-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
We Need to Talk About Digital Blackface in Reaction GIFs
- Thread starter Aizo
- Start date
- Status
As a black man, I found this to be an interesting read, never really thought about it like that.
OP should've bolded this, feel like I can see how this thread is gonna go lol
OP should've bolded this, feel like I can see how this thread is gonna go lol
Just_myles
Member
I think the article is reaching, frankly, and is borderline ridiculous. Using reaction GIFs doesn't equate to adopting nor presenting a persona, let alone focusing on the race of the people within the GIFs. Typically, they're selected more for entertainment and comedic purposes, then to present an honest recount of a person's exact reaction and/or emotional state to whatever-thing. Unless you think literally thousands of people are attempting to convince the world that Weebay's shock and revelation is somehow a universal truth, common only to the human condition?
Let's get specific. I have a selection of Denzel Washington GIFs in my reaction list. I think we can all agree that Denzel Washington is black. As it so happens, I am not black. Why do I have these specific GIFs of Denzel Washington? Because I think the man is one of the greatest actors of any era, I love basically every film he's ever done, and damn it, I enjoy showing off his range any chance I get. He's iconic, talented, and worth any scrap of praise I can offer. I am not racist, nor am I donning blackface, by using GIFs featuring Denzel Washington. And, frankly, insinuations to contrary get under my skin.
Yo that's a dope gif. Thanks.
Snarky(HEART)
Banned
I mean black people are funny and people think we have funny reactions to things.
I understand the argument that sometimes it feels like caricature.
People, just because someone brings up the potential problematic racial implications of something you enjoy doesn't mean you need to automatically assume that person is calling anyone racist or trying to take away the thing that you enjoy
I understand the argument that sometimes it feels like caricature.
People, just because someone brings up the potential problematic racial implications of something you enjoy doesn't mean you need to automatically assume that person is calling anyone racist or trying to take away the thing that you enjoy
MistakenMobius
Member
Are u Japanese to use that image Macro?You see, the mere notion that something we're doing might be problematic causes us distress.
TheGameshark
Member
Man what a shame. A damn shame I tell you...
Glass Rebel
Member
SomedayTheFire
Member
Damn you got a heart in your username. That's radSnarky❤;245361139 said:
agreed. Just find that gif hilarious.
Reading is tough
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
Unfortunately yeah. The title is enough to offend a lot of people. Solid try tho
I think about this a lot. Specifically the "Dis Gun Be Gud" meme people like to trot out. I dunno what race anyone is here or where the gif is from though so I don't ever call it out. I always wanna go "why exactly do you find that gif with that caption to be so hilarious that it needed to be shared right now?"
As for people pretending to be minorities to give themselves leverage in arguments, that is obviously happening.
As for people pretending to be minorities to give themselves leverage in arguments, that is obviously happening.
Frozenprince
Banned
Mr. Asablackman sure been busy since Trump got elected.
RecRoulette
Member
SomedayTheFire
Member
EDIT: READING IS HARD
My bad.
My bad.
Aizo
Banned
I knew that some people would be upset just reading the thread title, but I merely copied the article headline. I didn't feel it was fair to make up my own. Also, I thought gaffers fear of being banned would make them read before posting in a thread about race relations. I was wrong.
Be polite.
If that were the case, I could never post reaction gifs, as a Native American woman lol.
Frozenprince
Banned
Definitely was worth doing IMO. I found it a good read anyway so, thanks for linking it.
Fixed2BeBroken
Member
this shit silly and just lookin way to deep into shit. gifs are about the reaction being given. carry on.
the_darkness
Banned
The title for starters which the arguments in the body in no way earn.
Geno Breaker
Banned
Guess they were the ones who got slayed.
But yeah, the author's viewpoint seems valid. I can see where they're coming from.
Aizo
Banned
You're welcome. I felt compelled to post it because I even read the article headline and thought "What the hell does that mean?" I read it because it was shared by a former professor of mine who I deeply respect, and I found that it had some interesting things to say.
You think we shouldn't talk about it? A number of people seem to be interested in discussing it, including Black members of GAF. I think it's a reasonable article.
Snarky(HEART)
Banned
Anybody who gets mad about this is mad about some shit they haven't fully reckoned with in the first place I think. They'd find a way to be mad regardless.
