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[Sunster]

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

4chan needs to be shuttered.

inb4 "but /soc/ is cool!"

 

[ponpo]

4chan needs to be shuttered.

inb4 "but /soc/ is cool!"

But /out/ is cool.

 

[whitemex88]

Please tell me this complete misunderstanding is facetious. hahahah

Yes. This is my favorite gif of all time. Any excuse to post

 

[Frozenprince]

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?

Shit odds are the entirety of your vernacular is black slang (five year old black slang but hey).

 

[Media]

I'd forever be waving and rude nooooooo
Wait I got two:

Yeah, fuck him.

 

[the_darkness]

The title: We Need to Talk About Digital Blackface in Reaction GIFs

So, ya did.

No mate, I certainly did not say the topic itself shouldn't be discussed. I said the title was ridiculous.

Those 2 statements aren't the same ok?

 

[Snarky(HEART)]

Shit odds are the entirety of your vernacular is black slang (five year old black slang but hey).

As far as I'm concerned the only three sources of American slang are black people, Gay people and gay black people

 

[Sunster]

Yeah that is kinda of burying the lead.

my b

 

[SomedayTheFire]

No mate, I certainly did not say the topic itself shouldn't be discussed. I said the title was ridiculous.

Those 2 statements aren't the same ok?

The quickest way to kill a discussion about an article is to complain about its title. The author explains their use of digital black face in.the article. Calling the headline ridiculous without even so much as a passing word about the article is disingenuous.

 

[Media]

Shit odds are the entirety of your vernacular is black slang (five year old black slang but hey).

Diet racist folk always accuse me of 'trying to sound black' because I say folk and y'all.

I'm like...I grew up in New Mexico I also cuss in Spanish and Navajo and say like a lot.

 

[Volimar]

You know I was going to argue that people were being defensive what with saying folks weren't reading the article or weren't understanding it as I was accused of, but reading some of the replies...people really don't read the article.

 

[Aizo]

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?

Right. I'm not Black, but I've always consumed a lot of Black media since childhood. I try to be mindful of my position and to not pick up slang just because "I think it sounds cool or fun" or sing along with songs that say things I feel I shouldn't be saying. There is a line, and I don't think it's very thin, between consuming Black culture through media and appropriating the culture.

I've definitely been guilty in the past of doing stupid things and speaking in a way that my Black friends in high school did because they encouraged me to. I realized that kind of thing was pretty upsetting to a lot of people and just tried to be more real since then. I think the whole point of this article is that you should be aware of your actions and what your actions say. Being introspective is important as a part of always improving yourself.

 

[Frozenprince]

Diet racist folk always accuse me of 'trying to sound black' because I say folk and y'all.

I'm like...I grew up in New Mexico I also cuss in Spanish and Navajo and day like a lot.

LOL god damn right? Like "you're just trying to sound ghetto" uh, no. I talk like that because I am from the south, we all talk like that. It's either that or "so well spoken".

Can't win.

 

[Alx]

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

In that case the problem would be about the "anti white women" sentiment rather than "digital blackface". Also the fact that people will focus on the (supposed) skin color of the writer of the message as much as the content itself.
I think too much focus on race of posters is raising barriers more than destroying them. One of the things that internet could allow (in theory) is color-blind discussion. You don't have to know the color of my skin to agree or disagree with what I wrote ; and if you'll change your opinion once you've seen my real face, then we have a problem.

 

[ruie]

Digital blackface does not describe intent, but an act — the act of inhabiting a black persona.

I can't agree with this and the spirit of the text. A reaction Gif describes the act in itself - not the personification of the character who's perfoming it.

 

[Media]

You know I was going to argue that people were being defensive what with saying folks weren't reading the article or weren't understanding it as I was accused of, but reading some of the replies...people really don't read the article.

I read the article and they make a fair point about racists using black gifs as mock reactions or people pretending to black to get in on black Twitter. I just didn't have a lot to add other than I'm sad that I only have one black gif in my collection and it makes me realize how white the media I consume is.

 

[orava]

 

[Ronin Ray]

Diet racist folk always accuse me of 'trying to sound black' because I say folk and y'all.

I'm like...I grew up in New Mexico I also cuss in Spanish and Navajo and say like a lot.

Tell those people to visit Texas where everyone and I mean everyone says y'all.

 

[Chuckie]

Diet racist folk always accuse me of 'trying to sound black' because I say folk and y'all.

I'm like...I grew up in New Mexico I also cuss in Spanish and Navajo and say like a lot.

