5 Emojis White People Use To Gaslight BIPOC Online

So you can point it out or stop using them yourself.

Photo by Domingo Alvarez E on Unsplash

We all know having any sort of debate on social media is pointless. But the rise of social media gave a platform for BIPOC to finally share our own experiences and to attempt to control our own narratives. That power is threatening to folks who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Using bad faith techniques, these online trolls will belittle, harass, dismantle, and confuse in order to keep white supremacy front and center both online and off.

Some of the best racial gaslighting come in the form of cutesy emojis, largely because they represent a friendly and informal interaction. It’s frighteningly effective to any onlookers to an online conversation.

The Laugh React. (😆)

Ahh. The laugh react. The OG cyberbullying emoji.

I’ve been in Kafkaequese conversations with white people on Facebook where regardless of my tone and the seriousness of the topic (Black children facing higher levels of police brutality, for example), they have laugh-reacted at everything I said before responding in a trolling manner.

The person who uses this particular emoji even when the topic doesn’t call for humor is mocking emotional responses…