White people (myself included) who on a conscious and logical level consider themselves to not be racist get sick feeling in their stomachs when they are confronted with the idea that racism is maybe complicated and endemic to our culture even when they would agree with the sentiment in another context.
We love being one of the "good guys."
People love taking things as personal insults, it's the easiest way to ignore the topic.
I've never really thought of this, but I've definitely noticed the "as a black man" and those twitter accounts of people passing themselves off as black. Seems like someone tryna have fun online being black but the nice thing is they don't get to deal with any of the real life problems that being black brings.
To top it off with a gif:
SomedayTheFire
Member
I still don't get why people get so angry at headlines ¯_(ツ
_/¯ this has a good headline, that should make people be interested and want to read it, which is normal. But nah gotta get angry and call the whole piece trash because of it ignoring all of the points actually made in the piece.
_/¯ this has a good headline, that should make people be interested and want to read it, which is normal. But nah gotta get angry and call the whole piece trash because of it ignoring all of the points actually made in the piece.Frozenprince
Banned
I mean you definitely see it here, where it's used as a "mask" by racists and bigots when they wanna say some profoundly horrible shit before they inevitably go too far and get banned.
Shit you see "as a black man" in every single race thread it's like clockwork.
Shit you see "as a black man" in every single race thread it's like clockwork.
Chuckie
Member
Exclamation-One
Member
Aizo
Banned
It's all about what you do after you get that feeling. Some people get the feeling and think "Hey, I'm not racist. Don't insult me. This is bullshit." Others think "I don't think I'm racist. Maybe I should give some more thought about my behavior so that I don't hurt anyone accidentally."
the_darkness
Banned
I didn't say that now did I?
The article raises some interesting points but "digital blackface" is lazy shorthand that steps on a reasonable discussion by equating posting a reaction gif with historically racist shit.
SomedayTheFire
Member
I fucked up. I'm sorry. Thought I'd get the edit in there before you read it.
Snarky(HEART)
Banned
I mean I've literally seen a 4chan thread of people organizing to create fake twitter accounts of black women to spread "anti white woman" sentiment after the statistics of how many of them voted for Trump, specifically for the purposes of driving a divide between black women and white women. Like that was the goal.
So yeah digital black face is definitely a problem
So yeah digital black face is definitely a problem
This is one of those things that has always made me feel vaguely uncomfortable.
My thought process basically goes:
-Many of these funny GIFs depict black people doing silly facial expressions or gestures
-Most of the people posting these GIFs probably aren't black
-...but, at the same time, many of them are
-Some of these people might be posting these GIFs in a racially mocking way
-In fact, some of these GIFs might have originated on some shady image board for that express purpose
-At the same time, many of these GIFs were most certainly made by black people, or have at the very least have been taken back by them, so who am I to argue with that?
...and then I just think, if someone's a racist asshole, it's going to come out in a way other than the stealthy use of some GIF, so maybe I should stop being so neurotic about it.
I see where the writer is coming from, though. I don't think it's an argument that should be roundly mocked.
My thought process basically goes:
-Many of these funny GIFs depict black people doing silly facial expressions or gestures
-Most of the people posting these GIFs probably aren't black
-...but, at the same time, many of them are
-Some of these people might be posting these GIFs in a racially mocking way
-In fact, some of these GIFs might have originated on some shady image board for that express purpose
-At the same time, many of these GIFs were most certainly made by black people, or have at the very least have been taken back by them, so who am I to argue with that?
...and then I just think, if someone's a racist asshole, it's going to come out in a way other than the stealthy use of some GIF, so maybe I should stop being so neurotic about it.
I see where the writer is coming from, though. I don't think it's an argument that should be roundly mocked.
HazySaiyan
Banned
Did you even read the OP? It isn't saying simply using a gif of a black person is problematic, it's about context and intent. It's saying certain gifs in certain contexts COULD be problematic.I think the article is reaching, frankly, and is borderline ridiculous. Using reaction GIFs doesn't equate to adopting nor presenting a persona, let alone focusing on the race of the people within the GIFs. Typically, they're selected more for entertainment and comedic purposes, then to present an honest recount of a person's exact reaction and/or emotional state to whatever-thing. Unless you think literally thousands of people are attempting to convince the world that Weebay's shock and revelation is somehow a universal truth, common only to the human condition?
