I want to focus my post on Teen Voque’s article “We need to Talk about  Digital Blackface in Reaction GIFs”.

I honestly, sincerely do not mean to be the one that reads an article and decides that I do not agree with any of it. I always go in with an open mind but I am coming back confused. And a little frustrated.

I just don’t think I agree.

It is easy to give blanket statements like “Professor Croxall is always mean” (not true) “Or he always assigns too much homework” (no comment) but I feel like that isn’t the whole truth. This article, while it make some excellent points,  gives too many open book, blanket statements that disqualifies their point.

Saying that GIFs about African Americans seem to “appear at the center of it all” isn’t necessarily true.

Often these GIFs come from a 2 second clip from a piece of pop culture. This can come in the form of a movie, tv show clip, news broadcast, interview, or commercial. GIFs are a way of highlighting particular moments that can be relatable in a separate but exaggerated form. GIFs are funny because they take a reaction and adds it to a different conversation. Yeah, a few use a particular ridiculous moment

Example A:

And some just take another’s reaction and use it for their own circumstance.

Example B:

I love Oprah, I just think she gets me and how I want to express myself. This GIF doesn’t depend on Oprah, it could be funny with anyone, but it just so happens to be Oprah.

GIFs don’t target minorities, they are simply a creation of what we find funny around us. It can be the kid who likes turtles, the lady who broke the chair, or Shaq dancing. It means they are relevant. And a topic of conversation. They are remembered.

I think the bigger problem was if American Americans were not included in GIFs.