Can you teach me to cuss in Navajo? That might make me be the only Dutchy who can.

 

[shoelacer]

What color is Nibel

 

[Dany]

As far as I'm concerned the only three sources of American slang are black people, Gay people and gay black people

 

[Staccat0]

Here it is.

This is the gif that literally has made the words "digital blackface" pop into my head every time I have seen it posted by a person I presume to be white. Can someone explain this fucking thing?

http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/THISGONBGUD.gif

Tell those people to visit Texas where everyone and I mean everyone says y'all.

It's true. I'll be honest though... Never heard a white person say "folk" IRL though. Not unless they were like... talking about how rad Ukeles are.

 

[Shaanyboi]

How will this affect my ability to identify whether things look like a penis or not?

 

[Indrid Cold1]

 

[Izuna]

http://imgur.com/a/SdQjW

 

[Aizo]

Likely the most appropriate gif that's been posted yet.

I can't agree with this and the spirit of the text. A reaction Gif describes the act in itself - not the personification of the character who's perfoming it.

Read the whole thing. It's not creating a Black persona just posting one or even 10 GIFs with Black people as the focus. It's doing it consistently. I think most people would recognize that they're doing this and question what they're trying to do. Are they trying to appropriate some sense of coolness they believe is inherent to being Black? Some people definitely are doing that.

Not on purpose mostly likely, but "Oh, hey. That's kinda cool. That person thinks I'm black because the words I'm typing and the images I'm sharing. I don't think there's any point in correcting them, though." That sorta thing. They're not trying to be hurtful, but what they're doing is not helpful.

 

[MIMIC]

As a black man, I found this to be an interesting read, never really thought about it like that.

Same here. Such a thing never even occurred to me.

 

[buy teh haloz]

What about GIFs of Knuckles though

 

[John Caboose]

I read the quotes but I still don't understand what point is trying to be made. If anyone would care to boil it down to the thesis statement that would be much appreciated.

Edit:

Likely the most appropriate gif that's been posted yet.

Read the whole thing. It's not creating a Black persona just posting one or even 10 GIFs with Black people as the focus. It's doing it consistently. I think most people would recognize that they're doing this and question what they're trying to do. Are they trying to appropriate some sense of coolness they believe is inherent to being Black? Some people definitely are doing that.

Not on purpose mostly likely, but "Oh, hey. That's kinda cool. That person thinks I'm black because the words I'm typing and the images I'm sharing. I don't think there's any point in correcting them, though." That sorta thing. They're not trying to be hurtful, but what they're doing is not helpful.

Ok, so it's about pretending to be black online? Well yeah duh people shouldn't do that.

 

[Aizo]

Never heard a white person say "folk" IRL though. Not unless they were like... talking about how rad Ukeles are.

Shit, really? I hear it all the time where I'm from.

 

[Izuna]

What about GIFs of Knuckles though

👌🏿

 

[Sunster]

http://imgur.com/a/SdQjW

gross

 

[TheTylerRob]

Gifs are race agnostic and that's why they're great.

 

[Media]

Can you teach me to cuss in Navajo? That might make me be the only Dutchy who can.

Jighaan is our version of white trailer trash, but native trash I guess? We don't have a lot of true swear words mostly loan corruptions of English and Spanish lol.

(I don't know Navajo I'm bad)

 

[SalvaPot]

Gifs are race agnostic and that's why they're great.

Funny since I can't see your GIF.

 

[Ratrat]

What about 'wacky' Japanese gifs taken out of context so people can spam 'lol Japan', 'never change' etc?

 

[TheTylerRob]

Funny since I can't see your GIF.

Fuck mobile reddit.

🙁

 

[Slime]

It's true. I'll be honest though... Never heard a white person say "folk" IRL though. Not unless they were like... talking about how rad Ukeles are.

Ironically, I think I picked up calling people "folks" from President Obama. : /

 

[Aizo]

What about 'wacky' Japanese gifs taken out of context so people can spam 'lol Japan', 'never change' etc?

This one upsets me, too. I'm pretty critical about some things in Japanese society and culture, but I hate when people are so dismissive.

I read the quotes but I still don't understand what point is trying to be made. If anyone would care to boil it down to the thesis statement that would be much appreciated.

Edit:


Ok, so it's about pretending to be black online? Well yeah duh people shouldn't do that.

Right, but it's kinda also about subtly perpetuating negative images of the Black community by using choice GIFs that make Black people look bad due to context without really thinking about it. All about that context. Also, if someone is using Black people in GIFs to always express their joy, their sass, their disgust, their rage—if they're doing this, then they should give some thought to why it is they specifically choose Black people. It doesn't mean they're bad people, but just that they may want to consider their intent in doing so.

