/03/06/del-favero-defends-walt-baker/

I forwarded this e-mail to all my friends worldwide. It is hilarious.

"But the point here should be whether Walt Baker is a racist. He is not. He may have done something stupid but he is not a racist."
"Nor did I say that the email was not racist."
So, according to Mr. Del Favero, distributing racist, hurtful material does not make you a racist. Raises the question of exactly what you have to do to qualify as a racist in his view.

Business Owner says:
I just don’t know!! I'm a business owner that owns 12 Salon and Spa in Indiana and Florida
My wife family is moving to Tenn. and wants me to open a Spa. I just can't after hearing about this.
I would love to, but I’m a man of color and I don’t want my kids to have to deal with people like Baker

I see a lot of righteous indignation here about that lame e-mail joke. I wonder how indignant these same people would be if the president this reporter was referring to in [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HgvQgGDJuw&eurl=http://hotair.com/archives/2007/11/30/video-the-obligatory-erin-burnett-calls-bush-a-monkey-clip/]this video[/url] was Obama?

I wonder how many of these leftards sent RAAAAACIST! pics of Condolezza Rice amongst themselves.
And President Bush Monkey pics? not so uncommon.

Oops, wrong code. This should display the URL from my 9:05 PM post correctly:
Monkey President

RAAAAACIST! or not? Depending on who's in office, I suppose. Or, actually, depends on who the Left decides deserves support, and who doesn't.

You can gauge a person's character when they make a mistake by their reaction(s) to it. In this case, the absolute WORST reaction is to say 1) no racist intent was meant in the first place while 2) apologize if anyone was so foolish to be offended.
Most of us Southerners are not fools. We are continually aware that we must tread on thin ice when it comes to race, because we are assumed guilty for any slip that is race-related in any way.
What concern's me about too many of Tennessee's leaders, is the absolute naivete regarding this basic fact. I don't hear nearly the level of these ignorant actions going on in other southern states (even Mississippi). When it does happen, the reactions are swift and stern. Remember what happened in Virginia to Senator George Allen?
And yes, anyone with common sense knows this was racist. I have to shamefully admit there was a time earlier in my life I would have found this e-mail funny. We all know what was meant. You will get more respect back and receive forgiveness by just "fessing up" and saying your sorry.

Consequences:
"Also on Saturday, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau said it would drop its contract with Baker's marketing firm."

All of you defending this or making excuses are just as racist as the one who sent it.

DO unto others as you will have others do unto you!

L'affaire Baker led or came second on all three local newscasts tonight. He gave interviews to all of them and, far too late, acknowledged that he had done a bad thing.
One thing he said in all three interviews bears repeating: that he and he alone is responsible for what happened.
I have sparred with Albie here about his seeming defense of Baker, though I think he is acting from an impulse of friendship rather than upon careful reflection.
Leaving that situation aside, I have seen sniping in The Tennessean's comments, and a little bit here, suggesting that the recipients of the e-mail could be presumed to have welcomed it. I find that attitude grossly unfair.
One of my sources sent me a hard-core porn image last week as part of a supposed joke. I have never in my life sent anything of the kind. I deleted it immediately, but a forensic search of my workplace computer would now find porn on it. Is that my fault? Am I a perv in your mind because I received it?
I know several of the people who got Baker's e-mail well enough to know they would recoil from any racist statement made in their presence. I also know now that some of them have received hate mail today.
It ain't right.

I thought that joke was really funny, and the pictures were spot on. Almost as hilarious as Michelle doing that PSA for Haiti. Did you know she was forced to surrender her law license in Illinois for malfeasance? Did you know she has hired 27 personal servants with a payroll of $1.5Million (+ free health care courtesy of us) when Laura Bush only had one. I thought that was a very true likeness of her, both of them.
Here's another funny you Einsteins will probably not get either:
Near Fredericksburg, Texas, where there is a large German-speaking population, a farmer walking down a country road notices a man drinking from his pond with his hand.
The farmer shouted: 'Trink das wasser nicht. Die kuhen haben dahin gesheissen.'
(Which means: 'Don't drink the water, the cows have shit in it.')
The man shouted back: 'I'm from Washington DC and just down here campaigning for Obama's health care plan, I can't understand you. Please speak in English.'
The farmer replied: 'Use two hands, you'll get more.

It does me good to see the good people of Tennessee rise up in outrage against this man Baker. Racism is a virus for which man has no cure but changes of the heart and there isn't any prescription for that. Shunning and job loss may be a step in the right direction.

You said it Durden. Why don't YOU use two hands instead of one? Left and Right. You'll get more. It's the law of life.

Response to Tom. I agree it is not right to assume the e-mail recipients are guilty by association. There are some who can, and will, misuse the e-mail as a "smoking gun" pointing to a racist leadership community. Let's just hope for all the actors involved this was a single, isolated, incident where one person exercised poor judgment.
What has happened to the "old rules" of business that you do not discuss (much less joke about) race, politics, or religion? I'm unsure the Nashville business community has learned the importance of this like their counterparts in Charlotte, Tampa and Atlanta.

30 years ago, the best man at our wedding, Herb, took us to meet his family, tucked up there in the "holler" just outside Carthage.
The response was mixed, and clearly some folks didn't approve.
Didn't matter. Despite the nonsense, we were hooked on Tennessee.
Frankly, the vast majority of the people we met in Carthage were the most hospitable, self-sufficient, nonjudgmental, decent and cool folks you could ever hope to find. Add in the country cooking, the fishing, the camping, the stunning beauty of the countryside...and did I mention the people? We've been going back ever since...
Baker is a jackass.
But we love Tennessee. What's a Michigan liberal to do?

This whole thing has blown up far beyond the email. There are journalists here who have lost all objectivity in the process. Folks, go back and look at Baker's history. He has no history of such things. It's one thing if he chronically sends such emails. But he hasn't. The overwhelming response to the email is very much the low road. As an African American leader in the community told me today, this is an educational opportunity, not one to destroy someone for a lapse of judgment. The African American person I'm talking about is a friend of Baker's, someone who said he's never experienced or heard anything remotely racist from Baker. But that guy won't come forward to defend him publicly because then he'd be chastised for not blistering Baker. Shame on everyone for choosing to take the low road, including those who say the First Lady indeed looks like a chimp. The whole thing is a sad commentary on our society in how folks choose to respond and deal with these things, taking the road of the lowest common denominator on both sides. Baker fucked up. How much contrition does he need? Does he have to stand in the public square and flog himself? Must he lynch himself or allow himself to be lynch? Woe is the accuser who has some sort of lapse in judgment, for they too will face the great wrath of an over wrought society.

To Tyler Durden:
Michelle Obama's law license is inactive, voluntarily. She gave up her law license in 1993 when the kids were young. Maintaining a law license requires expense and time as one must keep up with laws, two things Michelle Obama did not have in abundance, raising two children while working. Ms. Obama did the responsible thing, voluntarily giving up her license to practice law, since she knew she would not be keeping up with all the changes.
24 staffers work in conjunction with the First Lady. Laura Bush had 24 staffers at one point, the final tally of her Staff at the WH at the end of GW Bush's term was 18.
It's a free country. Feel free to keep spouting off the lies you hear on Rush Limbaugh's radio show; anyone who has a scrap of intellect can figure out the truth soon enough.

Observer...you cannot be serious.
This is indefensible...that it may or may not be a first offense is irrelevant.

I've never been to Tennessee though I've been looking forward to visiting Nashville to hear some real bluegrass music and tour the rest of the state. If Mr Baker's email and the comments of many on this article represent the views of the majority of Tennesseeans I think I'll stay home and listen to local bluegrass musicians. Sounds like a lot of the so-called "change" in the south has just been on the surface so as not to scare off the tourists from other parts of the country.

W&A Engineer, Earl Butz was not Lyndon Johnson's Secretary of Agriculture. At the time he got canned for his racist joke, he was serving in the Ford Administration. I don't remember whether he was a Nixon Administration holdover.

When President Bush was in office there were always pictures put up of him next to a monkey. No one said anything about that. On the website mr sockmonkey there is a "top 10 pictures where Bush looks like a monkey." How old are you people that words hurt? Get over it and get a life.

Aside from the obvious, Lainie...plz produce similar attacks on Laura.
I recall some trash, but nothing that approaches this level of unwarranted contempt.
This is disgusting. And you know it.

It's about time someone made fun of these godamn niggars. you go Walt, good old boys across this land have your back, bud... Drink on!
JP

Snerk...JP
Are you now Jack Plumber?
And you do know your sarcasm is wasted here, right?

I grew up in the Belgian Congo, where racist Belgians ran the country. They had a habit of calling the Congolese "macaques" which is a type of monkey. If Mr. Baker did not realize this was a racist comparison, then he is too stupid to hold his position. If he did know, he should be fired for being a racist.
Baker must go.

I grew up in the Belgian Congo, which was then a totalitarian state run by Belgians. When they wanted to insult the Congolese, they would call them "macaques", which is a type of monkey. If Mr. Baker did not understand that this photo comparison was racist, then he should be fired for being an idiot. If he did know it was racist, then he should be fired for being a racist. Either way, Mr. Baker must go.

ahunt... If we all were lynched on a first offense, no one would be alive. By your logic, we must all be perfect all of the time at every turn. Say everything perfectly and be perfect. If you indeed are that way, more power to you. But if you aren't may you never be judged.

In essence, this is a misdemeanor that has been elevated to a capital crime.

Observer, we're not asking for perfection. We're asking for a minimal amount of intelligence, fairness, common sense and dignity. Baker's email wasn't merely "insensitive." It was malicious, racist and something no thinking, fair-minded person would ever send--or find funny.
Keep in mind that long after Baker sent the email, he didn't see anything wrong with it. Only after he realized he was about to lose his taxpayer funded gig, did he cop a mea culpa. Even now, I don't think he realizes just how horrible his email was.

Solly Forell
The Secret Service need to visit you.

Observer...there are standards that are inviolate. Baker has breached them.
Feel free to defend the indefensible. Excuse the inexcusable.
This is 2010, Baker is my age and he knew precisely what he was doing...
He has no business representing Tennessee in any capacity, and no place in any position of influence.

This guy is a PATHETIC MORON! He has no manners, no common sense, and certainly does not demonstrate any civility or respect due the First Lady of the United States!
Yet another example of the typical white male racism prevalent in the Southern States.
This doesn't make him a big man for thinking he's so funny - this makes him out to be the loser who got caught being a douchebag.
And his apology wasn't an apology, he doesn't even recognize what he did was wrong, he only apologized for "those who were offended". Heck if you weren't offended, then go ahead and enjoy!
It's just unbelievable that someone who is supposed to be an expert in Communications and head of a "Hospitality" association, would send out something that STUPID.
I don't care who you are - that's just unacceptable. I hope this guy gets fired. He is too INCOMPETENT and clearly demonstrates NO sense of judgement.
By the way, if we are comparing people to animals now, he looks like a FAT WHITE PIG!

Baker's biggest offense is continuing the practice of fake public apologies. To say I apologize "if you were offended" is to shift blame to the offended parties. If he doesn't mean it, he should keep the "apology" to himself.
AS for the email, it merely illustrates the predictable results when the generation of old school types like him suddenly find that everybody else has moved on. He probably still swats female co-workers on the behind.
Back in the day, the "good ol boys" would have had a laugh and everybody would have gone on with their day. Those days are over.

