In one snap, Louis and Zayn can be seen cuddling the animal, who has a heavy metal chain wrapped around its neck. One Direction have sparked outrage after they were pictured playing with a monkey tied up in metal chains. In behind the scenes snaps from their upcoming music video, Steal My Girl, the floppy-haired boybanders can be seen laughing and joking as they hold and play with the exotic animal on set. Despite it being widely frowned upon to keep animals in captivity, Louis and Zayn can be seen cuddling the animal, who has a heavy metal chain wrapped around its neck.

In Dover, Pa. Predictably, the decision was enormously controversial and led to the filing of a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the policy. Far from being dismayed by the litigation, the school board welcomed it and, with volunteer lawyers from a fundamentalist Christian law firm, saw it as an opportunity to validate the teaching of creationism. Many Christians, of course, find no such inconsistency between Christianity and evolution.

At the same time, just across town at a high school basketball game, white male students were taunting a black player on the opposing team with chest pounding, arm scratching and monkey sounds. I was not surprised by the reality of this deliberate racial insensitivity by white students, though I am fascinated by their boldness. Indeed, I know well that racism has not passed over this allegedly post-racial generation of youth. This particular way of expressing American racism, by dehumanizing black people, has a long and pronounced history, whether on high school, college or university campuses ; among local or national government officials ; or even among police. This animalization of black people has its roots in American slavery.