Apes have human rights?

Blog #2 Third Term
Apes have long been known to share many character traits with human beings. Now people are speculating that apes are not treated as equal to humans, but they should be. Many movements have been made to place the primates on the same level as humans in respect to ownership and adoption of apes. If an ape is just an animal then it can be owned and sold. However, if an ape assumes its role as an equal to a human it can only be adoption with consent and things become complicated. The lack of definition of an "intelligent being" has now led the world to seek out moral obligations for some species that we coexist with. Since we share 98% of our DNA with these creatures do we also share 98% of our rights with them?
Although it may not seem familiar, this question of rights was raised in America just about four hundred years ago. The moral situation back then was slavery. African Americans were brought to our country, sold, bought and passed along as possessions. Similarly to apes Americans questioned the rights of the black race and did so without regards to how much DNA we shared. The inferiority of the black race was determined by ignorance, not scientific fact. Thankfully, the white race realized the error of their ways and outlawed slavery with the 13th Amendment.