An extremely liberal university has decided to cancel the centuries old "Three Wise Monkeys" characters because they are believed to portray a racist stereotype.
Here's where this gets confusing: the characters originated in Japan in the 17th century and have no connection to race.
What the hell are these people talking about?!
They're a cultural trope that have been used to symbolize the proverbial 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil'.
But it appears the three wise monkeys have been cancelled after academics at the University of York decided they are an oppressive racial stereotype.
Organizers of a forthcoming art history conference for the university have apologized for using a picture of the monkeys in promotional material and have pulled the image from their website to avoid offence.
'Upon reflection, we strongly believe that our first poster is not appropriate as its iconology promulgates a long-standing legacy of oppression and exploits racist stereotypes,' academics wrote in a statement seen by The Times.
It continued: 'We bring this to your attention so that we may be held accountable for our actions and in our privileges do and be better.'
The three monkeys are depicted as having one with its eyes covered, another with its ears covered and another with its mouth covered.
The image became popular in Japan in the 17th century before spreading to the West.
It is associated with the Tendai school of Buddhism where they are perceived as helpers for divine figures.
But a spokeswoman for the University of York said academics were concerned the image could be insulting to ethnic minorities.