The Power of Black Twitter

Black Twitterati largely determine how traditional media and politicians talk about African-Americans. For example, that appeared after the shooting in Charleston in which nine black churchgoers were killed.

by Azeez Amad
CNN REPORTER DON LEMON gave two years ago, the most useful definition of the phenomenon Black Twitter: "Not all Black Twitterati are black, and not all black people who tweet are part of Black Twitter. But those who, while part of Black Twitter, tweeting frequently. About race, pop culture, and other matters affecting the black community. "

There is not really stick an exact date on the first use of the term Black Twitter. He must have originated around 2009, when the massive presence of African Americans on Twitter began to fall. There appeared at that time countless trend pieces (What Were Black People Talking about on Twitter Last Night - theawl.com) who had to interpret the phenomenon. Even the term Black Twitter was discussed. It is a label that African-American twitterers have consigned themselves, or is it imposed by white, mainstream media who like to label everything that deviates from their standard? An important discussion, but very meta. The bottom line is that a Black Twitter twitter sphere is where African Americans and others by taking matters that concern African Americans.

Meanwhile Black Twitter has become a powerful phenomenon that you can not easily ignore. The tweeters are (also) become decisive in the way talks about African Americans through traditional media, politicians and other public figures. Their influence appeared rarely as big as last week.

"ARE YOU AFRICAN AMERICAN?" Was civil rights activist Rachel Dolezal asked on June 11 by a TV journalist. Dolezal - light brown complexion, curly hair - seemed surprised by the question. After a brief hesitation, she replied, "I do not understand the question." A further conversation it did not. Dolezal quickly walked away from the screen. That was the starting signal for the public unmasking and downfall of Rachel Dolezal, leader of the NAACP (The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) in Spokane, Washington. Long Dolezal had issued for part African-American, when in reality they had a Czech-German-Swedish background. Curls, mocha-colored skin? Applied with a curling iron and a lot of makeup.

Media could not get enough of this remarkable story. Twitter Black dominated Twitter with the hashtag #AskRachel hilarious, designed to test its authenticity as African-American. But those corny tone quickly disappeared when Black Twitter also began to focus on the more serious implications of Dolezals deception. One of the reproaches Black Twitter threw her feet was white privilege Dolezal gave himself out for a black woman, without ever really having suffered the ill effects of being black -. Was a better example of a privileged status as white hardly imaginable. She also was guilty of appropriation, it is appropriating black culture to advance herself, in her case, to lead the naacp in Spokane. Dolezal occupied a place that could have gone to a real black woman.

The criticism of Black Twitter soon found a way to major online publications such as The Huffington Post (The Reactions to Rachel Dolezal's Lie That Get It Right), Salon.com (I'm Black and Rachel Dolezal is not) and political. com (Choosing to be black is the epitome of white privilege) There was a significant interaction between social media and the established journalism was not beyond reproach the New Republic dedicated an article to:.. Why Twitter is the Perfect Platform to Debate Rachel Dolezal. "Twitter (i s) remarkably effective at not only forming communities, but complicating and enlivening the debate around identity."

WEDNESDAY JUNE 17, two days after Rachel Dolezal as leader of the naacp Spokane had resigned: the 21-year-old Dylann Roof - white, blond bowl cut - armed stepped Emanuel ame -kerk in Charleston, South Carolina, a state where white superiority has left deep scars. The church was a Bible study in progress at that time. Roof moved on and joined in for an hour. Then he pulled his gun and killed nine African-American churchgoers. "You all rape women and you're taking over the country," he snapped his victims. Friends of Roof explained later that they are not surprised Roof often talked about taking drastic action to unleash a "race war".

Black Twitter followed the reporting on #charlestonshooting closely and pulled directly from the media tried to play down the shooting. "A boy" or "a kid" he was called, even when his name and age were known. He was a white adult man, not a boy, found Black Twitter. Call him a boy detracted from the seriousness of his act. Just as much trouble Black Twitter had characterizations as "quiet and soft-spoken. Also, speculations about the psychological state of Roof were quickly punished by Black Twitter. He was not "disturbed," "mentally ill" or "whacked out." Messages about what he did and said in the church pointed fact that his thinking was steeped in thoughtful white superiority.

At two points Black Twitter had the most influence. Thirty thousand tweets were sent out in the hours shortly after the attack that contain the word 'confederate'. That started a broad debate about the confederate flag, the official flag of the southern states in the nineteenth century fought a civil war with the northern states to maintain slavery. The confederate flag is a racist ideology, but is still hoisted proudly for the South Carolina State House. "@ShaunKing: South Carolina still flies the confederate flag and is one of only five states without an official hate crime law. Yeah, this crime HAS context. "The debate over the appropriateness of the flag go a while with it, but according to The New York Times (Charleston Shooting Reignites Debate about Confederate Flag) social media gave a new impetus. Especially politicians could not ignore and had to rule on the flag debate.

