(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The face Harpers Ferry National Historical Park superintendent Tyrone Brandyburg made yesterday when presented a $78,333 check from Donald Trump — the same Donald Trump who plans to cut funding from the National Park Service — is a face we all recognize. Because its a face of recognition. It's the "This nigga…" face. Which is also sometimes known as the "This nigga here" face and the "This nigga right here" face.


It's the face you make when you're playing spades and it's tied at 440 and it's the last hand and you have enough books to win and your partner just reneged for no damn reason. Or when showing up to a 3pm cookout and learning the meat won't be done until seven forty fucking five. Or when a date asks for a handful of your fries even though you just offered to buy her her own damn batch of fries seven minutes ago and she declined. Or when your homeboy says he can't help you move because he hurt his back last night and you check Instagram that afternoon and see his bitch ass tagged in a flag football game.

It's also perhaps the staunchest and most battle-tested existential defense against racist fuckshit and Peak White Peopling. If you see a Black person with this face, and that Black person happens to be in some sort of office environment or any other predominately White space, you know that something extra super duper White just happened, and that face is a shield against it. Maybe Darth Susan in accounting is emailing human resources again because someone used the wrong color dry erase marker or something. Maybe you just overheard Thad in finance ask Keisha in marketing how often she washes her hair. Or perhaps someone just left an aggressively unseasoned chicken breast on a plate in your cubicle. And, since "this nigga…" is a race-transcendent caption that could be used to describe anything from wifi connections to fabric softener, Tyrone Brandyburg's "this nigga…" face is totally aimed at our President.


We are all Tyrone. #TyroneStrong