Activist Deray Mckesson has support and opposition due to his thoughts on “War for the Planet of the Apes.” (Pop Movies/Wikipedia)
“War for the Planet of the Apes” has been touted as a highly-anticipated summer flick, but one person who won’t be flocking to see it is Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson.
In since-deleted tweets posted in the early hours of Tuesday, July 11, Mckesson said he was “appalled” by the imagery that he said likened Black people to apes and seemed to especially take issue with a primate in a blue vest.
The character, known as Bad Ape, sports a vest like the one Mckesson usually wears and many who caught the organizer’s tweet latched on to the similarity.
Several thought Mckesson was making something out of nothing.
Sometimes, folks can be too woke. #Deray #PlanetoftheApes pic.twitter.com/jEwD3jR8AH
— Lisa Bee (@leebee4life) July 11, 2017
I can't believe #Deray thinks he owns blue vests. Please lemme get to that level in life where I think anyone w/ iPhone 7 is copying me. 🙏🏽
— Mica Powers (@Mica4Life) July 11, 2017
Deray thinks he's in the new Planet of the Apes and he's offended by a blue Patagonia vest. pic.twitter.com/r7qI4hnMPL
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 11, 2017
Some agreed with Mckesson and felt Bad Ape mocked the BLM activist.
They are mocking & created an ape figure out of @deray
— LJ Johnson (@lorrainej1227) July 11, 2017
— lovingthebluz (@justtweetn123) July 10, 2017
Does the new Planet of the Apes poster have racially coded messages?Notice the #BlackLivesMatter symbolism.Notice the ape with the blue vest pic.twitter.com/8dnr42OxjK
— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) July 10, 2017
Others pointed out the vest has been worn since the first film in the series, “Planet of the Apes,” in 1968.
Somehow they managed to create this character that mocks Deray almost 50 yrs agohttps://t.co/9W7i7Kv579
— Kim #SinglePayer 😢 (@rabbeni_kim) July 11, 2017
It’s a character from the original movie. Hella reaching here
— Noah (@noahboy88) July 11, 2017
> Deray doesn’t know that Apes wearing vests have been a thing since the 1960’s
NEAT.gif pic.twitter.com/1X6jU5nmRW
— Lo-Ping (@GamingAndPandas) July 11, 2017
One person simply thought the tweet was an advertisement.
deray was paid for these tweets. pic.twitter.com/VpiRAjcyD4
— uberfeminist (@uberfeminist) July 11, 2017
