Is it OK (for white people) to use black emojis and gifs?

[mrt144]

This random video I found on the BBC that I found on BBC while I was learning more about the world, and not at all in some other video on youtube, makes the case that using dark-skinned emojis is cultural appropriation. For reasons that are not really specified further, and even in the concept of cultural appropriation it doesn't seem to make much sense, given that "black skin" is not a cultural good, and that dark skinned emojis aren't something that black people have invented anyway, it's something that has been created specifically for the sake of diversity (which I don't really understand, as emojis are usually yellow for the exact reason of being race-neutral, but that's another story.

The lady in the video also spouts the opinion that memes that depict black people are racist, because it uses black bodies as means of entertainment.. or something. I guess that's like in voodoo, when you catch somebody's soul and then force it to do whatever you want. The lady also calls it "digital blackface".

I had always assumed that the people who use these memes are just having a good bit of fun at the expense of nobody, and that given that there are all sorts of image memes that do generally not look in a negative light at the characteristics of the people involved (although racist ones most certainly exist) these memes are mostly color blind, but the lady in the video makes the argument that actually, they're pretty much people sharing black expressions as if they were attractions in a circus.

Well. I guess that's one way of looking at it. One that I don't agree with, but maybe you do?

While I get the point and there are some good themes mixed through out, there aren't really any actionable things to do with the belief.

 

[Sommerswerd]

We're still talking about emojis, right?

Well I was talking about Stormfront, but no one seems to want to take me up on it...

 

[warpus]

They use emojis on stormfront? I bet they're all white emojis if they do

 

[Peuri]

This is seriously getting ridiculous. For example that Michael Jackson gif there has nothing blackfacey in it (pun intended). It's just a person expressing mirth at what he is seeing. What has his blackness got to do with it? It's not ridiculing the person in the gif in any way.

 

[Akka]

This is seriously getting ridiculous.

Only "getting" ?
I thought we had been full-on into ridiculous for a while now.

 

[Sommerswerd]

They use emojis on stormfront? I bet they're all white emojis if they do

You dont think they use black swastika emojis too?

 

[warpus]

You dont think they use black swastika emojis too?

True, I temporarily forgot that emojis can be things other than faces.

 

[civvver]

This is seriously getting ridiculous. For example that Michael Jackson gif there has nothing blackfacey in it (pun intended). It's just a person expressing mirth at what he is seeing. What has his blackness got to do with it? It's not ridiculing the person in the gif in any way.

Which is why I posted it. I use gifs with black people all the time. You use a gif cus it's funny and appropriate tot he conversation.

Which michael jackson eating popcorn is, cus I was also implying this has become a popcorn thread where casual observers sitback and watch people argue over petty issues, while eating popcorn and being entertained of course.

 

[warpus]

Reaction gifs are emojis now? What's going on

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Reaction gifs are emojis now? What's going on

They aren't emojis. They're gifs that may or may not be considered trollish, depending on the context in which they're used. To say they're "emojis" is a lazy use of language. "Emojis" is apparently the new word for "smiley". I guess people got confused because not all smileys are actually smiling.

The woman in the video would probably flip out if she knew that a non-black person here had used a gif of Michael Jackson to express amusement. 'Cause of course that would be "cultural appropriation" - as though only black people should ever enjoy Jackson's music or videos.

CFC actually does have a popcorn smiley:

I've always found smileys much less offensive than gifs, when used to express sarcasm, annoyance, derision, contempt, anger, etc.

 

[warpus]

Wait, so this whole thread is about reaction GIFs? That's completely different from emojis

If she's talking about reaction GIFs and calling them emojis then I can't take her seriously.

Let's get the terminology right people! This is after all the internet

 

[civvver]

Wait, so this whole thread is about reaction GIFs? That's completely different from emojis

If she's talking about reaction GIFs and calling them emojis then I can't take her seriously.

Let's get the terminology right people! This is after all the internet

Ummm... the topic says emojis AND GIFS

 

[warpus]

I see that now. I should pay more attention.

But now I'm confused. Using that michael jackson eating popcorn GIF is bad now? It doesn't matter if he's white or black, he's just eating popcorn and the point of the GIF is to highlight the popcorn eating. Although I do not disagree that certain reaction GIFs can be offensive, to ban the usage of all black reaction GIFs seems stupid.

 

[Sommerswerd]

to ban the usage of all black reaction GIFs seems stupid.

That's your opinion

Spoiler :

 

[warpus]

If Michael Jackson himself asked me to stop using his likeness then maybe I would. But probably not. I mean, if it was pointed out to me "oh look it's actually racist, because here and here, and this is a reference to this horrific incident and so on", then I wouldn't use it anymore. Then I would probably say "I thought you were dead", but either way a ban on the usage of all black reaction gifs is an overreaction

 

[Sommerswerd]

a ban on the usage of all black reaction gifs is an overreaction

Are you trying to convince me of the soundness of your position? Clearly something was lost in translation... Allow me an opportunity to rephrase my response:

to ban the usage of all black reaction GIFs seems stupid.

I agree, but then again this thread/topic is stupid (but fun )so we don't have any choice but to discus stupid things

 

[warpus]

Great, so we agree. The other positive coming out of all this is that I now have an urge to listen to some MJ

 

[Traitorfish]

This is seriously getting ridiculous. For example that Michael Jackson gif there has nothing blackfacey in it (pun intended). It's just a person expressing mirth at what he is seeing. What has his blackness got to do with it? It's not ridiculing the person in the gif in any way.

I think the problem is, the video doesn't really contextualise it in the way a large port of internet culture- and a part of internet culture than leans liberal and female, just to complicate things- employs an affectation of black mannerisms, or percievedly black mannerism. It just says "these gifs are blackface", and if you don't understand the context she's working from, it sounds pretty absurd. And given that this being posted on the BBC website and not, like, Tumblr, it really could have used a bit of context.

Although the Michael Jackson gif is genuinely just a bad example of this phenomenon.

 

[warpus]

What's a good example of a GIF that should be banned that isn't blackface or anything else that's racist? I suppose you wouldn't want to post it here, but could you describe it?

 

[Sommerswerd]

While I don't so much subscribe to the "banning" concept... I'm thinking the old school cartoons that depict black characters with the giant white lips are what people have in mind... maybe also the old movies that depict black people with the "bug out" eyes... just to name a few... I mean there's a lot of offensive material out there, for my part I tend to take the position that with so many hills I really need to be selective about which ones I want to die on...