Racism and Popular Culture: Representation, Resistance, and White Racial Fantasies

Discrimination and Black Social Media Use: Sites of Oppression and Expression

“…The Internet and digital media have complicated how we “do race” (Pitcher 2014; Mueller, Williams, and Dirks 2018). New media extends and mirrors race relations that we experience offline (Mueller et al 2018) and amplifies “old” racial problems while bringing forth racialization processes that are unique to the digital age (Daniels 2012). Furthermore, different platforms facilitate varying experiences for distinct groups (Williams 2017).…”

“…For example, well-intentioned White social media users rapidly share and consume videos of violence and bigotry against Black bodies. Gruesome footage of fatal encounters with police are shared in a manner that epitomizes the “empathic fallacy”: the idea that people can be convinced to change their mind-set on racism if they are simply exposed to racism (Delgado and Stefancic 2017; Mueller et al 2018). Instead, widespread viewership of black pain and racial violence becomes “banal, extending people of color’s trauma while buttressing White fantasies further.…”

“…Instead, widespread viewership of black pain and racial violence becomes “banal, extending people of color’s trauma while buttressing White fantasies further. Indeed, normalizing black and brown suffering” (Mueller et al 2018:84).…”

“…Unfortunately, new media have enabled mass consumption of white supremacist imagery and ideology (Mueller et al 2018). “BBQ Becky” (the White woman who called the police on black park-goers in Oakland), “Permit Patty” (the White woman who purported to call the police on a black child selling bottled water), and “Pool Patrol Paula” (the White woman who called for police because of a black family in the pool) (Cleary 2018; Lee 2018; Mohdin 2018) are all emblematic of the social dominance that White people have the ability to evoke at their leisure.…”

“…Although digital communities thrive, the sharing of experiences online is often racialized. The Internet and digital media have complicated how we "do race" (Pitcher 2014;Mueller, Williams, and Dirks 2018). New media extends and mirrors race relations that we experience offline (Mueller et al 2018) and amplifies "old" racial problems while bringing forth racialization processes that are unique to the digital age (Daniels 2012).…”