megatronium
Member
No, you're good. I explained that it's regional (southern) and everyone down there does it.
-
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
No, you're good. I explained that it's regional (southern) and everyone down there does it.
I have read a number of pieces recently talking about how white people mine black twitter for slang and trends to look cool and then those slang and trends get broadcast out to the wider culture. I kind of assumed that the prevalence of black reaction gifs were gifs that got popular on black twitter and then got broadcast out when everyone else got on the trend. I definitely understand black people getting annoyed that their online culture is in a cycle of constantly being co-opted, but I never thought much about how reaction gifs specifically could be extra obnoxious.
(See every "Receipts" gif and Bye Felicia)
(See every "Receipts" gif and Bye Felicia)
shawnbuddy
Member
Black People Twitter seems like it's probably 100 percent alt-right and white to me, at least those dumps from it you see on Reddit do.
Evil John Locke
Member
I have always kind of wondered about this, I think it's a valid point (whitey here)
Yeah, most of that fell under the #NotYourShield hashtag
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
Well, there are some people out there who believe that certain genres can only be played by people of a certain race...
But that wasn't what I was talking about. I was referring to music made by black people relating to soecific black cultural/societal issues. Like, am I as a white person allowed to enjoy Jay-Z's new album or To Pimp a Butterfly? There are people out there who would argue that I can't or shouldn't.
gutter_trash
Banned
cr0w
Old Member
Alright, crisis averted.
Mighty Chin
Banned
Don't people get tired about being outraged about everything?
They didn't read the article and/or their first instinct was to try and be clever.
Clockwork
Member
The problem is that there are no nuances to the topic. The author and certain posters in this thread are pushing to make an issue out of something that really shouldn't be an issue due to the false premise of their argument.
This has come up in related threads, but intent matters. People don't choose to use a reaction gif due to the race of the person in said gif, they do it because the expression presented is most representative of what the poster thinks the response should be.
It's okay because there's a song in To Pimp A Butterfly made for white people to listen to.
--
Of course it's okay. And I don't say that with any authority on the matter. They're creating art they want to world to listen to. Anyone who really says otherwise is just silly.
Now what you take away from it -- and the way you act about it, that's when people are going to have an opinion.
Ravensmash
Member
Ignore those people.
Glass Rebel
Member
This post reads like outrage.
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:
This is the exact same thing I thought of when I read the OP. Even the quote in the gif.
excelsiorlef
Member
Last time I've seen the TriHard emote being used for non-racist reasons dinosaurs still roamed the earth.
I have always had a slight strange feeling toward a lot of the gifs with black people in them. I have never been able to really put it into words. It's like something I have dealt with my whole live regarding me and my mom. I am mixed and my mom is black and I have had to hear shit my whole life about my mom sounding white or proper etc. As if black people are all the same and people are shocked my mom doesn't fit there narrow view. People are also shocked when I identify as black. It's really hard to explain but I feel a lot black gifs are just perpetuating a lot of black stereotypes. I raise an eyebrow sometimes and it feels like some dance monkey dance shit. The dis is going to be good gif is an example of that. It's interesting to see somebody wrote an article about that and other people have actually thought about it besides me.
Arozay
Member
Angry bish gif, am I right guys?
I'm more impressed that people find new and exciting way to be offended.
I'm more impressed that people find new and exciting way to be offended.
Airola
Member
But then again I think that gif might be as effective as it can be because it has that text that looks like what it sounds like. I think if there would be "this is going to be good" the gif itself should be some corporate man in suit (no matter what color that person is) with an expressionless face or with a slight snark at most, and then it would work.
But with that guy going the way he does with the chair, the text needs to be something that feels it comes as a quick reaction without any kind of need to sound official, tidy and proper. There needs to be this excitement in the text too. And it just simply doesn't happen with proper writing because no-one can be tought to speak like that especially when they are excited.
Now, it could be discussed whether the words could be different using different type of slang or mispronounciation, but I don't see any issue with the way it is now. It could be that as I'm not from the US and not a native English speaker I have a different more neutral view on that type of speaking.
Is it because most reaction gifs express an exaggerated emotion and the popularity of reaction gifs featuring Black people plays into stereotypes of Black people have broader and more extreme emotions ala minstrel shows?
Such a delicate subject given all of the history and current racially tense climate.
The author had some reasonable points particularly about people pretending to offer a black irl perspective when they do not. It's just lying with a racist motif. If you can spot that it needs shut down.
On the other hand there has to be some caution extended not to segregate your culture from white people entirely. It's easy to assignate ill will to a group yet it's very probable many of these gifs are shared out of joy love, affection, because they enjoy the reaction itself. Humans are pretty instinctive creatures.