Let's get specific. I have a selection of Denzel Washington GIFs in my reaction list. I think we can all agree that Denzel Washington is black. As it so happens, I am not black. Why do I have these specific GIFs of Denzel Washington? Because I think the man is one of the greatest actors of any era, I love basically every film he's ever done, and damn it, I enjoy showing off his range any chance I get. He's iconic, talented, and worth any scrap of praise I can offer. I am not racist, nor am I donning blackface, by using GIFs featuring Denzel Washington. And, frankly, insinuations to contrary get under my skin.
Did the presence of that community affect you at any personal level?
And if you are glad that it's bannednow, why you kept going there?
Its an interesting discussion for sure, I have to admit I never thought about that. I always felt reaction GIFs usually represent how I feel, and it just happens that some of the best reactions are by black people.
For example, this is one of my personal favorites:
The amount of energy and emotion is just great and its familiar enough that people get exactly what I am trying to convey by the GIF. Not always are you able to convey your feelings through words, that is why GIF's are so great.
But regarding the article, there is some merit on making people aware of boundaries. Reddit for example has subreddits dedicated to Black People and White People, this are their all time top posts:
r/blackpeoplegifs
r/whitepeoplegifs
But usually their posts are there to highlight the weirdness or quirkiness of each side, and if you to any of their comments sections there is ALWAYS, warranted, a mod post asking people to be nice because obviously there was a race war somewhere there at some point. You have to wonder how many people use this gifs as a tool to demean or reinforce ugly stereotypes in their race of choice.
I like to think that most people use GIFs because they enjoy them, I like to do so. But as everything context is key.
For example, this is one of my personal favorites:
The amount of energy and emotion is just great and its familiar enough that people get exactly what I am trying to convey by the GIF. Not always are you able to convey your feelings through words, that is why GIF's are so great.
But regarding the article, there is some merit on making people aware of boundaries. Reddit for example has subreddits dedicated to Black People and White People, this are their all time top posts:
r/blackpeoplegifs
r/whitepeoplegifs
But usually their posts are there to highlight the weirdness or quirkiness of each side, and if you to any of their comments sections there is ALWAYS, warranted, a mod post asking people to be nice because obviously there was a race war somewhere there at some point. You have to wonder how many people use this gifs as a tool to demean or reinforce ugly stereotypes in their race of choice.
I like to think that most people use GIFs because they enjoy them, I like to do so. But as everything context is key.
whitemex88
Member
I can't gif from the movie Friday anymore? That's like the greatest comedy of the last 25 years! Fuck that. I'm out
Frozenprince
Banned
Think of the point of the article this way.
How much of /r/blacktwitter do you think is actually black people? How much of it is people using black people o laugh at and make crude jokes using "hippity slang"? How much of it is alt-right fuckos using it to pretend to be something they are not to poison the well of discussion and troll?
How much of /r/blacktwitter do you think is actually black people? How much of it is people using black people o laugh at and make crude jokes using "hippity slang"? How much of it is alt-right fuckos using it to pretend to be something they are not to poison the well of discussion and troll?
For sure. I kinda think white liberals are slipping. Back in MY day we were like "racism is a deeply rooted facet of American culture and you gotta make an effort to check it"
Seems like these days racism is a thing only evil people can slip into. Probably a longer and more complicated derail than this thread needs though.
But yeah, I am actually really glad you posted this cuz it has been on my mind a lot for maybe a year or so and I was wondering if I was being crazy.
Aizo
Banned
The title: We Need to Talk About Digital Blackface in Reaction GIFs
So, ya did.
I see now what you're saying, but you weren't exactly specific before. I personally felt that the author had a good description of what digital blackface meant. There are people online who use those GIFs to build a Black persona. They use GIFs perpetuating a certain image (sometimes negative) of the Black community. Sounds like blackface to me.
Please tell me this complete misunderstanding is facetious. hahahahI can't gif from the movie Friday anymore? That's like the greatest comedy of the last 25 years! Fuck that. I'm out
Snarky(HEART)
Banned
Another facet people need to think about is think about how often you post and share black gifs and memes. Think about how often you listen to rap music. Think about black comedians or actors or singers that you love and follow all the time. Think about the slang that you use.
Now. Think about how much you've done to help the black community besides just buying stuff with black people in it. Does it stack up?
Now. Think about how much you've done to help the black community besides just buying stuff with black people in it. Does it stack up?
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked