CNN reignites 'digital blackface' discussion years after BBC did it: 'Ragebait'

WASHINGTON (TND) — CNNrevisited the controversial topic of "digital blackface" on Sunday, a decision that has critics widely mocking the news source.

In an opinion piece, CNNwriter and producerJohn Blake asks "What’s ‘digital blackface?’ And why is it wrong when White people use it?"

In summation, "digital blackface" is apparently when people who aren't Black share memes or GIFs on social media that feature Black people, according to CNN's article.

Given as an example, the popular meme of Kimberly “Sweet Brown” Wilkins telling a reporter that "Ain’t nobody got time for that!" after she escaped a harrowing house fire has been turned into GIFs that social media users sometimes use. If you are "White," then using that meme of Wilkins means that "you may have inadvertently perpetuated one of the most insidious forms of contemporary racism," according to Blake.

Blake then explains that critics say "digital blackface" is a "modern-day repackaging of minstrel shows, a racist form of entertainment popular in the 19th century." Essentially, by using memes or GIFs featuring Black people, "White people" are "play-acting at being Black," Blake quotesauthor and cultural critic Lauren Michele Jackson as saying. That is, as the CNN analysis insists, racist and wrong.

But Blake's "analysis" of "digital blackface" isn't new by any means. In 2017,writer Victoria Princewill argued against the practice in a piece featured by the BBC. At the time, it was met with similar mockery and backlash.

CNN's article on the topic has been met with intense criticism and mockery. Many Twitter users responded by posting GIFs and memes featuring Black people to CNN's tweet featuring the article.

Others called the article an example of "ragebait," where publications try to make readers so angry that they'll click to read the article just to see what it says.

CNN is essentially calling for the segregation of memes," Associate Editor for Media Research Center,Nicholas Fondacaro, joked.

PRO TIP: if you have to explain WHY it’s racist, nobody thinks it is," Fox News Radio host Jimmy Faillawrotein his tweet.

Other posters managed to "ratio" CNN's tweet by getting more "likes" on their replies than CNN had on its tweet. One such tweet so far has over 30,000 likes, over triple that of CNN's post.

Some critics even floated the idea that CNN is wrong in defining "digital blackface" as it did, offering up alternative explanations.

This CNN article is ridiculous. lol 'Digital blackface' is when a white person makes a fake account pretending to be black typically pushing racist garbage or the 'I’m black and approve of this message bullshit' But that has NOTHING to do with posting a MEME. This is insane! LOL," American rapperFelipe Andres Coronel, better known as "Immortal Technique,"saidin his tweet.

Actress Yvette Nicole Brown, known for her portrayal as "Shirley" in NBC's "Community," agreed withImmortal Technique's tweet, telling CNN to "do better."

Digital Blackface is not about memes," Brown said. "It’s insidious. It’s pretending to be black online so folks think a black person is co-signing some racist BS. It’s the online only version of what Candace Owens does daily."

Even Twitter CEO Elon Musk joined in on the dog pile, giving an agreeing "100% emoji" reply to another user who told CNN to"shut the f**k up" in reply to the "digital blackface" tweet.

At the end of Blake's article on the topic, he again quotesauthor and cultural critic Lauren Michele Jackson, telling "White people" to, instead of using memes and GIFs of Black people, "maybe consider going the extra country mile and pick this nice Taylor Swift GIF instead.”