 

[SuperStiltzkin]

What about 'wacky' Japanese gifs taken out of context so people can spam 'lol Japan', 'never change' etc?

Asian people are still funny foreigners so it's okay to laugh at us. I still occasionally see that angry asian face dude on youtube thumbnails and shit. Shamefur Dispray and all that. Fuuuuck off.

Off topic-ish, but that Shogun 2 dude clearly says his Ls. ShamfuL DispLay. It's like when people insist that Will Smith said "welcome to Earf" in ID4.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

I will say I rolled my eyes initally at the article but on reflection I have noticed there is a pretty common phenomenon of white people LARPing as black people on the internet.

Particulary on Reddit where /r/blackpeopletwitter is basically a den of white people idealizing black culture despite not having the greatest opinion of actual black people.

 

[Frozenprince]

I will say I rolled my eyes initally at the article but on reflection I have noticed there is a pretty common phenomenon of white people LARPing as black people on the internet.

Particulary on Reddit where /r/blackpeopletwitter is basically a den of white people ideolizing black culture despite not having the greatest opinion of actual black people.

More openly mocking what they believe to be black culture than anything.

They really haven't the faintest idea.

 

[LionPride]

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?

R/bpt has exactly zero Black people on it

Found it funny when a dude I follow on Twitter was heated because a tweet of his was on BPT and he knows not a damn soul there was black

Shit same with hhh, it's just young white kids throwin nigga around and talkin bout hip hop and gettin confused when black issues are brought up

 

[Izuna]

gross

Which part? The bantz or the overuse of paruru gifs?

--

On-topic, however. I've seen many people use black versions of Emoji seemingly whenever they can and it's especially for the reason mentioned in this article. It's going to be hard to tell kids and teens to stop and think about what they're doing though.

Reaction gifs are easy to use memes, I can't see any of this changing.

 

[Aizo]

http://imgur.com/a/SdQjW

This guy seems very ignorant. Are these two people actually friends?
Weird.

I have a Japanese American friend who has lots of stories about White guys saying creepy shit about Japan or belittling her for not being Japanese enough because she doesn't watch enough anime or some shit. If I showed her that imgur collection, she'd be pissed.

 

[PatThePassive]

The examples SalvaPot gave on page two are great examples some gifs have more energy or capture exactly what you are trying to convey.

I would say the blackpeopletwitter subreddit has reached pure stereotype levels or is closer to digital blackface.




also

 

[Chuckie]

Jighaan is our version of white trailer trash, but native trash I guess?

Thanks haha

(I don't know Navajo I'm bad)

You disappoint me. I was about to ask you for a crash course (or at least some small phrases)

 

[Johnny Cage In The Shower]

What about Wrestling? I like Wrestling. Are wrestling gifs with black people okay?

Spoiler

"ReactionGIF.org" *facepalm

 

[ruie]

Likely the most appropriate gif that's been posted yet.

Read the whole thing. It's not creating a Black persona just posting one or even 10 GIFs with Black people as the focus. It's doing it consistently. I think most people would recognize that they're doing this and question what they're trying to do. Are they trying to appropriate some sense of coolness they believe is inherent to being Black? Some people definitely are doing that.

Not on purpose mostly likely, but "Oh, hey. That's kinda cool. That person thinks I'm black because the words I'm typing and the images I'm sharing. I don't think there's any point in correcting them, though." That sorta thing. They're not trying to be hurtful, but what they're doing is not helpful.

I read the text, and I think it's pushing it a bit as a conclusion. I can't imagine people choosing reaction gifs by the color of the characters, but by the expression they want to give as «their» reaction. For instance, I can't imagine right now a better "oh, this is going to be good", popcorn gif, than the MJ one. As I can't think of a better "er...what?" gif than Drew Scanlon's one.

I have never thought of checking for patterns in the usage of gifs, or how can some people perceive me as being black or white through my use of gifs. It just feels a bit stretched, just like trying to know if I'm black or white through the music I listen to or the food I eat. We live in a cosmopolitan world where everyone can have a taste of a whole bunch of different cultural experiences and I think it's only natural to feel attracted to them.

For instance, I tend to say I love south american literature because they write in portuguese or spanish, but in a more colorful tone. Their characters and descriptions are much more vivid and exciting. Should I be worried for thinking like that?

 

[TheTylerRob]

If you want to do digital white face you can just say dude a lot, I give you permission dudes.