This is just so great ... just keep it coming ... too much ... Christ ...

"And his apology wasn't an apology, he doesn't even recognize what he did was wrong, he only apologized for "those who were offended". Heck if you weren't offended, then go ahead and enjoy!"
Precisely. We get the code, Observer. Those of us who are disgusted are just left wing moonbats.
Please. The sexism, racism, and polarization politics of the "joke" are lost on this moron

Joey: I'm enjoying the rants as well.
George Bush has more in common with the apes because of his lower intellect. And his dopey smile.
Why all the hate for Tennesseans? I may have felt mostly alienated as a liberal growing up, but I insist that there are a good number of liberal natives

This guy certainly should make an apology. Insulting Cheetah that way. That's just not right.

Yoohoo, Mr. Del Favero--Just curious how you know for a fact that Walt Baker is not a racist. I mean, seriously--how do you know this? You seem so certain. But Baker's actions indicate that he's able to lob a racist email out there without too much angst.
The people I believe to be nonracist would never send out an email like that. I just don't get where you're coming from when you announce that Baker is not a racist. It just doesn't add up.

I'm surprised that PETA hasn't gotten involved yet.

So sad. And sadly, another blow to the south in particular over racism. Interesting that this fool has a "Roll Tide" cake. They have no problem rooting for the black bucks to lead their favorite state university football team to victory. I hope his behind is run out of town.

Regarding the debate over whether or not Mr. Baker is racist or just stupid, I'm going to submit that he's both racist and stupid.
We're hearing a lot about how, oh yes, this was definitely a racist email, but no no no, the person who sent it certainly is no racist. What hogwash. No one but God can see what lurks inside the hearts of men. We identify racists in our society by their words and their actions; that's how it's always been. Racist is as racist does.
The fact that Mr. Baker himself was not outraged by the email when he first received it pretty well settles the matter for me. The only possible way you could ever think that email was anything but offensive is if you were somehow previously unaware that there's this group of people living in America called "blacks" who have had it pretty rough for a few hundred years. I find it difficult to believe that is the case with the CEO of a trade association for the hospitality industry.

Curious, my thoughts exactly.

Theo, yes indeed, PETA should get involved and at the same time call out the SCENE for routinely calling businessmen pigs.
Speaking of PETA, this blog has a long way to go to match the pit bull story. As I recall that blog went over 250 posts and had true nationwide participation.

What a load of leftist hypocrisy! Always remember, when pointing that finger, there are four more pointing right back at you, as my dear old mother use to say!

Living in Miami, a town heavily dependent on tourism, having anyone employed in a high profile organization whose sole job it is to attract tourists to our state becoming embroiled in any kind of similar nonsense would be immediately fired and run out of town. Never having been to Tennessee I suspect it is like most places with large populations of citizens having a variety of opinions and beliefs, but these types of shenanigans do not endear me to visit anytime soon. Good luck attracting those tourist dollars with these narcissistic good 'ole boys in your tourist infrastructure.

Autoegocrat summed this up perfectly. Did he really expect anyone to believe that he meant this as political humor? I don't care which party you support, this was one of the most racist things I've seen since the 70s. Prediction: Before this is over, I'm betting he'll lose his job with TN Hospitality Assn.

It's appalling that the Tennessee Hospitality Association may let another day pass without firing Walt Baker. Looks like they're getting pressured on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tennessee-Hospitality-Association-TnHA/194682407405?ref=ts
This might be a situation where the board members need to be shaken from their stupor. Each one of these people (and their businesses) need to be held accountable for this racist display. How much longer before we see an NAACP boycott of the association and it's members?
Maybe start with this guy and his hotel in Chattanooga: http://chattanoogahospitalityassociation.com/news/Bill_Mish2010President_THA.pdf

Hey John, I was actually just kidding around with the PETA statement.I do not intend to open up another can of worms, or what ever cans those folks open up.(gummie bears?). I was merely making light of what I consider to be an already asinine discussion that is going on here. You have to admit, there is some likeness.

There would be no liberal outrage here if the offensive comment had been made about Palin.
Maybe the libs are just reaping what they have sown.

Those who live in a glass house should not throw stones. Lets rewind and label all the people (everyone)who sent Bush and Clinton jokes as racist as well. What is good for the goose is good for the gander, or are we wanting to be PC but not practice what we preach?

http://decoderrings.blogspot.com/2010/03/dear-mr-baker.html
Mr Baker: It's not what you are, it's what you did.
Don't care how many of his close circle of friends come forward to testify about his inner heart of hearts. The damage to TN is done.

It's not God bless America, God damn America! The chickens...have come home too roost. Rev. Wright...Ya gotta love him.

Baker's "apology" hardly qualifies as such. The suggestion that the email was "misinterpreted" is ridiculous and insulting. Moreover, when did it become commonplace for public apologies to include the standard refrain, "if anyone may have been offended ..." There is no maybe about it ... people are offended. But why should anyone really expect this spineless jerk to actually cop to anything.

The joke is racist and mean spirited. If the goal of the Tennessee Hospitality Association is to attract KKK meetings and discourage ethnically diverse organizations from visiting your hotels and convention centers, I say...I keep up the good work....Otherwise you should probably fire this guy....

Actions do speak louder than words. There was a lot of damage done by Walt Baker's actions, given his position.
Having lived outside of the South for a couple of years, I had to defend the South against accusations of blanket racism. It's hard to defend when someone in a leadership position does something like sending out racist emails under the guise of 'political humor.'
Damage is done, indeed. The comment that this is an 'education opportunity' is an excellent comment. Let's see how Nashville's 'leadership' handles this one. Running Baker out of town is simply sweeping it under the rug. We need actions taken to allow this to be an educational opportunity.

Hey J., If Baker is spineless, what does that make you...J? Put your name on that,J.You're a joke. J

Oh it obvious; Walt has penis envy. He feels so insecure as a man so he attacks President Obama's wife. Now that is spineless. What a loser.

Ahunt ... It's not defending the indefensible. I'm just pointing out that all of the reaction has become worse than the actual email. As I said, a misdemeanor has become a capital crime. Most here want to lynch the guy. Not literally I hope but they would just as soon as put him in the poor house than anything else. It's so Christian of everyone. The thought police are out. If you are white, don't ever laugh at George Lopez or Carolos Mencia making jokes about Hispanics or Dave Chappelle making jokes about blacks.
I think the vitriol over the email has less to do with racism and more about folks being upset about the characterization of the First Lady/her husband for whom many voted. The reaction is really no different than the right wingers who will defend GW to end if you say he looks like a baboon and has the intelligence of one, although that might be disparaging the baboon.
So the question is would this have been blown nearly out of proportion if the photos had someone other than the first lady in the comparison? I think not.

Anyone making excuses for this bigot is themself condoning this behavior. Baker is a CEO of TN Hospitality Association not some nameless blogger. He is the face of TN.
For those defending this guy, tell me, what is his point in sending out this email out? What makes him think sending "political humor" won't offend one side or the other, especially in his industry?
This man is surely incompetent to say the least. How he got to be CEO of this Association tells me more about TN than I would like to know :(

It's amazing to me that in the 21st century there are still people who don't find anything racist about comparing a black person to a monkey. A quarter-century after Howard
Cosell practically got run off the air for saying look at that monkey run. Cosell was no racist and had used the same comment about white players, but it was incredibly stupid and tone deaf. That is the point about Mr. Baker. His own views on race are less important than his insensitivity and stupidity.
BTW, when a Palestinian cartoon depicted Condoleeza Rice as pregnant with a monkey, did the people defending this e-mail think that was funny? Or is all of this politics as usual?

From "Stereotypes: Negative Racial Stereotypes and their effect on attitudes toward African-Americans" by Laura Green, Virginia Commonwealth University, in the Winter 1998-99 Issue of "Perspectives" magazine:
"Beliefs that blacks were "mentally inferior, physically and culturally unevolved, and apelike in appearance" (Plous & Williams, 1995, p. 795) were supported by prominent white figures like Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Thomas Jefferson. Theodore Roosevelt publicly stated that "As a race and in the mass [the Negroes] are altogether inferior to whites" (Plous & Williams, 1995, p. 796). The ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1884 stated authoritatively that "...the African race occupied the lowest position of the evolutionary scale, thus affording the best material for the comparative study of the highest anthropoids and the human species" (Plous & Williams, 1995, p. 795). This idea of African-Americans as apelike savages was exceptionally pervasive. For example, in 1906, the New York Zoological Park featured an exhibit with an African-American man and a chimpanzee. Several years later, the Ringling Brothers Circus exhibited "the monkey man," a black man was caged with a female chimpanzee that had been trained to wash clothes and hang them on a line (Plous & Williams, 1995)."
This article on the historical context of African American stereotypes may be valuable to understand precisely why Baker's email is so offensive and unforgiveable. The full text is available online at:
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/links/VCU.htm

Observer,
If my job was selling something, and my actions caused sales to go down, I should expect to be looking for a job. Though the tourism impact remains to be seen, I think the implication is that it will suffer.
You made a very good point in your last graf. While I do not think this is blown out of proportion, it would have been far more racist and vile had the photo been of an anonymous black person, but that would have received zero press.

I'm not from TN but I had to go there once for a wedding. To the people who just say "This person doesn't represent TN" I say BUNK! From the time I was down there through all the media coverage sense I have a hard time not believing that the who lot of you are ignorant racist A-hols.
Don't believe me? Than try this. Go out with your friends from somebody not from the south and just watch there expressions on there faces as the conversation winds on.
There is simply not enough of you who are not ignorant and racist to actually make a difference.
To bed too. It's a beautiful state...if you could ever get past the barbaric inhabitants.

Here's what I don't understand after a decade living in Tennessee: Where is the African-American response to this? Individual commenters, sure. But in most other places, the NAACP or Black Caucus or prominent African-American leader would have spoken up on this. For whatever reason - and I welcome being corrected on this - it seems that there is no strong or united African-American leadership in Tennessee and that is one of the reasons that people like Baker think they can get away with stuff like this.

Liz Garrigan, if you get down here, I liked the way you wrote the story. A good read and skillful phrasing.

This is just stupid... I hope they fire his racist ass

After seven years of living in Nashville, I was thrilled to leave the place in the early 1990s. I never knew the New South was as painfully stupid, provincial and racist as the old south until I lived there through those years. when I see the kind of inane and disgusting racist humor put forward by a key member of the white establishment in Nashville I am, once again, reminded of the tragedy that is the South--a place that refuses to empty itself of its most fierce racists and most vile haters. Nashville, you take the cake!

I am not going to visit TN. Nor spend any $$$$$ there.

After reading these comments, Thank God America have decent people who will take a stand & denounce bigotry & hate.

