Teen Vogue has a new piece out calling on white Twitter users to question if posting GIFs of black people is actually “digital blackface”:
Using animated GIFs of black people is now "Digital Blackface." https://t.co/rZl29W0XpT
— neontaster (@neontaster) August 2, 2017
Apparently they’ve run out of things to be angry at:
They've officially run out of things to be angry about https://t.co/ULhUVl8Pol
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) August 3, 2017
One of the people this article highlights over the possible use of “digital blackface” — defined as “various types of minstrel performance that become available in cyberspace” — is Meghan McCain, Fox News host and daughter of Sen. John McCain. Now, Meghan isn’t accused directly of “digital blackface,” but 3 of her tweets were included in the article:
Someone explain to me the point of fat shaming Sean Spicer? Is it just to humiliate him even more? What is this?! pic.twitter.com/70jMDM7SVQ
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) June 20, 2017
Me… all day today. pic.twitter.com/OwpCahsMcG
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) July 11, 2017
Me – watching the Comey hearing for the last hour… pic.twitter.com/OJ25SWHAKY
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) June 8, 2017
Wow. We wonder if Meghan knew she was such a racist?
Thankfully the author of the piece says that nobody is “coming to take GIFs away”:
This is a really great piece. And before you start jumping up and down, make sure to read the caveat: https://t.co/zj65s5jqmp pic.twitter.com/j7uM6GsQjZ
— Justin Ling (@Justin_Ling) August 3, 2017
Phew. And she’s just. Asking. Questions:
But when black people are the go-to choice for nonblack users to act out their most hyperbolic emotions, do reaction GIFs become “digital blackface”?
Over to you Meghan. What say you?
***