Important Black Twitter was also in the name of Roofs act. Which was first identified by the neutral 'a shooting' was followed by the description that police gave it:. "A hate crime" But Black Twitter had a different opinion:. This was a racially motivated act of terrorism. Then Twitter was flooded with tweets denounced the cowardly prudence of established media. "@BrownBlaze: To call #CharlestonShooting terrorism would require a bold admission: that black people are American citizens."

Apparently the media do not even consider the designation "terrorist act" as the victims are black
The evidence trickled in, essentially according to Black Twitter clearly a terrorist act: Roof drew on white superiority that has already inspired racist terrorist acts; Roof wanted to disrupt America and African Americans terrifying to start a race war. Black Twitter sneered the mainstream media in 2013 did not bother to directly call a terrorist act the bombing of the marathon in Boston. Apparently they do not even consider the predicate as the victims are black. The criticism of Black Twitter found the next day echo in The New York Times (Many Ask, Why Not Call Church Shooting Terrorism?). It was quoted tweets influential Black Twitterati who had initiated the discussion, such as civil rights activist Samuel Sinyangwe and journalist Jelani Cobb . Other media took the criticism of Black Twitter as a basis for articles. Motherjones.com did, but also vox.com, politico.com, vice.com, New York Magazine and Christian Science Monitor. Some black Twitterati penden self pieces on this issue, as in The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Slate. com, The Guardian, Dailykos.com. The debate ultimately resonated beyond social and traditional media. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called the act of Roof bluntly 'an act of terror. "The national president of the naacp, Cornell William Brooks, did not mince mouth and spoke of" racial terrorism. "Such wording also used the civil rights movement Black Lives Matter: "This was an undeniable act of terrorism Intended to strike fear in the hearts of Black communities."

Last Friday reported the US Department of Justice that it now plans to see if Charleston was indeed terrorism.

"SOMETIME IN 2009 I began to notice something on Twitter," said Meredith Clark, professor of journalism at University of North Texas, in a Skype call. "I was still working in journalism and followed on Twitter mainly fellow journalists and politicians. Until I noticed that there is another world exists were conducted on Twitter, where funny and interesting conversations. And the people in the Twitter world were predominantly black. "

The discussion around Black Twitter did according to Clark diversity no justice in this digital universe. She decided to go out on scientific research. That resulted in a dissertation (To Send Our Own Cause, 2014) in which she showed the many voices of Black Twitter Clark. "In Black Twitter have people who tweet from the perspective of woman, man, gay, transsexual. Others tweeting from their class, their interests, their work. Everything runs through each other. It can be about trivial matters, but also about pressing social issues. "

One explanation for the success, according to Clark, the fact that young African Americans have been able to, thanks to technological progress meters in the digital divide - the gap between the haves and the have nots in terms of access. Especially Twitter, young medium par excellence, became popular among African Americans. The online active African Americans is 25 percent on Twitter, in online active white Americans is that sixteen percent.

The greatest strength of Black Twitter is the strong interconnectedness. In 2010, the postgraduate student analyzed computer science Brendan Meeder hundred million tweets and discovered large clusters of African-American twitterers who all follow each other. The one-way traffic from many twitterers - Twitter as your personal advertising column - seems absent in African-Americans. They send and receive. Twitter is known as a giant echo chamber, but within Black Email the walls thicker and sounds every tweet often. In this way he manages to finish the twitterers always high on the list of trending topic Twitter with issues that the African-American community go to the heart. Then it's a short step to realize those affecting traditional media.

According to Meredith Clark's Black Twitter not just an American phenomenon. She looks like twitterspheres in South America, Africa, Europe. "I speak a little French, and therefore knows that Paris has a lively Black Twitter. There they are busy with the same things as in America, with racial issues. "

The Netherlands also has something similar to a Black Twitter universe. A global survey provides some Black Twitterati from the polder by: Quinsy Gario, anti-Black Piet activist; Anusha Nzume, journalist; Sylvana Simons, TV presenter; Zarayda Groenhart, TV presenter; Milouska Meulens, journalist; Harriet Duurvoort, columnist; Jörgen Raymann, comedian. The list is far from complete. These are only a few visible people who are in touch with many like-minded people.

One of the first times that this Dutch twitter sphere as he let out was in 2011, when Jacky sheet is vergaloppeerde with an article about the Nigga Bitch, a fashion model with street cred and a ghetto ass. Zarayda Groenhart posted a picture of the item Facebook and Twitter. The outrage hit quickly by the Dutch Black Twittersphere about the rest of the Netherlands and even twittering on Rihanna, the singer from Barbados. Result: Eva Hoeke, Jacky editor, could hold its rushes. Also in the Black Piet Thread the Dutch Black Twitter Sphere of influence. Anusha Nzume and Quinsy Gario ensure that Zwarte Piet year round tempers online and offline will remain engaged.