Let's suppose, just for argument's sake, that the email was not racist in nature nor should it taken as such by any reasonable person
(For the record, I share neither of these sentiments--count me in with the majority on this thread.)
But let's suppose these things all the same for the moment. Let's suppose that this guy is just another victim of flagrant PC.
Well, I'm not sure that would make me feel any better about this. Seriously, how do you become the CEO of the Tennessee Hospitality Association and not know that sending an email like this is going to get you and your very public organization into serious hot water from a PR standpoint in this day and age? This isn't just some run-of-the-mill fella spouting off to his buddies over a few drinks at a bar. This is--by any measure--a prominent citizen and public figure sending this out to others of more or less equal stature. That's more than clueless; that's rank incompetence.
Argue--if you must--about whether this was a racist email or not (again, it seems pretty clear to me), but it seems to me that there's no denying it as an act of professional malpractice. Anybody who is that "clueless" about societal standards in the world in which he lives has no business being the head of a statewide lobbying orgainzation because he obviously has no clue about the political environment in which that organization operates.

If you had any doubts this has gone international, you can get past them. I'm writing from Toronto, Canada, and found this article while searching for a destination for a much needed vacation this coming April/May.
Stunning to me that you have someone in a position of influence and authority who did this... and that you have citizens who defend the man and dismiss its racial implications. I'm am literally stunned that Baker wasn't immediately fired.
I've yet to settle on where I'll holiday... but I know where I won't be.

Celtica, it must be wonderful to be so smart that you can conclude during the course of a weekend wedding trip that every person living in Tennessee is a racist. In fact, many of us aren't...something you might have learned if you had stayed a bit longer.
Susan Rose, just how do you propose that Middle Tennessee "empty itself of its most fierce racists and most vile haters?" The most we can do is to condemn such behavior everywhere we find it ... as many people on this page have done.
And Andy, until white people refuse to tolerate anti-black racism, it will never stop. Condemnations from black community leaders are fine, but it's up to white folks to make sure other whites are ashamed to perpetuate such garbage.
We may not be able to cure their hearts, but maybe we can make them watch their mouths.

What can we complain about next? This is just ridiculous! Why don't you just get a life and stop ruining my day.

I don't think folks would be so upset if it weren't for the fact that Michelle and Cheetah do look some what alike. Peace & Love.

I think it is funny....its a shame that we cant poke a little fun and the obamas without being called racist and losing your jobs.....we do have freedom of sheep in this country even if obama doesnt think we do. Damn it was a funny picture of her next to the chimp..nothign racist just funny.......

From now on I think all people who speed and are caught by the police should be shot on the spot. Any infraction is a death penalty. Perhaps what we need is a the old Soviet-styled re-education centers for the wayward souls. There is an argument that the email should have been handled within the group. Those folks, as friends should do, should have reprimanded him for the email and cautioned him against such things. After all, it was an email to a group of friends who all happen to be major players in the Nashville business elite or Biz Pigs sans Whitehouse. Instead someone decided to set off a firestorm.
And while everyone is at it with the sensitive stuff, everyone should boycott the New York Times for it's racist headline today in the Week in Review Section.
Headline: Democrats Need A Rally Monkey
See for yourself http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/weekinreview/07zernike.html?hpw
How crazy has this stuff gotten, well, I recall the white aide to the DC mayor having to resign three years ago for using the word "niggardly" because it was dubbed a racial slur while there are no racial connotations in the word's etymology. Pure politics.
It's more in the case but the point is the absolute overreaction as well as political undertones in it. The Scene has been largely against the new convention center so this became a way of bringing down another proponent by outing something that probably should have otherwise been handled privately.
Meanwhile, watch Chappelle's routine in England. And if you laugh at any of this stuff, then go to the public square in from the Metro Courthouse and flog yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV2v37u39NY

Sherry-
Like all Klan-ladies, you probably dream of a big black one up your backside, don't you?

Ok you are all dumb asses i mean really its not racist lol if bush was up there you all would make fun of him you cant say we cant dog on obama or his wife just because they are half black that has nothing to do with they will be dogged on just like every one else. they are no different than me or you so stop your bitching little babies and grow a sack. i think its funny hell i laugh when im joked on cause thats all it is just grow up you guys are pathetic lol

I must say tat I too am proud that we live in a country in which the sheep are free. Just as the Founders intended.

Theo, the thing that is troubling is the whiff of real hate here and it is by the very ones crying racism the loudest.
Also, we really do not know if Baker is a racist. Only he knows, but we cannot.
As an aside, and as I'm sure you know, it has often been said that people look like their dogs.
Now, about the Ottoman Empire...

Albie Del Favero is also a racist

Wow JC...you've got a great idea for a new movie! "Cheetah and the first lady go to Washington". Avatar what?

Another stupid CEO -- I am so sick of these high paid idiots. It is time to clean house of these maggots in suits.

Another stupid CEO -- I am so sick of these high paid idiots. It is time to clean house of these maggots in suits.

Well all the good work our city has done in recent years including taking the CMA to NYC is now out the window.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/index.html
Check out the comment section of the New York Daily News to see what New Yorkers think of us.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/03/07/2010-03-07_tennessee_ceo_walt_baker_sorry_for_humor_email_gag_comparing_michelle_obama_to_c.html

Chris, head maggot is your prez.

Actually, it would be interesting to know a probability of someone being photographed and looking like a chimp. It never happened to me but please share your stories along with your ethnicity so we can review the correlation between the two. Thank you, Bzdashek, Ph.D.

Well at least we can rest well tonight knowing people like this are in charge of a billion dollar project.
And by the way, and this is a fact, if you do not think this was a racist action, that means you are racist.

Walt Baker, you are a sick son of a bitch. From and ordinary white guy.

Is Theo vying for attention here?

What is up with all the PhD's floating around?
Dr Doolittle, Dr Seuss... give up your title's and go to work. SHIT! Toby...eat me.

smirkingchimp.com
Now, why do you think this is racism if the victim is black but not racism if the victim is white?
The answer will reveal who the true racist is.

Hold on--Baker still has his job?
How long is this going to take? Our hotels and restaurants can't take this much longer . . .
Then again, Baker is doing some righteous PR work for Tennessee:
Cost of sending racist email: $0.00
Coverage Tennessee on AP, NY Daily News, CNN, foreign newspapers: PRICELESS!

Omar, thank you for giving me your undivided. It works for me.

I'm white, Repulican, middle class, female,I possess a way above average IQ and education, I know the difference between "their" and "they're", and I believe that having a person like Walt Baker as a friend or as an official representative of any organization sets a person way back before Cro-Magnon. I hope I never see him or I'll probably do something I'll end up having to apologize for, but right now I'm feeling violent. Walt, you and your friends who appreciate your humor are the scum under the claws of an iguana. I wish you'd remove yourselves to an island, permanently.

mk, i have a pet iguana and i find your comment very offensive. i wouldn't wish you the comfort of an island. please just drown.

I guess I was wrong. A year ago, upon hearing a friend comment that we should beware the closeted bigots for they would truly be losing their minds following the election. I dismissed the comment because I was sure that, at the least, the closeted bigots would STAY closeted. Walt Baker represents so much that is foul about race relations. When people say we should ignore this kind of ignorance I say, "Hell No!" Unredeemed lowlife such as Baker should be called out wherever they are found and, eventually, should be shunned from any sort of above-ground existence. How long is the world supposed to wait for morons like Baker to catch up to the century we're all trying to live in?

Well this shouldn't surprise us who are black here in America. Absolutely no respect for the President and the First Lady of the United States of America, simply because they are black, period!!!
Pastor Evans (Retired U.S. Army)

I am from Nashville, a graduate of Vanderbilt and let me say this opinion doesn't represent all Tennesseans.
Nashville and Tennessee are beautiful places with some very lovely people, this guy in no way represents us.
He made a stupid and boneheaded choice to slur the first lady . . .not the president. So, defending him by saying that the left said this about Cheney or Bush just doesn't hold water. The left did not say it about the Laura Bush or Lynne Cheney. Leave the First Lady alone. She is a mother of two little girls and a wonderful example for young women to aspire to! And this guy is a idiot for not understanding that!

Baker got caught up in his personal feelings and did not think the email would get out. Yes, he is racist and he felt the others he sent the email to would share his thoughts. Actually, they probably did share his thoughts because they did not mention the email, if I am not mistaken a journalist leaked it for the story that would follow.

To "History teacher":
One would have expected a history teacher to at least know what a "communist" is, especially if they intend to impart knowledge to young students. Is this a refection of our education system?

The world is right Tennessee is nothing but white trash, bigots, racists, and in bread morons. Thank you Walt Baker we Tennesseans are so grateful for your service

Now Nashville is an international joke thanks to Walt.
http://www.terra.cl/actualidad/index.cfm?id_cat=303&id_reg=1374885
http://www.informador.com.mx/internacional/2010/183813/6/breves-del-mundo.htm

Featured on Harry Shearer's weekly broadcast/podcast, LeShow, the copyrighted segment, 'Apologies of the Week.'

I was talking to a friend of mine today. He asked me if I had seen it. He couldn't believe that Baker was stupid enough to do this. What an idiot. My friend said that Baker was a Democrat. Not that it makes any difference, but what an idiot. My friend said that he knows a man that is a friend of Bakers and that he is the one that told him he was a democrat. Can anybody confirm that?

Don't you know the bad and the good we do to others affects what happens to our offsprings in future generations? And we have a nerve to wonder why tragedies and anomalies befall us today!

As a white liberal from NY/NJ, I can tell you we have our share of racists and knuckleheads too. I don't know where Old Walt is on the spectrum, but it is clear the TN hospitality industry needs to cut him loose. Whether he's a good guy or a bad guy doesn't matter. At the very least, this was a stupedous error in judgeemtn for a man in his position. Having said that, all this talk of boycotting TN is rediculous. Boycots are dangerous things and usually end up hurting a lot of innocent people. In my experience, the good people of TN far outnumber the bad. Listen to your Aunt B and TrainMaster on this one. And have a piece of chess pie for me.

"i have a pet iguana and i find your comment very offensive. i wouldn't wish you the comfort of an island. please just drown".
You first.

Is it wise to continue to let Walt Baker comment to the media as the official spokesperson for Tennessee hospitality?
http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9021160

This is the most retarded thing I've read in a very long time. Just because she's black and he's comparing her to a monkey doesn't mean he's a racist. She does look like a monkey. It has nothing to do with her skin colour. Some people have some serious growing up to do.

I think Tennessee has a lot of racists.
True Story:
Me and a friend went to Cracker Barrel in Memphis. My friend is Mexican. The waitress wouldn't serve him. He ordered food. She kept saying..we don't have it. No matter what he ordered. Finally he just said..I'll have what he's having.
Then when she served the food, he switched plates with me. lol

I am a white retired vietnam vet/ postal worker and I am shocked to see so little respect for the President of the United States family, what does your daughter look like? People should not spend their money in a state that is so racist I for one will not.

This is just yet another example of how ignorance and stupidity lies in the most unlikely places.
Mr. Baker WISHES that he or his sons could have married such a powerful, intelligent elegant woman. Then again, she'd never consider such ignorance in a partner as a positive attribute. Being Ivy league educated and all...
Mr. Baker, and others who are overtly on privately racist, I pray that your ignorance does not plague the generations in your family, because THEY WILL have to answer and coexists with other ethnic groups during their entire life time.
Good ol boys...it's last call the party is almost over.