Is it actually a bad thing for a random white teenage boy on the internet to identify their emotional state/communication with a black person? There has to be nuance and this doesn't appear the best ground to take a firm unbending stand. That said there's definitely an overuse of specific type of stereotypes...which is why this article has valid, strong points and keeps a calm reasonable tone. I really appreciate the demeanor/position of the author given the sensitivity of the topic on all sides.
From a culture conflict standpoint if you're part of a group or even an individual with cachet/cool and you completely shut out the 'out' group people they're going to build resentment and hatred. This becomes racial when your cultural group is publicly intertwined with a racial group.
I certainly cannot speak 'as a black person ' (lol what people do this) but my perspective is very integrated day to day alongside a huge swath of different ethnicities/nationalities.
The author had some reasonable points particularly about people pretending to offer a black irl perspective when they do not. It's just lying with a racist motif. If you can spot that it needs shut down.
On the other hand there has to be some caution extended not to segregate your culture from white people entirely. It's easy to assignate ill will to a group yet it's very probable many of these gifs are shared out of joy love, affection, because they enjoy the reaction itself. Humans are pretty instinctive creatures.
Is it actually a bad thing for a random white teenage boy on the internet to identify their emotional state/communication with a black person? There has to be nuance and this doesn't appear the best ground to take a firm unbending stand. That said there's definitely an overuse of specific type of stereotypes...which is why this article has valid, strong points and keeps a calm reasonable tone. I really appreciate the demeanor/position of the author given the sensitivity of the topic on all sides.
From a culture conflict standpoint if you're part of a group or even an individual with cachet/cool and you completely shut out the 'out' group people they're going to build resentment and hatred. This becomes racial when your cultural group is publicly intertwined with a racial group.
I certainly cannot speak 'as a black person ' (lol what people do this) but my perspective is very integrated day to day alongside a huge swath of different ethnicities/nationalities.
FaintDeftone
Junior Member
You know, I never really thought about this until I read that article. The author is totally right; a sizable chunk of the reaction GIFs I use feature black people reacting in over the top ways. I always just used them because I found them funny but never really associated them to a specific stereotype or anything. Interesting.
Messofanego
Banned
The interesting part of the article for me is considering the looping of the GIF being like a black person is put on display.
Yeah, if the GIF is meant to make fun of black people's intelligence or vocabulary rather than use them as your avatar for the reaction, that's very suspect. PopGAF loved sassy black women GIFs. If your thought process is, black people are so emotional, which makes them perfect use for GIFs...
I'm sure I have been guilty of this. My go to reaction GIFs are Michael Jordan laughing, Shaq leaving the conference, The Wire oh shit, Japanese dude crying, Nicolas Cage laughing. I don't have many more GIFs with black people in them.
What's that person with blonde hair in drag who's constantly made fun of in GIFs? There is one with the wig coming off as the drag queen is running off in high heels.
There was an article a year ago or so about white people disguising as black people on Twitter and perpetuating racist stereotypes, it was a good read. Not sure if it specifically mentioned #yourslipisshowing.
What about white GAFers who have black people as avatars?...
Yeah, if the GIF is meant to make fun of black people's intelligence or vocabulary rather than use them as your avatar for the reaction, that's very suspect. PopGAF loved sassy black women GIFs. If your thought process is, black people are so emotional, which makes them perfect use for GIFs...
I'm sure I have been guilty of this. My go to reaction GIFs are Michael Jordan laughing, Shaq leaving the conference, The Wire oh shit, Japanese dude crying, Nicolas Cage laughing. I don't have many more GIFs with black people in them.
What's that person with blonde hair in drag who's constantly made fun of in GIFs? There is one with the wig coming off as the drag queen is running off in high heels.
There was an article a year ago or so about white people disguising as black people on Twitter and perpetuating racist stereotypes, it was a good read. Not sure if it specifically mentioned #yourslipisshowing.
What about white GAFers who have black people as avatars?...
it's a selfie
The article warns a bit of using Gifs of black people, because you may end up posting them in circumstances that fit black stereotypes e.g. the sassy extravagant black woman. In a way the gifs support the view that black people are very emotional not just in good way, but also in a bad way(the part of people reacting really sensitive when black people speak a bit louder). And they end up getting by racists or white supremacist as caricatures.
Gifs have the same problems as every other medium when it comes to stereotyping. Gifs are a bit special because mostly showing emotions/reactions. The article just wants remind people that Gifs are not that much different than other mediums and that you should question yourself if you use black people gifs only in a certain way and maybe look for other alternatives if it fits a certain stereotype. There isn't really a problem when you use specific Gifs like Donald glover Gif from community or Jordan Peeles sweating gif.
I think the article could need a better ending, because i don't think that the ending is really on point as it could be, but maybe that's because I'm not a native speaker
Gifs have the same problems as every other medium when it comes to stereotyping. Gifs are a bit special because mostly showing emotions/reactions. The article just wants remind people that Gifs are not that much different than other mediums and that you should question yourself if you use black people gifs only in a certain way and maybe look for other alternatives if it fits a certain stereotype. There isn't really a problem when you use specific Gifs like Donald glover Gif from community or Jordan Peeles sweating gif.