Recently the Dutch Black Twittersphere achieved two successes. In April women's V iva posted a stereo typical article on the site:. Ten reasons to date a black man in no time Twitter was full of indignation. One of the Black Twitterati who took the lead in criticizing V iva was Sylvana Simons. Partly thanks Viva pulled her Twitter-bombing the article and she was invited to be a columnist for the magazine. Another victim of Black Twitter in the polder: the cultural festival Valtifest. This year the festival would be called "Hottentot Tent Grafting Exhibition to celebrate diversity. Critics said it was tasteless reference to the real hood tottering exhibition of the nineteenth century in which a black South African woman was shown for a white audience. Quinsy Gario led the attack on the festival via Twitter, Facebook and his own site. The criticism then came up to the organization of the festival, made her decide to drop the name of the festival.

"With her deception she continues an ancient custom: the rub of black people and their performance '
"IT PUTS ME as Black Twitter is presented as a community of angry black people," says Meredith Clark. "It undermines the idea of ​​community that we have in Black Twitter. But it also undermines the things we want to raise. "

Yet Black Twitter achieves the greatest successes as outraged Twitter users get anywhere against the defense. A few US highlights at a glance:

On June 13, 2013 George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering African-American boy Trayvon Martin. Two days later, a literary agent known that one of the jurors in this case had signed a contract for a book. Financial gain from beating death of a black boy? Black Twitter opened an online petition against the book contract and the literary agent bombarded with emails. A day later, the judge announced that no book would come, and she offered her apologies.

Another reaction of Black Twitter on the Trayvon Martin case was the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter which drew attention to the unequal treatment of African Americans by law enforcement. In 2014, the hashtag was even chosen as word of the year. But more important was the impact that had the hashtag of civil rights activism. The hashtag became a real civil rights movement that lobbies on police violence against African Americans and organize large-scale protests across the country. The world solidarity protests held under the banner #blacklivesmatter, including in Amsterdam.

In August 2014 the eighteen-year-old African-American Michael Brown was shot by a police officer. Established media reported about it, used a photo of Brown which he poses as a gangster-like kid, and there were pictures of him portraying him as a brave student. The choice Brown suggested that the there should have to. Black Twitterati started the hashtag #iftheygunnedmedown and each placed two pictures of himself, one in which they take a tough pose, and one that shows them in their brave direction which would use media of the two pictures as they were shot? The criticism was picked up by a variety of media and gave fodder to a critical self-examination of their portrayal of African American youth.

BLACK TWITTER SHOOTS do not always hit. Sometimes the relationship between the search malpractice which is raised and the weight that Black Twitter plopping into. Consider Justine Sacco, a New York public relations assistant. "Going to Africa. Hope I do not get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white! "She tweeted in 2013 just before they boarded a plane. The tweet was picked up by white mainstream media, but Black Twitter made it trending topic. A virtual lynchmob millions then took upon himself to put this white, privileged woman "in her place. Sacco - until then in Twitter anonymity lived with a handful of followers - lost because of the toxic focus her job and is still recovering psychologically.

Black also Twitters criticizing Rachel Dolezal shot some the wrong way. Who had trouble was Jon Ronson, author of So You've Been Publicly Shamed, in which he describes what can cause virtual lynchmobs enormous psychological damage. "@jonronson Feeling incredibly sorry for #RachelDolezal and hope she's okay. The world knows very little about her, her motives "Then Jon Ronson was criticized by Black Twitter.; Dolezals abuse of blackness, without really knowing what it's like to be black in America, was indefensible white privilege and had to be denounced. Why he did not take it for African-American women who feel damaged by Dolezal?

"It is clear that Jon Ronson has no idea what Twitter is Black," says Clark. "He does not understand why we are tweeting about this woman and where our anger comes from. We are angry because they Dolezal continues an ancient custom with her deception: the rub of black people and their achievements. "

But to be honest, Black Twitter not only picks up white people and white media. Also, African Americans who committed a blunder can get over them Black Twitter. When Kanye West wore a jacket last March when a confederate flag sewn also Black Twitter gave him of past. The same happened with other famous African Americans - actress Raven-Symoné, rapper Common - who said something about racial issues where Black Twitter took offense. But favorite cup of jut Black Twitter is the African American CNN -journalist Don Lemon. Yes, the same Lemon from the first paragraph of this article which gave such a clear definition of Black Twitter. He can do little good because its reporting on racial issues is considered cowardly.

Last week was the result of that constant Black Twitter criticism also visible in the offline world. While Lemon in Charleston did report the attack ducked behind him an African American woman who "Uncle Tom!" called out to him. Uncle Tom, a black who tries to get to whites in courting. Black Twitter cheered and hurled it accused a couple of times to the head. In that respect discriminates Black Twitter not - anyone who deserves it in their eyes, can have a corrective tap.