I want to talk about the phrase “monkey it up,” because as someone who managed a car repair shop in Texas, I know what that phrase means.
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And importantly, the phrase is a first-cousin of another more well-known racist phrase, “n*****-rigging.” It has the same meaning.
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When a redneck auto mechanic scolds a colleague for “monkeying something up,” it means he did the repair like a black person would do it.
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The same thing holds true for a far-right wing GOP governor candidate from Florida.
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Another great Texas auto shop anecdote:https://twitter.com/RespectableLaw/status/1033479564318658564 …
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If you're curious, come learn about the origin of related phrases, such as "grease monkey," "monkey wrench," and "jury rigged," which has nothing to do with a courtroom.https://twitter.com/RespectableLaw/status/1034941451367587840 …
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Let's me be clear. I concede you can use the phrase ignorant of its cultural baggage, especially outside the south (that's how dog whistles work). But in my job, I knew what it meant when a white Florida mechanic said "Give me this job, not Darnell, he's gonna monkey it up."
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Another story because this is getting attention: One day my wife is at day care playing with the kids. A girl something silly, and my wife says "What are you doing, you little monkey?" As she said it, she was paralyzed. The little girl was black. So are two of the aides.
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My wife calls my son "little monkey," but this was different. She was mortified at herself. She's an upper middle class lawyer, but raised in rural Texas, and hyper-aware of how bad this was. Because here, the word "monkey" means something awful when juxtaposed with black folk.
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And my wife slipped up. She meant nothing bad, but it was wildly inappropriate. But what we saw from DeSantis looks nothing like a slip up. You might call a kid "monkey" if you routinely calls kids monkeys, as my wife does. But "monkey it up" about your black opponent? Please.
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Are you saying black people are terrible at auto repair? That’s pretty racist.
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No I’m obviously saying redneck mechanics believe black mechanics are bad at their job.
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So if mechanics use the term, then mechanics are racist rednecks? I mean it’s quite the leap to go from this convo you posted to you thinking “all blacks are bad mechanics”https://twitter.com/respectablelaw/status/1034905998845267968?s=21 …
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I'm sorry to tell you this dude but you have brain parasites.
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It’s almost like you’re bullshitting this for likes and retweets. Do you scold parents for being racist when they say kids are monkeying around or do you grab your pearls and faint on a couch like a new aged Victorian?
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I have heard the term “monkey wrenching” from my dad (born 1915) I always took it to mean a version of “shade tree mechanic” but less skilled. I have no doubt at all about what the candidate meant and now realize my dad’s meaning probably wasn’t innocent as well.
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mon·key wrench ˈməNGkē ˌrenCH/Submit noun 1. an adjustable wrench with large jaws that has its adjusting screw contained in the handle. verbinformal 1. sabotage (something), especially as a form of protest. "the five defendants who received jail sentences for monkeywrenching"
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Do you think that this "far-right wing" GOP candidate gets his phrases from redneck, racist car mechanics in Texas?
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Nah, probably Florida.
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I know the map says otherwise but they're closer than a person might believe.
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This is soooooo true.
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Florida: the further north you go, the more South it gets!
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We lived in Navarre FL for nine years, they call the area “LA” for Lower Alabama
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