The Boston Licensing Board investigated a South Boston bar following allegations that a series of stuffed monkeys decorating the establishment represented a racial slur intended to mock Black History Month. The bar owner immediately took the display down and apologized for any offense taken, but insisted none was intended. "The reason I put it up is because it's the dead of winter. People are sick of winter and want to go into a bar with a tropical flair," commented Tom English, the bar's owner. "It makes it more comfortable." Each month he put up a different display: frogs in April because of the rain, fish over the summer, donkeys and elephants in November. Nevertheless, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination conducted its own investigation, fining English $4,000 and recommending he make another public apology.

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