User:Cratedigga/Racism on the Internet

WILL BE DONE BY DEC 9TH

Racist rhetoric is distributed through computer-mediated means and includes some or all of the following characteristics: ideas of racial uniqueness, racist attitudes towards specific social categories, racist stereotypes, hate-speech, nationalism and common destiny, racial supremacy, superiority and separation, conceptions of racial otherness, and anti-establishment world-view. Racism online can have the same effects as offensive remarks made face to face.

Definitions

The term "cyber racism" was coined by English Sociologist Les Back in 2002. Cyber racism has been interpreted to be more than a phenomenon featuring racist acts displayed online. According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, Cyber-Racism involves online activity that can include "jokes or comments that cause offence or hurt; name-calling or verbal abuse; harassment or intimidation, or public commentary that inflames hostility towards certain groups".

Blackfishing & Profiting From Black Aesthetics

According to CNN, the definition of Blackfishing occurs when a non-Black celebrity or influencer, intentionally alter their physical appearance, by appropriating the skin tone, hair texture and overall aesthetics associated with and/or originating from Black people. It is extremely common on social media. Many non-Black celebrities have been criticized over tanning their skin to appear darker skinned, often times looking more racially ambiguous and/or Black. Celebrities (featured in the image to the right) like Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian are the most common offenders of blackfishing according to Benet Burton in their 2021 academic thesis "Insidiously sophisticated: from blackface to blackfishing". It is believed that the increase of Social Media Marketing, has made space for more contemporary racist microaggressions that involve the monetization of aesthetics associated with Black American culture.

Digital Blackface

A flyer of minstrel performer William H. West's "Big Minstrel Jubliee" of 1899. Pictured are portraits of Carroll Johnson, Tom Lewis, Geo. B. Mack, and Ed Howard, all in blackface.

Oprah Winfrey is frequently used as a GIF or reaction meme by internet users to showcase an expressive form of emotion.

Blackface, the stereotypical practice of caricaturing Black people, has been around since the 19th century. The theatrical minstrel show included White performers participating "comedic", though highly racist, skits, and performances depicting Black people. Performers would often paint their faces black with obnoxiously big red lips as well as talk in early African American Vernacular English to symbolize their perceptions of Black people. The stereotypes portrayed in minstrel shows have been reflected in various forms of media over time such as Hattie McDaniel's role as the motherly, yet desexualized "mammy" in the 1939 film adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind, or the lazy and inarticulate "coon" caricature. Today, the advancement of technology has allocated the use of gifs and reaction memes of Black people to portray exaggerated forms emotions online because internet users think of Black people as "excessively expressive and emotional". One of the most commonly used people in GIFs and memes is media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who's clips from her former talk show and occasional TV specials are often created into gifs and memes and are used frequently on the internet.