Modern technology has created WAY too many new ways to indulge in racist microagressions.
Of course, racism has always existed and has always been pervasive, infecting our culture in big, violent ways as well as tiny, almost imperceptible ways. But the digital age has brought upon a whole new slew of issues, from racist algorithms to biased facial recognition technology. It’s a WAY thornier topic than we could possibly hope to cover here, but needless to say, celebs are not exempt from it.
Related: Khloé Opens Up About Social Media Break At The End Of 2020
Take, for example, the KarJenner clan. The sisters have been highly criticized by the Black community, particularly for poaching their aesthetics from Black women. (And, sometimes, poaching their actual products from Black artists.) You’d think facing this kind of ongoing criticism would make them more careful, but they they cross the boundaries of microaggressions time and time again.
Most recently, Khloé Kardashian was called out for something seemingly small: using a dark-skinned emoji. It might seem silly that emojis have their own politics and appropriate standards of use, but it’s generally accepted practice on the Internet that your emoji matches your actual skin tone. So when the Good American founder posted a string of dark-skinned face-palm emojis on Twitter, people immediately took notice.
Seriously, the 36-year-old’s mentions were FULL of comments like these:
“Bitches get a tan and start changing their emoji skin tone..”
“When tf you turn brown??”
“That’s the wrong emoji for you colonizer…”
Now, we all know you have to physically go in and change your emoji skin tones. In fact, as one user pointed out, KoKo used the white version of the same emoji just yesterday:
This was yesterday,…. she knows exactly what she’s doing with the brown emojis ????
— Cosmo (@Kid_Cosmo) February 3, 2021
So why in the world did the Revenge Body host switch her emoji? Apparently, a fan called her out for using the “blonde emoji,” and Khloe agreed, replying:
“You read my f**king mind! That’s why you’re my daughter. Seriously every time I use that emoji I always say to myself I have to change it to the brunette version”
You read my fucking mind! That’s why you’re my daughter. Seriously every time I use that emoji I always say to myself I have to change it to the brunette version
— Khloé (@khloekardashian) February 2, 2021
Except… there is a light skinned, dark haired emoji, so she didn’t have to pick one with a darker skin tone just because it’s “brunette.” Or, as another Twitter user put it:
“Ain’t nothing brunette about that emoji, ms. girl.”
Some of the other replies were downright savage:
“Dear Khloe, here’s a newsflash for you: Having a Black daughter isn’t transferable..”
“unless ur dad is actually oj u have no reasons to use this emoji”
“Why are you using jordyn’s emojis ?”
Related: Tristan Thompson Is ‘Invested’ In His Future With Khloé
And not that it matters when exactly she made this strange choice, but to do so during Black History month felt all the more egregious to some:
“Khloe.. My patience is very thin this month.”
“This the skin tone you chose… during Black History Month?”
Hopefully, Khloe gets this message loud and clear, because even an action this small is obviously hurtful to a lot of people. One user wisely observed:
“But on a deeper note these women thrive off of black outrage. They know that that is the only way they will remain relevant and they do it every couple months smh”
Interesting perspective!
What do U think, Perezcious readers? Should Khloe correct her mistake? Or is this too much outrage for an emoji? Let us know your thoughts in the comments (below)!
[Image via Khloé Kardashian/Instagram]
The post Khloé Kardashian Gets Bashed On Twitter For Using Black Emoji appeared first on Perez Hilton.
