GfS, bigots have been equating black people with apes for centuries. Get a clue. Whether or not you meant it as a racist comment, given the history of that comparison, it WAS a racist comment. If you didn't mean it that way, you could say something like, "Gosh, I wasn't aware that was a common racist comparison. I apologize for unwittingly making it and promise not to do it again. Please forgive me."