I think the article could need a better ending, because i don't think that the ending is really on point as it could be, but maybe that's because I'm not a native speaker
MarkMclovin
Member
So just like most other threads then, yeah? I mean, that's what a reaction gif is.
As would most people. People use those gifs because the reactions do an exceptional job at portraying how they feel at the time.
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
So is this like when in real life white people act and speak "black", sometimes unknowingly even, when around black people? That has always grated me and something as a white male I have tried to avoid myself. I can see how emoting and reacting using black gifs online can come across the same way, and being online grants people anonymity making it harder to tell from what place a person is coming.
MoonsaultSlayer
Member
So for celebration.giffage... I'm stuck with whitepeopledancing.gif.
=[
=[
/s. I've never posted a reaction gif or gif at all as far as I remember.
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
Doing that can a lot of times be unconscious. It's an adaptive trait humans gained as the species evolved and forms of communication became more complex.
What is speaking black
I'd love to know because my nieces get told they're not doing it like they're supposed to at school.
Aizo
Banned
Came back from my evening out after seeing a pretty good discussion for the most part to find 3 pages with more posts than I expected reading like "I'm white, and I'm not offended. I don't get it. This is stupid." Those of you who expressed a difference of opinion in a more civil way, thank you.
I'd like to get a look at your reading material. That's impressive.
I made a similar statement earlier in the thread that the line isn't really that thin. It should be obvious to most people.
I don't think the woman who wrote this article seemed outraged. To me, it felt like she wanted to have a discussion. Many people on here genuinely do not see the problem, and it's fine to have a different opinion that the person who wrote it or others in the thread. The problem is that if people disagree, they seem to say things like "Fuck this," "This is stupid," or "People need to stop complaining." Why not just express your difference of opinion instead of hurling insults or being dismissive. Some people feel that there is a problem. Let's address that.
Yeah, that's called code-switching and its more of a social survival technique in real life. Things get a little murkier online, especially when it becomes almost impossible to figure out what the original context of a gif was. (Context as in original usage of the gif, not what the source of the image is)
Tough topic. I remember feeling this a bit when seeing all the memes that seemed to feature black people reacting in a funny way to something on the news, like the leprechaun news vid of old. That show "Unbreakable" even uses this meme in its theme
*its a MIRRACLE*
Could be taken as all black people are hilarious in some venues
*its a MIRRACLE*
Could be taken as all black people are hilarious in some venues
Tough topic. I remember feeling this a bit when seeing all the memes that seemed to feature black people reacting in a funny way to something on the news, like the leprechaun news vid of old. That show "Unbreakable" even uses this meme in its theme
*its a MIRRACLE*
Could be taken as all black people are hilarious in some venues
Unbreakable was very on the nose though.
I mean, I'm sure Tituss even spoke about this near the finale.
I'm probably one of the least liked black users on this board when folks even give me an ounce of thought. The only other black user who 'likes' me has known me for over 10 years so there's a lot of unnecessary investment in acknowledging me.
That said, there is irony in seeing the proliferation of reaction gifs of black people being what folks would consider stereotypically black, and there's always a hint of frustration I feel when I see them and begin thinking how people, even black people, wish to put black people in a bucket out of either convenience or lack of empathy in that a black person can be a shitty person too like myself.
That said, there is irony in seeing the proliferation of reaction gifs of black people being what folks would consider stereotypically black, and there's always a hint of frustration I feel when I see them and begin thinking how people, even black people, wish to put black people in a bucket out of either convenience or lack of empathy in that a black person can be a shitty person too like myself.
Lol, I should have guessed we were patient zero since it was from a game broadcast. That still gets to my other point about how quickly context mutates once these things get out into the larger consciousness.
What the fuck is this, are both 12 year old?
EDIT: wow, it's you.
shameful
MoonsaultSlayer
Member
They're confusing changing vocal tones depending on your company with people "speaking black" around black people.
I've heard people who speak with cuss words and drawls all of a sudden speak formally around higher-ups. I've heard people speak with a deeper voice around a male figure they look up to/envy. I've heard people lighten their tone around women or children. We all sub-consciously do it.
Ros8105
Member
Why only white Gaffers?
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
that's why I put it in quotations. I just notice sometimes when a white friend or co worker weirdly flips a switch when interacting with a black person. And I can't honestly say I haven't done it. Like they adopt some other persona that they use to speak to black people.
And perhaps this is mostly what I am seeing. Again I don't think the intent is malicious though there are times where I see it and it seems overt. And imitation can have malicious intent and online it is hard to read intent unlike in person.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked