What’s going on with the reylo fandom and using digital blackface? I keep seeing references, but I don’t know the context

I’ll turn it over to Lauren Michele Jackson, author of the Teen Vogue piece “We Need to Talk About Digital Blackface in Reaction GIFs” for the definition of digital blackface:



“digital blackface” is used to describe various types of minstrel performance that become available in cyberspace. Blackface minstrelsy is a theatrical tradition dating back to the early 19th century, in which performers “blacken” themselves up with costume and behaviors to act as black caricatures. The performances put society’s most racist sensibilities on display and in turn fed them back to audiences to intensify these feelings and disperse them across culture. Many of our most beloved entertainment genres owe at least part of themselves to the minstrel stage, including vaudeville, film, and cartoons. While often associated with Jim Crow–era racism, the tenets of minstrel performance remain alive today in television, movies, music and, in its most advanced iteration, on the Internet.

It’s prevalent on the internet in general – it’s not just a reylo thing by far – but it’s very common among nonblack reylos. If you look at the reylo tag or even the last jedi tag, you’ll see posts belittling “antis” (many of whom are Black) with Black reaction gifs (for example: https://diversehighfantasy.tumblr.com/post/166398086276/reylo-black-reaction-gifs – this is a VERY small sample. I have screenshots of many more). Again, the Teen Vogue article talks about why this is considered digital blackface. With reylo, it has the added fact that these are often nonblack fans using Black gifs to make fun of Black fans.

There’s also the liberal use of AAVE by nonblack fans. The most common is “fam,” a word that is not exclusively used by Black people in the US, but in other parts of the world, too. It doesn’t just mean a group of friends, nor does it mean like family. It’s closer to Black people calling each other “sister” or “brother.” It’s about shared history and shared struggle. African Americans descended from slaves are family. A major part of that is that our ancestors’ families were torn apart by slavery. It was taken from them. “Brother,” “sister,” and “fam” is in defiance of that. It means something.

Now, I’m well aware that some predominantly white cultures use brother and sister, too. The Mormons, for example. In cases like that, it’s not using AAVE. It’s also not appropriate for me to use sister in the Mormon usage for a friend. Catholics, of course, have Sisters (nuns) and Brothers (friars), but again, it would be inappropriate for me to call someone “Sister Yourname” if they’re not a nun or another member of a religious group that uses the title. Then there are sororities and fraternities. That’s fine, too.

But should a white person go up to another white person (or a person of color, for that matter) and say “hello, my brotha”? I mean, to me, that’s clearly appropriation and minimizing the reason Black people say it to each other.

It’s the same with fam.

There are lots of other AAVE terms, such as “shook” and “lit” and countless others that are used by people who don’t speak AAVE because it sounds cool. It’s true, I mean, Black Twitter, for example, is quoted and appropriated a lot because it sounds cool. And maybe, to nonblack folks, dangerous and tough, so people adopt it when they want to sound “harsh” and make people look foolish. Because, it’s true, Black people are really good at making people look foolish. Mimicking AAVE, though, when it’s not a part of your culture, doesn’t look cool. It looks fake.

Basically, the reylo fandom has a reputation for coopting AAVE and using Black gifs, and you can see it virtually any time you look at their tag.

I get that for some fans, English isn’t their first language, and they learn these terms as English slang, period. I cut ESL some slack. Other nonblack fans, not so much.