‘Modern Day Segregationists’: CNN Ignites Twitter with Report on Who Is Guilty of ‘Digital Blackface’

Zachary LeemanMar 27th, 2023, 10:45 am
 

You may be guilty of “digital blackface” and not even know, according to a recent CNN report that had more than a few critics either rolling their eyes or responding with pure outrage.

The term “digital blackface” is not a new one. According to the report from CNN’s John Blake, the term was used in a popular Teen Vogue essay by author Lauren Michele Jackson in 2017 and has been studied in academic papers.

CNN’s Blake wrote:

Digital blackface involves White people play-acting at being Black, says Lauren Michele Jackson, an author and cultural critic, in an essay for Teen Vogue. Jackson says the Internet thrives on White people laughing at exaggerated displays of Blackness, reflecting a tendency among some to see “Black people as walking hyperbole.”

If you’re still not sure how to define digital blackface, Jackson offers a guide. She says it “includes displays of emotion stereotyped as excessive: so happy, so sassy, so ghetto, so loud… our dial is on 10 all the time — rarely are black characters afforded subtle traits or feelings.”

Examples of this use of “digital blackface” could include posting a gif or meme of an upset Tyra Banks from America’s Next Top Model or the wide use of Kimberly “Sweet Brown” Wilkins, a young Black woman who went viral after speaking to a reporter in 2012 after escaping an apartment fire in Oklahoma City. “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” she said in a clip that was heavily used.

CNN drudging up the “digital blackface” term earned a fair amount of pushback on social media, primarily from right-leaning critics. Outrage was so widespread even Twitter head Elon Musk was joining the voices telling CNN to simply “shut up.”

Musk responded with a “100” emoji to a critic telling CNN to “shut the fuck up” in response to the report.

“When the demand for racism radically outstrips the supply,” Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro tweeted.

Glenn Greenwald blasted “modern-day segregationists” in his response to CNN.

In the CNN report, Blake does admit that someone like Wilkins may have benefitted from exposure as much as she was victimized, but also refers to advice offered in Jackson’s Teen Vogue essay, which encourages sticking to Taylor Swift gifs.

“If you find yourself always reaching for a black face to release your inner sass monster, maybe consider going the extra country mile and pick this nice Taylor Swift GIF instead,” Jackson wrote.

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Zachary Leeman

Zachary Leeman covered pop culture and politics at outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, BizPac Review, HollywoodinToto, and others. He is the author of the novel Nigh. He joined Mediaite in 2022.