When a non-black person uses one of these or many other GIF’s and/or emojis, they are stereotyping or appropriating blackness. This is called digital blackface. Specifically, white people have a history of blackface – literal and now, digital. Blackface is when a non-black person paints their face black in order to represent black people in negative, demeaning ways. For example, in the infamous movie Birth of Nation, a white actor dresses up in blackface to portray a beast-like rapist who forces a white woman to commit suicide in order to escape him.
Although digital blackface can be argued to not be as awful as the blackface that has been used throughout history, it is still reminiscent of blackface. The white people sharing the GIF’s are using them “to perform some type of exaggerated blackness,” which is exactly what blackface did [1]. They share these GIF’s, attempting to “blacken” themselves up.
I know you are thinking, “But I’m not using these GIF’s to perpetuate any forms of racism! I just think they are funny. I’m not trying to appropriate or offend!” But remember: many times, blackface was used for comedy. When I first heard of digital blackface in August when BBC released a video explaining it [2], I was very challenged. I had never thought of the many GIF’s of black people I had been using as racist. And the BBC video got a lot of backlash, claiming liberal sensitivity and insanity and calling people “snowflakes.” Also, a bunch of white people are now offended that they are being told that they are being racist. When I have challenged some of my white friends with this, they have dismissed the idea that sharing a GIF of Beyoncé being "sassy" is racist.
White people, if you ever wanna be terrible, don’t listen to a person of color when they tell you that you’re doing something racist or offensive. We white people need to be extremely receptive of criticism and suggestions from people of color. Listen to them and don’t get defensive or belligerent. The vast majority of the time, they are right. And even if you do not understand their reasoning, sometimes you just need to trust them. Even if you do not fully understand what digital blackface is, just try not to use GIF’s of black people as much if you are not black. Or at least just think about why you are sharing a certain GIF.
Word Count: 432
Pledged: William McLain
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[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyq6fTYxztc
[2] Ibid.
I think this is a really interesting way of thinking about blackface, because I think white people really don't think twice about using GIFs/memes of black people or black emojis. There is definitely a fine line between using one of these reactions in a way that perpetuates racist stereotypes and using them in an acceptable way. These images are definitely used to capture emotions that could further negative stereotypes of black people being "dramatic" or "sassy" but I think it's also important to mention that these are images that have been created for entertainment. This does not mean that the black individuals shown can be commodified or used to perpetuate stereotypes, but many times they are actors who are trying to capture emotions that can be related to. However, I think you're definitely right that the most important thing to do is listen when we are told that something is offensive and to think critically about why we are using these images.
ReplyDeleteI feel like in most cases it is often used in a way that can further the stereotype of black people. Because often times the memes created are from real events and real people. Everybody remembers the very popular phrase "Aint nobody got time for that" by sweet brown while she was explaining something to her local news station and also the hide yo kids hide yo wives song that was created after a very similar origin to sweet brown. Both of those were very popular memes, but had zero intentions of being funny. The latter was speaking in fear of a criminal in the neighborhood, and then was promptly made into a joke. Yes, in certain cases the people behind the memes were reacting in a manner to be entertaining, but it is not always true. Often times memes make light of a situation that was not meant to be funny, and sometimes that is what makes them funny. Basically, what a meme is is taking a picture or GIF of a person's reaction and using it for another situation to make it funny. Because of this, many of the images were not intended to be made into a meme. Also, yes memes are used for entertainment but so was blackface, just because people laugh doesn't mean that it does not perpetuate a prejudice agenda.
DeleteI agree with everything you say here. "Entertaining" was definitely not the best word choice on my part, but I meant the use of images from movies or shows. I agree that the use of videos of normal people taken out of context solely to make fun of them is inappropriate, and often perpetuates stereotypes. I think the fact that white people feel a need to use these images to express hyperbolic emotions also adds to the problem.
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