Reclaiming racial dignity: An ethnographic study of how African youth in Australia use social media to visibilise anti‐Black racism

Abstract

The #BlackLivesMatter Movement has amplified the role of social media in visibilising anti-Black violence.Drawing on the narratives and expertise of those who have experienced anti-Black racism, this paper employs the theoretical concept of racial dignity to highlight how young African Australians participate in racial discourse on social media. The findings of this paper demonstrate that social media is a significant site where Black African youth reclaim racial dignity through: 1) reversing the white gaze; 2) recognising and calling out anti-blackness; and 3) cultivating and engaging in communities of healing and belonging.Through these digital practices, Black African youth in Australia foster racial agency that promotes positive self-recognition, racial resilience and racial dignity. We argue, therefore, that social media offer Black African young people in Australia spaces to engage in positive expressions of Afro-blackness and challenge anti-blackness in ways that are safer to them than in physical, offline settings in white contexts.