Monkey chanting

For other uses, see Monkey chant (disambiguation).

Monkey chanting or monkey chants are chants or calls aimed at ridiculing or denigrating Black sportspeople, usually footballers, who play in majority-White countries. The chants are intended to imitate "monkey" or "ape" noises. They may be accompanied by "monkey gestures", in imitation of the scratching of the armpits commonly seen amongst ape species.[1] The chants are expressive of the ethnic slurs "macaca" and "monkey" against people of African heritage.

Monkey chants may also be accompanied by throwing so-called "monkey food" (peanuts, bananas or banana skins) at black players or onto the sports field.[2][3]

A number of incidents of this kind have been noted by media as manifestations of racism in association football and racism in cricket.

  1. ^ "Football fan, 72, convicted of making 'monkey' gestures at black players". The Guardian. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  2. ^ Perry, Barbara (2009). Hate Crimes. ISBN 978-0-275-99569-0.
  3. ^ "Comparing Black People to Monkeys has a Long, Dark Simian History", Huffington Post, Wulf D. Hund, University of Hamburg, Charles W Mills, Northwestern University