This is a hate crime. We need to amend the Constitution to make emailing jokes a hate crime. I mentor a child of color named Cornbreesha (age 15). What if someone emailed her this sick "joke"? It would give her nightmares, and she is already stressed raising her three kids.
Mike: Even though I mentor a child of color, I can't feel all that sorry for your Mexican friend - "Cracker" is right there in the name of the restaurant.

Hi there fellow with the reddish neck! People like Baker are just too feebleminded to keep your mouths shut! I guess that what happens when you are the bottom level of education scope, a republican! You will believe anyone stupid like Palin and Bush! HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Pathetic, Carter. I guess 15-year-old white girls named Anna Lee with three kids don't exist, too? If you can generalize and stereotype, I can too.
Anyway, I don't know- I'm a Black woman, and may get lynched by others of my race for saying this, but... what exactly was racist about it? The punchline is that Michelle Obama looks like a monkey- so? If this is someone's opinion- that Michelle Obama looks like a monkey- does that automatically make that person a racist? As someone else said, GWB was regularly compared to a chimp, in looks and in actions. The only difference with this is it's a Black woman, who's probably a great deal smarter than GWB. I smiled when I saw it, and I'm an Obama supporter. You'll always find racism if you're looking for it.
You know, I don't understand people sometimes- a good lot of you go crazy over something like this, but yet defend white fraternities who throw "Compton cookouts" and other such ghetto-themed parties to "celebrate" Black History month. Racism is so often misdiagnosed I don't even know where to begin. This country has a loooong way to go when it comes to race relations.

Tennessee is full of racist morons--exhibit A below....
Cody says:
This is the most retarded thing I've read in a very long time. Just because she's black and he's comparing her to a monkey doesn't mean he's a racist. She does look like a monkey. It has nothing to do with her skin colour. Some people have some serious growing up to do.

I wonder if this is racially motivated??
I have seen comments on this very picture before and read that it was removed. That happened almost 6 months ago so, I blame them for not taking it down.
If anyone wants to send this email, they legally should be able to do it. It wasn't sent directly to Mrs. Obama, which would be grounds for malice. The man apologized for doing it but, I don't see why he should be punished to this degree. If you are a public figure, then this comes with the territory. He should get a lawyer immediately to sue the Visitors and Convention Center. I am sorry but, he has rights. You just can't go and start charging people with crimes that are not valid. The man thought it was funny at the time and sent it. He has since apologized but,that doesn't mean he is fair game for being dropped from anything. I just wish people would get involved in what's going on in this country. There are people that are starving, living in tents, children are in harms way, and this is in the United States of America due to an administration in the White House that doesn't want to help with jobs. They all have money and want to tax us more with no thoughts on helping with jobs and the housing problem, where all this started. I just wish the same amount of time used on this story were used for the people in America. Thank You.

Walt,
Brother I don't know you. I don't watch TV, but I like to read various papers from across the country after working 10 - 12 hours in a local hotel. I have worked for hotels in Nashville for over 15 years and I may have been the last smiling face that thousands of people have seen as they departed from this city. I pulled up this article this afternoon and man it hurt like hell. I was angry for a long time but resisted the urge to write something to really demonstrate my contempt for your actions. You took quite a beating from your neighbors and its unfortunate.
I'll let the scholars and academicians comment on the psychocultural anxieties that may or may not have offended 'black bodies' in this city and state and as I pray tonight thanking my Creator for a job that pays me well and for a family who loves me, I'll ask my Creator to forgive you as well. When you hurt your brother, it is not about money Walt, it about the absence of love. I think you have hurt a lot of poeple. I don't think they are asking you to love them, but rather show a little more respect, especially considering your role in this movement. I'll pray that we respect one another more. How your actions will caculate economically for Tennessee we will never really know. Tennessee will overcome it somehow. There are a lot of smart people running around here, and you are one of them. You have to help where you have hurt this movement in your own way.
When I walk into the fancy hotel where they pay me to thank the hotel's customers for choosing Nashville, I will try very hard my Brother to forget how you made me feel tonight, and remember how good it feels to know that I am earning a living wage and that I really love what I do. Your actions, no matter how distasteful, can not change how I feel about my work in this industry and to the people that it serves.
Good luck to you.
God Bless.

nothing like some good ol' sons of south perpetuating their closet and overt racist tendencies,
Tenn now allows people to bring guns into bars?
remind me avoid Tenn.
Civil War is over, get over it already.

Baker's email is like having someone grab the back of your collar and yank you back to the 1950s. However, the majority of the comments on this page restore my faith in the progress of this imperfect but optimistic country.
The sad thing for your lovely state (I'm in California but was born in Alabama and have visited) is that the rest of the country is only going to hear about Baker's email, and not read the many fine sentiments voiced here.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blbushmonkey3.htm
Political satire - correct
context - incorrect
This is nothing more than another political satire (post it with Georges pictures). It's time for everyone to grow up and quit being so politically correct so as not to offend anybody, anywhere. We live in the whirlpool of races, religion, and nationalities, and it dosen't make a diffrence what gets posted or emailed..someone, somewhere will be offended!!!

Funny how none of you hypocrites shout when a black comedian is on stage tearing into white people; how white people talk, how they walk, how they dance, how they well..everything. Then it's just "jokes". But when it's a white guy sending a joke about a black person, get the torches and pitchforks right? Like I said, you're all hypocrites.

Walt, Walt, Walt - what on earth were you thinking? You certainly did not have your CEO hat on the day you sent this email out.
You know Walt?
I get lots of emails everyday, from lots of friends. I read them and then decide which ones I am going to forward. I only send jokes to my friend Chris that I know he will find funny. I don't send emails to my sister Susan that make fun of religion because she is a devout Catholic and I know she would not find them funny. So I am guessing that you forwarded this email to your 'close friends' because..... well because you knew they would find it funny.
We are not all fooled by their pretense.

did the world scream racism when thier pres. compared sarah palin with ( a pig in lipstick ) ? grow up u people with to much time on your hands !

Comment removed.

can't u people find a job ?

Why must this be so complex? This is not part of a race debate. If I forwarded an email like this to business associates, I would be fired immediately.
Why? Not because my employers are liberals or conservatives or black or white. I'd be fired for unprofessional behavior highly embarrassing to my employer, potentially costing them accounts and business and public humiliation.
It's that simple.

I suppose I can get away with calling him a possible serial child molester based on his picture. I suppose Tennessee is off the list of tourist money spent by me this year.

I have not been surprised by the number of people who found Baker's email disgusting and racist. I've been very surprised at the number of people who want to defend the email as political satire.
Photoshopping President Obama into a Mao uniform is political satire. Showing him in Heath Ledger Joker makeup is political satire. Superimposing a hammer and sickle over his name is political satire. I may not like these images, but they are well within the bounds of rough-and-tumble American political discourse.
Showing the President as a pair of white eyes in a black background, or comparing his wife to a monkey is NOT political satire. It is vile racism, based upon, and intended to perpetuate, ancient and evil racial stereotypes. These images serve no other purpose. Failure to acknowledge this can only be due to monumental historical ignorance, unreasoning hatred and prejudice, or willful blindness.
Criticize the President all you want -- I certainly missed no opportunity to criticize the last one. Reasonable people can disagree over his policy goals, means, and methods. Feel free to use sharp and savage language if you must. Even George Washington was mocked by political opponents as an ass, and John Adams was accused of wanting to restore the monarchy. Neither charge was true, by the way.
But if you can't keep your 19th century Jim Crow/Bones-and-Tambo/they're-just-monkeys crap to yourself, be prepared to undergo scorn and humiliation from the rest of us who believe such racism has no place in the 21st century.
The First Amendment cuts both ways; you're free to spew this noisome bile, and we're free to call you on it.

Well, now you're really hitting the big time!
http://wonkette.com/414090/latest-obama-monkey-email-sent-in-spirit-of-fun-and-friendship
This seems like a rather nice little forum. Sorry to mess it up.

So we need to send the entire state to diversity training, looks like.
The first bunch should be those who genuinely believe this is funny and not at all racist.

It's heartening to see the outrage expressed in many of the responses posted here. This kind of "humor" and the imagery that goes with it has been circulating for far too long without being challenged for what it is: the malicious subtext of much of what passes for right-wing political discourse these days. Those who struggle to understand the rationale behind Republican obstruction of virtually every White House policy initiative need look no further than this email and its scurrilous implications.

Comparing gracious, lovely, well spoken Michelle Obama to a monkey. There's humor only a sick demented heartless souless Republican would understand.

I just wanted to talk about Walt Baker. This man compared the first lady to a chimp. Now I know what you crazy right wingers are thinking. "Where was the outrage when Bush was compared to a chimp?" Well there is a very easy explanation: IT'S TOTALLY DIFFERENT!!!! Throughout the history of this country white people have been comparing black people to monkey’s and chimps as a way to dehumanize black folks. You see, if you need to treat a group of people poorly it helps if you don’t see them as human (Jews and Nazi's, Slaves and Slave owners etc....). This is a painful reminder of the distain that some white Americas have for African Americans. If this guy can write something like this about the first lady imagine how he treats average Black folks he comes into contact with daily. It is sad that this man can be so cavalier about something that is so painful to African Americans. We ,as African Americans, were here at this countries inception, we fought and died in ALL the wars and without African American SLAVE labor there would be no America to speak of. Given all these contributions to the country it saddens me that we still have to put up with such degradation. Having the first lady as the target of such degradation is not only a slap in the face to the Presidency and all Americans but to the progress that we have made in this country around race relations. When I say “we” in this context I not only mean African Americans but All Americans. The president and the first lady represent us all. They are the example of the best our country has to offer. They are a shining beacon of what it is to be an American. I was offended when someone compared Bush to a monkey, but as I said "IT'S DIFFERENT". When the person is African American the historical context of such a comparison is vital to consider. There are still some white folks, who need to dehumanize African Americans, but in today’s parlance they don’t do it to treat us poorly; they merely do it to feel good about themselves. This man needs to see the first lady as a monkey because he can’t stand to see African Americans in the White House.

I am saddened that anyone misinterpreted the sentiments behind the email.
Uh, Walt? The problem is that no one misinterpreted the sentiments behind the email.
Thank you, CVB, for not tolerating this kind of overt racism.

Dave, You are walking thesaurus. I'm not sure if I agree with you or not. If you don't have a PhD, you should!

Jessica, a picture tells a thousand words. It's not a racist thing, it's a hilarious thing!

Hey there Ben Dover.....why don't you go back to your racist little internet hangout over there in Crossville?
Don't come here pretending to be some neutral party....I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE!!!

Hey Tyler Durden you knuckle dragging neanderthal...Michelle Obama's law license was not suspended for "malfeasance" as you say.
Whew...more of the right wings lies and slander.
What further proof does anyone need of the racist anti-Obama agenda?
I researched it....using CREDIBLE sites...not right wing sites with nothing to lose.
Want the REAL answer?.....check the State of Illinois site.......but that's a little too hard and inconvenient for a Republican.

