Former US President Ronald Reagan is reported to have called Africans at UN conference “monkeys” for opposing the USA during a vote.
The late Reagan according to newly released tapes published by a US magazine made the comment in a conversation with then-President Richard Nixon.
The racist comments were made in a 1971 telephone call between the two leaders.
Reagan said “To see those… monkeys from those African countries – damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!”
Mr Nixon, who quit as president in 1974, can then be heard laughing.
Mr Reagan was at the time governor of California and could not accept that fact that African delegates at the UN opposed the US in a vote.
The said UN vote was to recognise China and expel Taiwan, something that did not make Reagan happy since he was a Taiwan.
President Reagan was very angry to see Tanzanian delegation dancing after the UN vote.
The recording was unearthed by a clinical associate professor of history at New York University, Tim Naftali who directed the Nixon Presidential Library from 2007 until 2011.
Naftali published his findings in The Atlantic. He wrote that the racist exchange was however removed from the original tapes for privacy reasons.
Although the tapes were released by the National Archives in 2000 while Mr Reagan was still alive, the recordings were ordered to be reviewed following a court order.
“Reagan’s death, in 2004, eliminated the privacy concerns,” Mr Naftali said.
He adds that “I requested that the conversations involving Ronald Reagan be re-reviewed and, two weeks ago, the National Archives released complete versions.”
Source: Africafeeds.com
