‘Black People Are Not Apes’ Is Not A Political Strategy

Source: Tom Williams / Getty

“Black People Are Not Apes.”

That sentence should not be necessary in 2026. During Black History Month. It should not need to be printed, displayed, or defended inside the United States Capitol. And yet, there it was, elevated as a form of protest during last night’s State of the Union.

But the harder truth is that the real humiliation wasn’t the existence of the sign. It was that this is what the Democratic Party’s opposition looks like right now.