Wednesday on the social media platform X, the White House posted an unusual “tribute” that elicited a range of reactions.
“Today, we remember a legend,” the post began. “On this day in history, Harambe would have celebrated another birthday. An icon that became part of internet history, American culture, and an entire generation’s timeline.”
Several lines later, the post concluded by referring to Harambe as a “true patriot.”
On May 28, 2016, a 3-year-old boy climbed a small barrier, crawled through bushes, and thenfell into a moat inside the gorilla enclosureat the Cincinnati Zoo.
Harambe, a 450-pound western lowland gorilla, who had turned 17 years old the day prior, ignored zookeepers’ calls, stood over the boy, and, according to Cincinnati Fire Department first responders, began “violently dragging and throwing the child.”
Unsure of Harambe’s intentions — some thought he behaved in a manner protective of the boy — the zoo’s response team shot and killed the gorilla.
The incidentraised a number of questionsabout zoo safety and patron behavior while also generating a curious phenomenon. Namely, as theWashington Postdescribed it at the time, “The Internet won’t let Harambe rest in peace.”
In other words, Harambe became ameme.
After the gorilla’s death, as the Post put it, online jokesters produced “a steady parade of ironic Harambe tributes,” all of which “share the same basic approach: paying tribute to Harambe’s life to the point of absurdity.”
Thus, while many people really did mourn Harambe, the ironic tributes were intentionally over-the-top.
Source: VidNews » Feed