Can't decide what is more offensive, the email or the absolute overreaction to it and people wishing harm to Baker. it's getting close to Pro Life supporters saving a life by killing an abortion doctor. If it didn't involved the first lady, none of this wouldn't have happened as I wrote yesterday. Simply as that. Whatever happened to forgiveness and taking the high road? Indeed Baker should be reprimanded and dealt with professionally. But the vitriol makes everyone look worse. The reaction to it is what has pushed it to national and international levels. So the reaction has done more harm to the state's image than the actual email itself by everyone screaming so much.

State of Illinois website! Are you kidding me? That is the most crooked state in the union! Blago, Barrack...need I say more? That's laughable! That's what that is.

Is this e-mail racist? Yes, probably so. Does the chimp look exactly like Michelle Obama? Yes, of course it does, that is why everyone is so angry about it.

What is amazing is that this guy "Walt" actually thought the email was funny. In his apology, he indicates he forwarded it to a few friends who might also find it funny. He misses the point. It is racist, whether he intended only a few friends to see it or whether it was intended for the entire community. Moreover, what is the purpsoe for sending this kind of disrespectful trash to anyone? Michelle Obama has represented this country well as first lady. Could "Walt" find himself sending such an email about any other former first lady? Likely not.
This kind of e-mail is insulting and offensive. Is there any wonder some people might worry about being welcome in this state?
My highest regard goes to those officials who immidiately denounced this email.
If Walt has young children, what is he teaching them about respect and how we ought to treat people, especially the first lady?
I wonder if Walt is a regular church-attender. If so, hasn't he learned anything? Putting politics aside, Walt ought to have enough humanity and respect not to send this kind of email.
Perhaps you will think twice before sending this, even to friends.

The bottom line is this is unacceptable. I want to add that is not the feelings of the hardworking,kind, friendly and hospitable people of the great state of Tennessee. It is a great state to visit, work, and live in.This crude attempt at humor, even to a select few,is not representative of the people of this state.

I hope the Republican Party hurries up and schedules their next convention in Nashville to show their solidarity with the CEO of the Tennessee Hospitality Association. This kind of leadership needs to be supported by our Party!

"Racist" is a broad category, perhaps overly broad. I can think of at least three distinct subcategories. There are people who are deeply and overtly racist. They're not embarrassed about it at all. Then there are people who harbor deeply racist attitudes but have learned not to put them on public display; the attitudes will come out when they think they're safely in the company of like-minded individuals. Finally, there are people who may not be overtly racist and might not consciously discriminate against a person of another skin color but who would casually pass along racist jokes without considering (or caring enough to consider) that, in the process, they are promoting racism.
I know Walt Baker, along with at least three recipients of the email. You always wonder what you might have missed about a person when you see a side of him you hadn't seen before. Based on my own experience, it's hard for me to imagine Walt as the first type of racist I described. I can easily imagine him as the third kind. I just can't say about the second kind.
The "joke" in the forwarded email contained obvious racism and it was highly offensive. (I was sickened but not really surprised to read all the comments equating this email to political comments about Sarah Palin, or otherwise suggesting there was nothing offensive involved here. You people either are ignorant of history or so politically partisan you have become utterly blind.)
Like Roger, I am shocked that a communications professional would show such a lack of sense as to forward an email like this, especially to clients (even to clients who also happen to be part of an old-boy network of friends). Maybe it reflects a lack of understanding of the viral nature of electronic communications, a misguided belief that such communications can always remain private. I'm also shocked that a communications professional would issue such a non-apology apology. And I'm afraid I am most shocked of all that Albie del Favaro, who I also know, would issue a statement that comes across not only as vouching for his friend but as suggesting that the email was really no big deal. I can only hope this was a case of temporary blindness caused by friendship.
To those of you from out of state who have read of this sordid story, I would say that the attitude in the email is not what you should expect as a typical experience here -- but it is, sadly, an attitude that is not rare. You can judge from some of the dumb comments mixed into this thread with all the others that it's common enough.
Just to clarify one apparent misconception some people had: Walt Baker is not an employee of a state agency or the Convention & Visitors Bureau. He is a partner in a company that has (had) a contract with the CVB. And the CVB had the sense to do what it needed to do, which was terminate the contract. So at least this inappropriate email came with a $50,000 price tag.
I don't believe the Tennessee Republicans or the office of the Republican state legislator ever imposed any penalty on their purveyors of racist emails -- which at least gives us a useful contrast between the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Tennessee Republican Party.

To those screaming "hypocrisy!"...
Comparing Bush to a monkey is in no way the same as comparing a black person to one. It may still offend you, but as Bush is white, it's just not racism. To make such a claim is to betray an unintentional or willful ignorance of the history of race in the U.S., particularly the manner in which comparisons to apes were used to justify and maintain a view of African Americans as less than human.
The same is true of the reference of Palin and the pig in lipstick comment. Such a comment may well be the height of male chauvinism, but it's not racism.
Remember, regardless of political leanings, a distinction is not a double standard.
Elliston

Just in case you can't find the phone number for Mercatus Communications, since their website is inexplicably down today, the office phone number is 615-254-6785 (phone) Pres 2 for the illustrious Mr. Baker.

The pretense that the issue is over Mr. Baker's personal qualities of being a dictionary definition of a racist or not a racist is getting tiresome.
At the least, he pandered to people with a clearly racist email. If he missed the point of what he sent, he's not very damn bright.
When did mocking a First Lady in this way get so popular? What kind of blowhard will think this was a good idea?
And the "apology" was pathetic.
"I am saddened that anyone misinterpreted the sentiments behind the e-mail."
I bet he is. That's the classic "it's your fault you couldn't get what I said so it;'s not my fault". That's insulting, also.
And this is my state, born and bred. I'm sick of the state getting a black eye from childish, bitter RWers who can't stand having lost.

I loved this story.. Los Angeles supports obama looking like a chimp. why fire the man. does freedom of speech no longer exist in the crap nation anymore? hussein obama is just a ghetto preacher and his chimp wife supports only urban matters. thank god his reign of terror will only be for one term, then the white house will get back to being white. GO USA!!!!

Without making too much of the point, as I was writing my earlier post it also occurred to me that there are several categories of non-racists I've encountered. And the Cheetah email is a good way of sorting them out.
There are people who might privately think this email is offensive and would never dream of passing it on, but if a racist joke were told in a room full of white people who laughed at it, they would laugh, too, just for the sake of getting along.
Then there are people who might not laugh in public at such a joke and who would be offended by Baker's email, but would just delete it without ever letting him know they found it offensive -- again, for the sake of getting along.
Then there are people who would speak up or write back, even at the risk of offending someone who might be in a position to help them materially (steering business to them, etc.)
I admire people in this final category, but I'm afraid it's much more common to see people in the first two.

Albi is NOT a racist.

What I am amazed by is Mr. Baker saying that he "only sent it to a select few that he thought would enjoy the humor" Have they enjoyed such racist humor before behind closed doors. What is done in the dark will come to light. We are an African American family who just rewarded Baker and Tennessee by canceling our daughter's entries in all horse shows in the spring/summer in Tennessee.
Unfortunately the only way to send the message of "NO MORE OF THIS" is with a dollar sign.

What a bunch of whining, libtard, pantywaists...
It was a funny e-mail about someone who hates this country...
You all need to take some laxatives since you all are so crap filled with your faux white people's guilt...

Did Baker ever graduate from high school?
Not to bright.
What kind of PR person is he? Bet a bunch of clients are headed for the door."Just in case you can't find the phone number for Mercatus Communications, since their website is inexplicably down today, the office phone number is 615-254-6785 (phone) Pres 2 for the illustrious Mr. Baker."

Why didn't all you righteous people raise this much cain when all the Bush/Monkey pictures were making there rounds? Could it be that in your perfect little minds it's ok to make fun of some but not if they are black or liberal?

Well one thing is for sure. George W Obama is carrying on the last monkey's doctrine of endless war, the demolishing of the US economy and the Constitution. Yeah How bout dat change!!

Can be arsed to read all these comments, but for the record:
1. The joke was not that First Lady of the United States looks like a chimp, it's that she IS a chimp.
2. If the CVB's reaction to this situation is enough to keep you from visiting Nashville, good riddance. We didn't want you here anyway.

The president looks like curious george

Flog away. The vitriol has achieved it's desired effect. He lost his job today, perhaps many clients and has basically had to go into hiding. Even his Facebook page is down. I hope everyone is happy. The education here is slip and be judged into eternal damnation. The misdemeanor has become a capital crime. The hatefulness far exceeded the actual act itself. Hell, he might as well have gone out in a blaze of glory and just uttered something completely racist, while walking out into the street wearing a white robe and a hood.
As Bosch noted above about the categories, I very much agree that the email very likely was the casual kind. But he showed poor judgment as a PR person sending it to a group that included other PR people.

How sad that we lose a man that has done so much for the city, because of our hypersensitivity to race. For some reason, our country thrives on humor at the expense of others. Turn on the TV or walk into any comedy club. Jokes against fat people, skinny people, the handicapped, smart people (nerds/geeks), & less than smart people. We pay Jeff Foxworthy alot of money to make us laugh at the expense of unrefined Southern folk with low IQ's. It's all slander and it's all against the 8th Commandment. But somewhere along the line, someone decided that poking fun at race is a bigger sin. There is no bigger sin. But because of that, we make a scapegoat of a really good man.
What's even more sad, is that we will completely miss the point. We'll all go to work tomorrow and continue to poke fun at anyone different than ourselves. And we will laugh, like nothing's wrong.
How sad.
And yes, I have the guts to post my full name to this comment.

I would just like to point out that on this comment thread there is a post - apparently allowed by the Scene staff - suggesting it is "funny" when "rednecks" "lose their business" and "eat their guns."
Wow. Really enlightened product you got going on here. So, you are civil rights crusaders, but you allow readers to wax rhapsodic on your web site about the targets of your stories possibly committing suicide?
There is racism and then there is sheer barbarism. You folks at this newspaper crossed the line allowing that comment to go live.

The dude sent that email to REPORTERS, for crying out loud. It's not the racism, it's the stupidity.

Remember the Condi "I dont know nothing about no tubes" cartoon? Now that was funny

While I find the comment offense, I am more troubled with some of the persons that was sent the e-mail without saying anything prior to it being reported.

JaniaJ says:
but if you were black heard your white teachers call black kids little monkeys or white people people call you a jungle monkey, etc etc etc then you may understand the hurt that comes with this "joke." NOT FUNNY!!
I think the term is jungle bunny. Never heard anyone called a jungle monkey. No bunny references are allowed from now on either.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blbushchimpanzee.htm

Now, really. Such righteous indignation. First of all, think of the latent racism in all of you if you automatically think comparing a black woman to a chimp is a racist communication. Perhaps you find it so upsetting because, if you actually look at the pictures, the creater of the e-mail did a fantastic job of matching up the poses. Perhaps you are so offended because, deep down, you actually believe that black people and chimps are closely related.
Most of the non-racists amongs us just laughed, and moved on. Yes, it was a funny photo set, just as the George Bush chimp photo-comparisons were funny.
Nobody ever got fired when lampooning George Bush with similar comparisons with monkey pictures. Is it that nobody seriously sees a connection between a white guy and a chimp, yet they do see a connection between a black woman and a chimp? And for anyone to mention it out loud is just not permissible? (For you racist idiots out there, black people are NOT chimps.)
It is time for black people to grow up. If black people want "equality," then they need to take being on the wrong end of a joke in the same way their white counterparts do -- with some measure of grace, a sense of humor, and w/o playing the race card.
If the black man ever wants true equality, he needs to stop playing the race card every time things aren't going his way. Crap happens, and yes, crap happens to black people too. Most of the time, the crap that happens to black people has absolutely nothing to do with the fact of their race, yet, blacks so often want to twist it in such a way.
It is time for guilty white liberals to grow up. Don't people remember that it was the white DEMOCRATS that kept the black man down all those years, and now its the same white democrats that are hypersensitive to "black" issues. Time to give it up. No more discrimination, no more guilt. Just move on and never do it again.

