This weekend I visited the Henry Doorly Zoo. It’s ranked number three in the country. They have many animals, fun rides, delicious foods and of course gift shops. Personally, I love going to the zoo. The caged animals are hilarious and adorable. However, imagine something else in the cage. What if you went to the zoo and saw a person in the cage? No, sadly I’m not talking about a zookeeper. I’m talking about a young adult.
A twenty-three old man named Ota Benga was sent to the Bronx Zoo. After the St. Louis Fair, he was shipped to New York. Thinking he was going to be a zookeeper for the elephants, he was the attraction in a monkey cage. He was a Congolese man and his religion was to have pointy teeth. Therefore, bones lie around him in the cage to make him look mean and frightening. Ota was four feet eleven inches and one hundred-three pounds. Later he was placed with other monkeys and apes. As disturbing as this sounds there were five hundred people limited at a time. Thousands of people came all around to see a man in a cage. After he was free to leave he didn’t know where to go. In 1916 he shot himself in the heart because he felt he didn’t belong. Around 1958, keeping a person in a zoo cage was banned.
I find this horrible and disturbing. I would never want to go to a zoo knowing there was a person locked up in a cage. I wouldn’t want to give them money nor wait in lines to see such a cruel act. If I was unaware of this and came to find out this was going on, I would leave. Never would I ever want to stay in a place that humiliated people like this.
Would you still visit the zoo that had people caged up?
What would you do if you saw someone caged up in a zoo?
Replies
Laney,
Good story choice and well done overall. I do think your questions could be more focused on the bigger topic of racism as we discussed in class when we watched the video about this topic.
I would still visit the zoo even if there were people caged up because the people that did that are no longer alive and its been very long so It would be safe and fun to visit. I highly doubt I would ever see someone caged up in a zoo but if I did then I would probably call 911. It is 2020 so it would be hard for someone to get away with doing something like that,
Today i would most definitely visit the zoo. However, back then I would never. I would actually love to go to the same zoo just to see where they held him. I would be very intrigued. I think this is such a sad story and I wish I could've helped him. The people that worked there should've known better.
I would not go to the zoo with people caged up. I would not want to pay money to get into a place that does things like that to humans because it is like tourture. If I would see someone locked up in a cage at the zoo I would call the cops and leave that place and try to get it shut down.
I agree this is a horrible thing that happened in our past. However, calling the cops may not do much. At the time the cops believed this was okay. They thought it was fine to treat people the way they treated them. Unfortunately, calling the cops would not help the situation. I would steal him from the zoo. I would feel so bad if he lived another day being laughed at and torchured.
I think that it would be interesting to see where they had them locked up, but by no means is it the right thing to be doing. Also, I would want to see animals not people that are caged up. If there were someone that was caged up in a zoo I would imediatly call the cops and try to help them.
I disagree with you. If you go to the zoo you're paying them to see the man. They're making profit from you. I don't think you should if we lived in the past. This would encourage a lot of racism. No one wants anyone to feel bad about themselves except racist people. If you go to the zoo that encourages racisism, they're going to think it's okay. I would highly encourage you to no go to a zoo if this may occur in our future.
I don't think I would visit that zoo because I am there to see animals and not humans. If I saw a human in a zoo I would be dissapointed and ask why he was there. If he was there for the same reason Ota Benga was I would probably complain to the zoo.
I would be very hurt and upset as well. I wouldn't want him to be locked up and in a cage. A human deserves to be human and do humanly things. They were extremely cruel to him. Visiting him would be rude in my opinion unless you're there to break him out. However, visiting him to see what the excitement is about or because everyone else is doing, is wrong. I agree with everything you said.
I would still visit the zoo even if it had people caged up becuase its a zoo and im there to see animals not humans so I would stay away from the exhibits that have human people in them in cages. I would probably try to talk to someone about why there are people caged up just for their well being and if they have the means to live.
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