The Monterey Bay Aquarium apologized Wednesday for using racially charged language in reference to a seemingly overweight sea otter.
In an apology that spanned four tweets, the California aquarium referenced an earlier post that featured Abby, a 46-pound otter that lives there. An aquarium worker told the LA Times that Abby has a normal weight and that it was merely an unflattering angle. Nevertheless, Abby looks a bit hefty in the photo.
Beneath it, the aquarium posted the following poem:
Abby is a thicc girl
What an absolute unit
She c h o n k
Look at the size of this lady
OH LAWD SHE COMIN
Another Internetism !
Abby is a thicc girl
What an absolute unit
She c h o n k
Look at the size of this lady
OH LAWD SHE COMIN
Another Internetism ! pic.twitter.com/s5fav2gu09— Monterey Bay Aquarium (@MontereyAq) December 18, 2018
The tweet was interpreted by many to be an inappropriate use of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). “Thicc,” according to the top definition on Urban Dictionary, is “when a person has fat in the right places, creating sexy curves.”
As reported by The Sacramento Bee, one of those offended was Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a theoretical physicist at the University of Washington. Her Twitter account has since been made private, but she was quoted as saying, “I’m certain that @MontereyAq didn’t realize that they were basically comparing Black women to animals by using AAVE developed to talk about Black women’s bodies to describe an animal. But that’s pretty bad, MBA.”
After backlash, the aquarium issued the following apology:
Hey everyone. It has come to our attention that some of the references in this tweet are problematic and insensitive. We’re posting here in the thread so that people who have engaged with this tweet will join us in our learning moment. 1/4
— Monterey Bay Aquarium (@MontereyAq) December 19, 2018
If our tweet alienated you, please know that we are deeply sorry, and that we offer our sincerest apologies. If you follow our feed, we often reference popular memes to talk about the ocean. In this case, the memes used had connotations we were unaware of until now. 2/4
— Monterey Bay Aquarium (@MontereyAq) December 19, 2018
In particular, several terms referenced originated from African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and specifically reference Black women’s bodies. Using them in a sea otter meme without that background makes insinuations we never intended. We need to do better. 3/4
— Monterey Bay Aquarium (@MontereyAq) December 19, 2018
Our mission is to inspire conservation of the ocean, and we’re thankful for your support as we try to advance that mission on social media. We’re also thankful for those of you out there pointing out our blindspots and how we can improve. Thanks everyone. 4/4
— Monterey Bay Aquarium (@MontereyAq) December 19, 2018