I do not condone this e-mail but how many people were fired making jokes about George W.Bush ?

Bush and Obama are nothing but trained chimps for banksters that have ruined our economy and are making huge $$$ from the so called war on terror. This is what we should be outraged about. Obama ran as the peace candidate- BAHAHAHAHAHA. When will you fools wake up?? How many soldiers have died for nothing since BO got into office??? how many inocent people have been blown up by a drone??? This country has been taken over by war criminals and we are outraged over an email?????

Whatever else this sordid incident illuminates, it certainly shows that the self-important ole boy network is alive and junior-high joking. If communications professionals have the poor judgment to circulate puerile jokes via email with their names attached, they should reap the consequences. And they have.
I have to say, I'm genuinely disappointed in Albie del Favero's statement about this incident, in which he essentially said 'I'm sorry everyone found out about this," rather than disavowing that sort of cheap shot and expressing sincere contrition. He could have used some expert advice in message management on that one. Unfortunately, the experts most readily available to him were complicit.
The only guy who deserves any true pity in this incident is Baker's partner, Phil Martin, a good person who has experienced more than his share of loss. Now, he's lost a business and a partner because of the partner's thoughtless action. I hope he gets the lion's share of the business assets -- such that remain.

Is it just me who noticed that Liz Garrigan tagged her blog post as "Hicks From the Sticks"?
Perhaps she inadvertently reveals her opinion of her fellow Tennesseans.

The difference between funny and racism is how you perceived email. If you saw the two similar expressions and thought that was the joke, it was just a funny. If you looked at the two and thought, "Michelle = monkey," you're a racist. So, who are the racists now?
Please, don't pretend that you haven't discussed something with friends you would not say in public. If you think we're going to believe that, you are truly ignorant. Everyone does that, and it is how we define friendship. Friends would have also replied to the email privately instead of sending it out to media, whether they laughed or were appalled.
For all of you who think this is a TN problem, please drive around the state on your way to vacation for spring break. I mean, it is the right thing to do in response to this "atrocity", isn't it???

Ever notice what skin tone monkeys are? (Hint: It ain't dark)

Dear Mr. Mayor,
In continued news about Walt Baker yesterday I was happy to hear about the Tennessee Hospitality Association firing him as CEO, however in all this news another story has gotten pushed to the side. While this story came to light what also has come to light is the huge conflict of interest in Walt Baker being both CEO of the Tennessee Hospitality Association, which is a big supporter of the new Convention Center, and his company getting the contract from the Nashville CVB to market the new Convention Center. Seeing as the Convention Center and CVB are both funded by Metro and supported by Metro shame on Nashville for this conflict of interest with the tax payers money. You expect these things in the private sector, but doing so blatantly with something that is citywide and now is wide open for public knowledge is wrong. This cannot just be swept under the rug and made to look like everyone has done the right thing by ostracizing Mr. Baker. Multiple wrongs do not make a right.
This letter is also being sent to the appropriate media outlets and other related parties.

Wow...thank you for that nature tip Dian Fossey. So what's your point?

hahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahaahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaha HA!!
daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang

To see hundreds of different pictures of George Bush compared to a chimp, Google "picture of Bush as chimp".
Odd that all the Bush/Chimp comparisons never upset those that get upset when the same is done with Michelle Obama.
Michelle needs to insist that she looks more like a chimp than Bush, and demand Google post more chimp comparisons of her on Google than Bush has. Demand egual rights so to proove once again she's better than Republican Bush. Affirm that blacks are entitled to the same chimp comparisons as whites are. Call for her fans to help get her more chimp comparisons on Google than Bush.
Politics has become "monkey business" after all.

Come on folks get a life. It has come to a point we cant laugh at our selfs? Come on

And poor white trash are suppose to be stupid?

"It has come to a point we cant laugh at our selfs?"
Michelle Obama sent that email out about herself? Wow, that was game of her.

@Ironic: You are right that the comment was inappropriate. It has been removed.

Wow, racist southerners. Wonders never cease.

Hey Danny,
It seems you got the IQ of Walt Baker. Black people and Monkey references are racist. Bush and chimp references are bad humor. For you to admit to not understanding the difference kind of pegs you as stupid white cracker.
What, you think white cracker is racist?, no no no, I was referring to Saltines,

Anybody remember the Scene of the early '90s, after Albie del Favero and Bruce Dobie took it over?
They had a great ad campaign showing the old "Scene" - a shopping supplement that most people left in their driveways until it shredded -- wrapped around a dead fish. "It's a whole new Scene," was their slogan.
And for a few years, it really was. They recruited a lot of people who could actually write at a time when Gannett was putting so many trainees through the Tennessean they were having to introduce new writers to Nashville from the windows of a tour bus.
But a few years later, the winner of the 'You're so Nashville' contest should have been "...if the editor of your alternative newspaper is trying to join the Belle Meade country club." So much for reporting that might challenge entrenched unhealthy attitudes or effect positive change.
So it was a mercy when Liz Garrigan took over, except that she focused on local politics to the exclusion of other aspects of life in Nashville and ignored some of the good writers who used to appear in the Scene. She can also be humorless and sardonic, and appears as much interested in being part of the old boy 'in crowd' as Bruce and Albie were. My hope is that at least Liz's committee of insiders doesn't include people who think a tactless racist joke is funny enough to send it not only to their own circle of insiders, but to business associates whose careers will actually suffer harm from it.
I don't feel the least bit sorry for Walt Baker and the bubbas who are circling up to defend him. It's a whole new scene, fellas, and you obviously don't get it.
I wish it was a Scene that looked at Nashville on some basis other than who do you want on the list of your next cocktail party. Or send your next crude email joke to.

omg, she does!!!! did not see it until just now, i knew she looked familiar

They do look alike!!! lol hehehehehehehe

Walt's 15 minutes of fame has finally happened.

The saddest part of all of this is that we (Americans - not just Southerners) refuse to examine institutional as well as personal racism because we cannot admit that it exists.
It would be a mark of great maturity to acknowledge that this sort of "political joking" comes from a place deep inside us that discriminates based on the color of skin. If we grew up, we could actually work on overcoming this deep-seated wrong-ness.

Danny, Max,
Guess what, a black man is your president. And lots of white chicks think he is really cool.
Come on, admit it, you don't really want to dance around some chimpanzee reference. Let it out your inner KKK, and just post what you really want to say.

It's about time someone got caught on this type of behavior. I've been getting emails/erumors for two years from right winged friends and associates. Most all are lies and contribute to dividing this country when now more than ever we should be uniting. I'm with one of the readers about respecting our country and our leaders no matter who they are. Now, that's what it means to be an American!

Danny, Max,
Nothing? Come on, just crawl out from under your rock and do it.
Oh I see, you are cowards as well as racist MF's.
hehehehehehehhe.

The biggest mistake Walt is making is not getting a lawyer to sue his employer for firing him. There is such a thing as free speech being equal for one as it is for the other. After all, no one lost their job over the Bush/Monkey pictures, making fun of Sarah Palin's down syndrome child, or even Larry Flynt publishing articles in his porn magazine stating that Jerry Falwell had a long affair with his mother. In case you don't know about that, Jerry sued and lost because of free speech. Seems that the bread is only buttered on one side.

Greetings,
[quote="Mark Rogers"]SB,
I just checked. No posts at TCP mention George Bush, George H.W. Bush, Bush's Best Baked Beans or Moses and the Burning Bush. [/quote]
Actually, I think that SB was referring to a comment which appears after the article complaining that this is no different than comparing Bush to a monkey.
Kindest regards,
James

Hey Tom,
None of the examples you mentioned were examples of racism. What Walt did was racist. Bush was compared to a monkey because he was stupid. Making fun of Sarah Palin's child was truly awful, but it was not racist. Calling someone a MF is obscene (did Falwell do his mother?), but not racist.
A fat old white guy calling a black woman a chimp is racist. What planet do you live on?
And what about the free speech of the people who hired Walt to do their public relations? Walt has dramatically demonstrated his utter incompetence in the public relations field, LOL.

I believe most similar organizations that became aware of such an email would have taken the same steps--boot him. Others may have taken a little longer.
But I deeply resent the insinuations of some writers here that a Black person is entitled to any more, or any less, sympathy for inappropriate language or actions aimed toward them than a Hispanic, White or anyone else. This denmad POLIT KORRECT thing has got to stop. Those who try to get into one another's head and proclaim that person "thinks wrong" and that is why that person needs to be prosecuted for Hate along with a much more identifiable Crime are sowing the spawn of a place we dont want to go. Yes there are crude people in the world. Can we try them for being crude. No. Can we just walk the other way? Yes. At least I hope so.
IF a bunch of bubbas want to download an old Amos and Andy show, should we prevent them?
Hell no.
By the way, I hope anyone who remembers the shows or has seen the bootleg copies can compare some of their old story lines with those of modern day sitcoms, such as I believe in Moving On UP? or similar:
a greedy church elder who seems to always have some scheme to make some money for himself out of church functions. or a man who misrepresents himself to the mother and daughter and gets on the hot seat. Or maybe gets away just in the nick of time.
Take out the racist caricatures of the old show, and you have a new show plot. But that doesnt mean that those shows should be banned.
Folks that is censorship. This is America. right?

I cannot understand how we are in 2010, and still making jokes about each other. When will we learn that we are all human and created different for a reason. Could we make the same joke about another First Lady? Of course, but at some point when we receive an email we need to delete it, because it's saying the wrong thing. In this technological era, we must think before we hit forward.

I cannot understand how we are in 2010, and still making jokes about each other. When will we learn that we are all human and created different for a reason. Could we make the same joke about another First Lady? Of course, but at some point when we receive an email we need to delete it, because it's saying the wrong thing. In this technological era, we must think before we hit forward.

Nashsville and Tennessee should consider this guy as one of those little splinters sliding down the banister of life.
Maybe Walt needs to get a chimp for a pet. Then he can learn first hand the difference between a jackass and a chimp.

Hey Jason,
So what you are saying is it is OK to offend someone in certain ways but not others. Where do you get such an idea? What planet do you live on? I would much rather have a black person call me a cracker that have anyone say what was said about others mentioned. Sounds to me as if you the type to say it is OK for blacks to have a Congressional BLACK Caucas, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, BLACK Miss America, and numerous other organizations such as these and not consider them racist, but would consider it racist if the Miss America contest excluded blacks. As I said, there are many who only want it one way. And, speaking of racist, only the black race has chosen to exclude themselves as just Americans, by referring to themselves as African Americans. Other races don't do that. Would you say they are being racist by excluding themselves?

