THE late President of the United States Ronald Reagan once referred to Africans as “monkeys”.
This was revealed in recently released recordings of a conversation between sitting President Richard Nixon and Reagan who was then the governor of California.
According to the Washington Post, the conversation was published in The Atlantic by history professor and former director of the Nixon Presidential Library Tim Naftali who had worked to get the tapes released.
The National Archives had withheld the racist comments when it had first released the recordings in 2000. Naftali said this was to protect Reagan’s privacy but was given the full conversation after the former president’s death in 2004.
The conversation stemmed from October 1971 when the United Nations had just voted to recognise the People’s Republic of China.
Reagan was infuriated that the African delegations did not align themselves with the US position that the UN should recognise Taiwan as an independent state.
Apparently disgusted when he saw the Tanzania delegation celebrate the UN decision to support Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan, Reagan got President Nixon on the phone.
“To see those, those monkeys from those African countries — damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” Reagan said.
Nixon replied with a big laugh. “Well and then they — the tail wags the dog, doesn’t it? The tail wags the dog.”
