Twitter Uproar Over #WhiteWomenDidThat
posted by Jelia Hepner | September 8, 2016 | In OpinionWhat started off as a hashtag intended to create awareness for the things Black women have contributed to our society, #BlackWomenDidThat has since taken a downward spiral in a display of malicious tweets on Twitter.
Originally, #BlackWomenDidThat was a way to highlight the current and past accomplishment of African American women. Such at this tweet about the Rio Olympics:
Yesssssssss!!!!!! #TeamUSA DID THAT. That 4×100 was textbook perfection! So proud of them. #BlackWomenDidThat #Rio2016 #GOLD – @Fortitude1913
The hashtag #WhiteWomenDidThat was created out of spite in response to the hashtag #BlackWomenDidthat movement. Some tweets mimicked the original hashtag, attempting to highlight accomplishments, but most were clearly offensive and clearly racist:
#WhiteWomenDidThat taught Slave woman how to sew and cook food on a stove 🙂 – @Regina
@KeriHilson Breed kids they can’t take care of? #BlackWomenDidThat Feed, rescue & them #WhiteWomenDidThat – @PureWhiteHolly
A cultural war ensued as tweets emerged such as:
They tried to copy & disrespect our movement once again, now sipping tea & watching white women get dragged #whitewomendidthat – @Syneaaa
#whitewomendidthat is an example of how if the attention is off of white people for 2.2 secs they will throw a tantrum – @_simontaylor
Raise children who mass murder innocent children for no reason while they are in school. #whitewomendidthat – @Kimbeex
Even though this can be looked at as nothing but “just tweets,” this is an example and a big dose of reality for many out there who claim that racism does not exist. Racism will always exist. And technology can only bring a spotlight to these issues that get swept under the rug.
At a glance, these tweets can seem to be harmless but if these racist tweets are coming from people in our community such as teenagers, doctors, lawyers, and teachers that think like this towards the Black culture, then how can we progress in society and expect people of different races to come together?
Yet, can the Black culture play a negative role in this matter by retaliating to the attacks on their culture through social media? Or should they not respond and hold in their negative words that can be replaced by silence? There is no right or wrong answer to this situation, only for us as a society to try and make a change instead of feeding more hate and ignorance towards each other on social media.
It seems the Black culture cannot be celebrated without some type of negativity or backlash on social media. How can we, as a society, come together and be equal if we stay divided or at war with each other over racial issues? Something so small as trending topics on Twitter have caused more anger and more racial division. When we need to find a solution by compromising, trying to understand each other and learn that the Black culture has a right to be respected and acknowledged.
By Jelia Jc Live Coleman
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