We are at a point in time where progressiveness has begun progressing backward, Like a societal devolution. Memes involving black people, or black characters are officially racist when posted by a white, or non-black person.
After Oprah’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Twitter users begun using clips or images from the interview for memes. Just as they would with any other major, televised event.
Now users are being told that what they are doing is participating in “digital black face”. An absurd term used to describe when a white person expresses them self online using images or gifs of their favorite black personality.
This is all according to Slow Factory Foundation, an organization that fights for “social justice”. They claim:
“While seemingly harmless, the problem with digital blackface is that it often reinforces negative stereotypes about Black folks such as they’re aggressive, loud, sassy and simply here for your consumption and entertainment,” The foundation claims that the use Oprah reaction gifs and images to be unacceptable.
Often times the reason users choose these specific gifs and images is because they are either their favorite personalities, or are personalities relevant to the situation they are reacting to.
Skin color is not the only thing that separates or identity from others. If a white person finds it most appropriate to express themselves using a black personality, they should be free to do so. The inverse should also be true.