Yes Tom,
That is exactly what I am saying: It matters how you deliver the offense. It's called history. There is a historical pattern of white people calling black people monkeys, apes or gorillas, just like there is a historical pattern of whites calling adult black men 'boys'.
Try it sometime. Go call a fifty year old white guy 'boy'. He'll most likely look at you like there is something wrong with you. Go call a fifty year old black man 'boy' and odds are he'll react like you called him the 'n' word. For good reason.
BTW, the NAACP has lots of white people as members, founding members, even. You stupid redneck, the title refers to the mission, not the membership.

Jason, you sure have a problem with one who does not agree with you. You call Walt a big fat white guy and call me a stupid redneck. Perhaps you are the one with a problem. Have you ever considered getting over the past and not living in it? By the way, for your information, all races have, at one time or the other, been slaves. Also, blacks were sold by blacks and the biggest slave holder in the state of Louisiana was a black man.
Now, for your information, you will not see in my posts anywhere that I approved of what Walt did. You took it open yourself to assume this because I point out that you can't have it both ways. Yes, it would be good if everyone quit some of the nonsense that goes on. But it won't happen because people like you like to call names and brand someone who doesn't think just as you do.

What, you have a problem with 'redneck'? I'm just sayin' your neck is red. Oh, I see, you're taking offense with the history of the term 'redneck'. It the historical use of the term that makes it offensive. Which was my original point.
So just get over the past already.
Dude, you need to just accept the fact a black man is the president of the United States, and stop getting your talking points from Rush or the white power web sites you seem to be parroting.

Once again, I didn't say that it offended me for you to call me a redneck. Stating the fact that the way you used it, "you stupid redneck", shows you were trying hard to offend and to show your crude manner. And, without knowing me at all, you make statements about me not accepting the president and getting talking points from Rush. You are ignorant of facts but your hate is spewing out of your mouth each time you open it.

Condi Rice was pictured in multiple cartoons in the NY Times, one comparing her to the slave girl in Gone With The Wind and others depicting her as uneducated and one as a dog. There was zero outrage among the liberal media or the black community. It's also amazing how in the black community, it's perfectly OK to demonize and make fun of Clarence Thomas or Condi Rice and call them racial slurs even by white folks. If Michelle was a Republican, the only comments here would be "Can't you take a joke.?"
Amazing the number of comments that worry about how much money could be lost or prestige which is the real motivation for the anger. It certainly was cathartic for people to purge their guilt by feigning outrage, thereby casting the first stone.

I am a transplant from the northeast (damn yankee!) I love being in the Nashville area. I consider myself conservative but also quite open minded when it comes to my fellow man. I generally do not see "color" in others. My experience from where I came was ethnically rich.
I have noticed a certain tendency of folks down here to have a racial slant. At times it disturbs me.
In many comments I sense some folks do not feel the outrage which is appropriate toward Mr. Baker's actions. I am not politically aligned with the White House but I do respect my fellow man, regardless of their politics.
Shame on Mr. Baker for thinking the picture was "funny"; shame on anyone who thinks it meant no harm.

Couldn't agree more, Gofer.

Let's see now, you
1)You defend Walt by comparing what he did to comparisons people made of Bush to chimpanzees.
2)You imply the NAACP, congressional Black Caucus and the Miss Black America people are racists
3)You defend slavery with typical talking points straight out of white power literature.
4) Suggest Black people should just 'get over it'
And now you are upset because I insult you personally, like I don't know you. Yeah Buddy, I know your type. I know your type all too well.

First, Jason, I did not defend what Walt did and it would take a total idiot to read what I wrote and say I defended it.
Second, I pointed out the truth that it is OK for blacks to have their organizations but if whites tried it there would be no end to the outrage.
Third, I never did and never will defend slavery. I pointed out that it is wrong to only blame white people for something all races took part in. For anyone to read something else into this is a pathetic way to excuse their own hate.
And yes, you are right that I suggest black people should get over the past just as all other races should. But, as long as there are people that fuel the flames and have such hate in your heart then that will never happen. You really do have some problems and it would be wise for anyone who reads their own venom into what someone else writes, to see some professional to help you.

Liberal Lip-Service to Freedom of Speech
The liberal media and its apologists have reached new levels of hypocrisy in their attacks on Walt Baker, the Tennessee tourism public relations executive who forwarded an e-mail joke to some of his purported friends comparing Michelle Obama to a chimpanzee; these very liberals tell us that every one of us descended from apes. Is Michelle Obama somehow exempt from their evolution theories?
Liberals supposedly are great champions of civil rights, but where is a single liberal standing up to defend Walt Baker's right to speak freely his own opinion, whatever it is? Nowhere.
Where was the liberal moral outrage when George Bush's most common ridiculing nickname—in their own presses and forums and blogs—was "The Chimp?" Nowhere.
The lynch-mob mentality of the self-appointed liberal and progressive "political correctness" thought police has them cheering Walt Baker's firing, and in that act they make a mockery of the very rights and freedoms they pretend to protect.
Racism in this country cannot be eradicated by firing one man or a thousand. Yet today, Nashville's Tennessean newspaper published an opinion piece that starts out, "The Tennessee Hospitality Association did the right thing Monday when it fired CEO Walt Baker."
Obviously, for the Tennessean and Tennessee Hospitality Association, tourist dollars are more important than the right to free speech.
The Tennessee Hospitality Association did exactly the wrong thing by pandering to lynch-mob emotionalism instead of soberly and probatively weighing the man's real value in his lifetime of service to his company, his family, his community, and his state against a momentary lapse in judgement and propriety—and weighing all of that in the scales against our precious right of freedom of speech. Probably "the right thing" would have been a public or private censure, which would have been proportionate and sensible.
Instead, the Tennessean has praised the summary destruction of the man's livelihood without anything even resembling due process.
The Tennessean, by the way, is the same liberal mouthpiece that never raised a single word in protest against a Vanderbilt Muslim associate professor having used a Vanderbilt workshop to advocate for the public execution of homosexuals. The Nashville Scene also studiously avoided that incident. It's the height of irony that, I, a conservative Christian, has to stand up against the brutality of Sharia law in defense of homosexuals, while the liberal media hides in the bush on that subject.
But the liberals and their mouthpiece media beat their chests and bellow over a single private e-mail joke in bad taste about a public figure who the sender of the e-mail never even met face-to-face.
Only forgiveness and reason alone, not vigilante vileness, unite people of all races and genders.
The hypocrisy of the progressives in this issue is palpable and smells like a monkey cage.
Vijay Kumar
Congressional Candidate
Tennessee's 5th District

Jason, if it is your attempt to sound the least bit intellectual about this or any other topic for that matter, you're doing a miserable job of it. You obviously have an incredibly large chip on you shoulder. My suggestion to you, get over it and get on with life. Thank you.

Theo wrote: "You obviously have an incredibly large chip on you shoulder."
Heh. For a second I thought you had written "chimp on your shoulder."

This idiot gets what he deserves. I get these stupid emails from people in my family and I've lost a ton of respect for a lot of people whom I've always assumed weren't ignorant racists. What would provoke someone from blasting to a chunk of people on your email list that you're a moron?

Welcome to the South. Still as racist as ever.

Vijay,
You seem to just as confused about racism as half the people commenting on this forum. As soon as you start comparing what Walt Baker did to liberals comparison of Bush to a chimp you pretty much demonstrate how clueless about race you really are.
Again, it's the historical use of the slur that matters. When you call someone a 'Redneck' we all know that means. When a white person calls a black child a 'yard monkey', or an adult black a 'gorilla', we all understand the context. You are just being willfully ignorant or disclosing your own racism to deny it.
When Bush was called a chimpanzee, we all got the context, it was a crude way of calling him stupid. It was never considered racism.
Good luck on your race, dude. You might get away with defending Walt Baker like this in Williamson and Sumner, but I'd love to be there when you try and explain your views on race in Nashville.

Jason, Nothing is ever considered, racism when it's demeaning to white people.It's just "crude humor". I have heard rumor that the sequel to "White men can't jump" is due out in the fall. "Black men can't swim". I'll bet that title goes over well. What do think Jason? Racism, or just crude humor? No need to answer. I have met enough people like you in the past to already know your response. Try to have a nice rest of the day, please.

And Vijay,
Another thing you are confused about, evolution does not teach that man descended from Apes.
But I will admit, you are presenting a unique defense of Walt Baker calling the Barack and Michelle Obama a pair of chimpanzees. Wow, so you think Walt Baker was not making an ethnic slur but merely stating fact?
After all, if like you said, if liberals believe Michelle descended from the Apes, how could those same liberals object when someone says Michelle Obama is ape-like or in this case chimpanzee-like? Good point.

Theo,
Wow, it must be tough being an oppressed white person. Don't worry, one day, the freedom train will arrive and you'll be able to drive around with that Confederate flag making ethnic jokes without having to defend yourself or feel guilty.

This is just one of many examples of poor judgment used against a guy. It is perfectly fine for liberals to post countless pics of GW looking and imitating a chimp. It is perfectly acceptable for any religion to say anything about Christians. It is a hate crime for any white person doing anything to any minority. Affirmative action is still in place for jobs, loans, education, and everything else that can be dreamed without regard that the white people are now a minority.
How's that hope and change working out for ya!

This is just one of many examples of poor judgment used against a guy. It is perfectly fine for liberals to post countless pics of GW looking and imitating a chimp. It is perfectly acceptable for any religion to say anything about Christians. It is a hate crime for any white person doing anything to any minority. Affirmative action is still in place for jobs, loans, education, and everything else that can be dreamed without regard that the white people are now a minority.
How's that hope and change working out for ya!

Geez Hinky,
You are just another oppressed white guy upset at liberals making ethnic slurs about Bush.
The correct quote BTW is:
How's that 'Hopey-Changey' stuff working out for ya?

Is this an audition room for Rush wannabes?
I've never seen so many lies about liberals and heavy use of the victimization card for white people and Republicans.

Hinkey,
What, are you another oppressed white person upset that liberals make chimpanzee-themed ethnic slurs about Bush?

Jason...It must be even tougher being an idiot who goes through life thinking every one has it out for him or her. You have to wake up to yourself each and every day. Good luck and God Bless. I'm certain MLK III would be proud of your ignorant cause.

WhoDat,
Apparently you just don't get it. Don't you understand how hard it is to be a decent bubba anymore. I mean, like people get upset about an innocent chimp joke, I'm being barred because of my color from membership in the Black congressional caucus, and worst of all I've had to listen, FOR 8 YEARS, to people comparing GW Bush to a chimpanzee.

Theo,
So what are you saying, MLK III supported ignorant causes?
Come on, Dude, just let out your inner KKK and say what you really want to say. You can do it, stop dancing around this 'politically correct' stuff.

Jason,
My last sentence was actually a really poor attempt at sarcasm. My apology to the Dr. I believe King had wonderful ideas. Racial equality. Unfortunately, I don't believe it will ever come to realization because of people who spout off like you do. Jason, you're not looking for racial equality. You want superiority because you feel that you are owed that much. Of course that makes you no better than Bubba with his robe in the closet all neatly pressed. You'll never be happy, therefore no one else is entitled to be happy either. I don't give a rat's ass about political correctness. My bigger concern is human correctness!

I feel sorry for the guy getting fired now. McDonalds and Central parking are not even hiring

Poor attempt at sarcasm? Yeah, right, and Walt Baker's chimp email was just a poor attempt at humor.
We both know where that comment came from.

Jason:
"Don't you understand how hard it is to be a decent bubba anymore."
Being a born and bred Tennessean, I'm kinda like Roy Blount Jr. Idiots who cling to racist nonsense as if it's their God-given right tick me off and people who assume all Southerners are ignorant bigots tick me off.
I can't tell the motivation of some of these people. It's somewhere among being sore losers, bitter partisans and sore loser/bitter racists. It doesn't really matter. It's stupid. It should stop. Tennesseans who excuse it hurt the state I love and I'm ready for the grownups to take over the GOP side.

Jason, you disappointed me with your last reply. I expected much more from someone with so much to say despite their lack of true knowledge on the subject matter. Good night.

After all the bitchin' and whining, at the end of the day.....the First Lady of the United States of America could have stood in for Cheetah in the Tarzan movies! Had she been born then. I can hardly wait to see what's next.

WhoDat,
I grew up in Maynardville, Union County. God help the dark skinned soul who dares dally there overnight. This in spite of the fact that it's called Union County because we broke with the South and sided with the d#$% yankees during the Great War of Northern Aggression. Which if you think about it, (which nobody does) kinda makes those Rebel Flags in proximity to those Union County license plates look conflicted.

Theo,
'After all the bitchin' and whining, at the end of the day.....the First Lady of the United States of America could have stood in for Cheetah in the Tarzan movies! Had she been born then. I can hardly wait to see what's next.'
That's it! I knew you could do it. Let the South Rise Again! Yeehaa! Just let it out!

Jason,
Thanks Bubba, I knew you would agree. Can you believe Tarzans son was named "Boy"? That pisses me right off. He should have been named Jason. I think.

Oh...I live in Michigan by the way.

BTW, if that's really Vijay Kumar, a man who's running for Congress, that's too scary to believe.
Why are some conservatives so mindless they dream only liberals think this email was stupid and insulting?
And he thinks he can win against Jim Cooper with some kind of cockeyed notion that only liberals believe in science and critics of Baker don't ALSO have the right to free speech.
If that's really Mr. Kumar: You're running in my district, pal. And if Republicans aere desperate enough to run you against Cooper, I'm sure you will lose. But just in case, this kind of letter will gaurantee you've motivated people against you.
If you really believe in free speeech and civility, then have to grace to listen to opinions that differ from your own.

This email was funny. I'm black and a liberal and I thought it was hilarious. Stop politicizing this. She does look like a monkey. All you "progressive" white people need to lighten up a bit. The fact that you're the first to scream out "racism!" to show your opposition to this email and to validate that you're not a racist will only prove the opposite (I say this because almost every white person I've run into has mentioned this email to me followed up with "You now I'm not a racist"). All races have feelings towards one another good and bad. You will find that throughout nature in tribes, packs, prides, pods or whatever you can name a group of animals (and we are ALL animals). At the end of the day it's how you deal with those feelings that makes an individual seperate from the masses.

Why is it among all this that Aunt B refers to President Obama as a black man making love to a black women.Does anyone remember President Obama's other side, White. Is is better to always refer to him as the first black President and forget his white side? I am a half breed and am proud of both sides, Irish and Spanish and would never use one or the other for political reasons. This email is more or less to get away from the worn out subject being digust. If one wants to really experience prejudice, be a half breed. The blacks have there own to fall back on and the whites have there own to fall back on, half breeds have nowhere to go. The whites don't claim us and the Spainards don,t claim us.

Yes Ty Jackson,
We are all just positive you're a black person.

Yep, she sure does look like that monkey...i'm not racist, but come on...she is not pretty and for a first lady...she just is plain ugly...sorry for the folks that like her, but that's why we live in America....Freedom of speech

Yep, Ty is really a liberal and black, and I'm the Queen of France.
Actually, it doesn't matter if he is what he claims to be or not. He speaks for himself - fine. It doesn't mean the email is acceptable or any less idiotic to most people, no matter their race, party or ideology.
I've heard these excuses my entire life. The fools who excuse racist jokes have used the same tactics for at least 50 years, and I'd heard them all. I've heard "you just can't take a joke" my whole life when I didn't think a racist joke was funny, along with the old favorite.."you're just a n*gger lover".
Not all people who make racist jokes are evil people or people who would make an overtly racist act face to face toward someone but it doesn't mean they're right.

Wake up call for all those who have moved here from other parts of the country - this is a southern and yes, racist town!!! Don't let the "progressive we are now" BS fool you. That is wishful thinking on the part of transplants who were not born & raised here. Nashville Attorneys, Judges, police, firemen, nurses, doctors....i know racists in all categories so lets keep it real. And as for the wealthy being more educated and less likely to be racist !! LMAO!!!! Belle Meade country club has how many NON-WHITE members?????? ZERO!!! check it and see or better yet apply for membership! LOL!

Hi Mary Alice Garza,
Why don't you really exercise your freedom of speech. Just call Michelle the 'n' word. That's what you really want to do, isn't it. Come on, you racist b#$@h, you can do it.

Be real people! It is racism and it is unfortunately a mindset in people that has been instilled for generations. "Us" against "them" and it has been taught to the white children and the black children. That was just understood. You did not see black kids in our neighborhood. They lived at least 10 miles away and did not go to our school either. The same is true for many southerners. the man is obviously a product of his southern enviornment. as are many, many aged 35-99. & FYI: The wealthy white people do not mingle with those who are different it could "contaminate" them. Our heaven forbid their children!

perspective: most farmers in tennessee , in years past, have passed the farm down for generations. most of those large farms in very rural country areas are owned by white people. most of the businesses in small, country towns are white owned. for several reasons the black people were pushed into the cities. usually due to lack of work or lack of land to work. both of which would make living in the city more accessible for groceries, medical care, etc... don't get me wrong there are very successful black farms but the majority are white. and in recent years the asian(chickens, etc..) or hispanic owned farms have increased. In the 70's the number of white people increased in the city of nashville( as in residential property owners)& this perhaps began even sooner. as a kid i was frequently downtown and in the country. For years there was a big seperation of white and black via the cumberland river. prior to that it seemed to be in midtown where the seperation began i.e. farmers market?? does anyone else remember differently?? the outskirts of downtown stopped at sears on lafayette (the mission) metro center was the city dump and west nashville was still kinda country and nice. east nashville was scary and so was north. madison was nice and quaint and hendersonville was a spot.

DLScott:
"Tennesseans should be sterilized at birth. Maybe if we prevented them from inbreeding and creating more ignorant republicans we would not have to suffer their ignorance."
sounds a lot like nazism to me.
and i'm sure you consider yourself smarter and better than those "ignorant republicans" too. but you're no better than the people you're berating and insulting.

for over 25yrs i have voted republican, i am black, female and was in tennessee during the sit-ins. i know personally how it feels to be projected in a negitave way bypeople in dominate positions. it has happened in a bible study, during church, and outside of church in a restaurant. all the perps were well educated. the usual comback is that they are from a place that would prevent them from knowing better like
pulaski,utah,the country etc. they do know
racist behavior. it has reallyshaken my faith because i know it will never stop and that their sentiments are a true measure of who they are.

25 years ago would be 1985, right in the middle of the Reagan administration. Would that mean you are 46? And you were born in 1964? What a very good year for African Americans who had been in the USA for as long as most everyone else! When you were 21 you had all the privileges that none of your ancestors had and it seemed that the privileged class(Repubs and Dems, mostly white) were saying join us and we'll all live happily ever after with GE. Now it's all changed. I think you are a fake. I know how to fake it and you're a fake.

Where is the humor? Even if this did'nt include our First Lady it is not funny. I have a question, who is the person that sent this sick piece of trash to him, and does he get it on a regular basis? I was born in the midwest and visted TN often, because that's where my mother was born. I always had a problem with the fact that some of my friends in Memphis were ok with the merchants in the stores calling them "nigger". I was offended then, and still offened to this day. I'm offended everytime I see a nazi consentration camp deplicted in a movie. Which I had a chance yesterday, when I saw "Shutter Island". I'm offended when I here about hate crimes against anyone, be they black, white, gay, a minor or catholic. It saddens me when I walk down the street and cross to the other side, because I'm being approcahed by our youth, regardless of color.
I was born in 1960 my mother picked cotton in Memphis. I'm sure Walt Baker is close to my age. So this so called humor isn't funny now and won't be funny when my 20 yr old son is 49. p.s. I'm also offended by the depliction of our last President as a chimp. I did'nt vote for him when I lived in TX, but I respected his posistion. Because of our forefathers and ancestor, be they black or right fought and died for me to have a choice on who I chose to lead our country. It's called a vote. If you don't agree with this, then say something, because silence is acceptance.

Where is the humor? Even if this did'nt include our First Lady it is not funny. I have a question, who is the person that sent this sick piece of trash to him, and does he get it on a regular basis? I was born in the midwest and visted TN often, because that's where my mother was born. I always had a problem with the fact that some of my friends in Memphis were ok with the merchants in the stores calling them "nigger". I was offended then, and still offened to this day. I'm offended everytime I see a nazi consentration camp deplicted in a movie. Which I had a chance yesterday, when I saw "Shutter Island". I'm offended when I here about hate crimes against anyone, be they black, white, gay, a minor or catholic. It saddens me when I walk down the street and cross to the other side, because I'm being approcahed by our youth, regardless of color.
I was born in 1960 my mother picked cotton in Memphis. I'm sure Walt Baker is close to my age. So this so called humor isn't funny now and won't be funny when my 20 yr old son is 49. p.s. I'm also offended by the depliction of our last President as a chimp. I did'nt vote for him when I lived in TX, but I respected his posistion. Because of our forefathers and ancestor, be they black or right fought and died for me to have a choice on who I chose to lead our country. It's called a vote. If you don't agree with this, then say something, because silence is acceptance.

In a way I don't see anything wrong with it if you only have a sense of humor.......But as usually most do not, and which I understand that also,because who want to be compare as a monkey.Only thing I can say "God Bless America." I Love U Mrs. Michelle Obama.:)

this is terrible. its gone too far this time to retract.

yeah yeah, only the apes can be racist! Everyone else gets sued!

Whatever your attitude the fact remains that there is a picture of a chimpanzee and a picture of Michelle Obama wearing the same expression. Ha-ha. Now, would all you people offended by my chortle feel the same if the chimp happened to resemble George Bush? Of course not. So what's that make you?

Exactly who is hurt or injured by this email. No one! Learn to take a joke and laugh at yourself...The irony here is those that preach tolerance of others are in fact the least tolerant of others!!

Rules for chimp:
Bush+chimp=funny
Michelle+chimp=racist
But she really does look like that chimp, you gotta admit!

I approve of this monkey email.

People still think we are out of touch.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-whiteboxnw5sf6orkkdq.7215353mar24,0,4603763.column

مافهمت شي سخيـــــــــــــف

And who don't believe in evolution? In this day and age it's still funny I don't care who you are.

Keep the good information comming, we need more authors like you!