Dealing with Race Relations in the Digital Era Anonymous
CONTENT WARNINGS: RACISM The year 2020 has been complex to say the least – the world has experienced a multitude of groundbreaking events such as the Australian wildfires, COVID-19, a potential outbreak of World War 3, diplomatic wars between countries, the 2020 US Presidential election, and the strong and powerful force of the Black Lives Matter Movement. The increasing strength of the Black Lives Matter Movement has sparked a new form of debate regarding race relations in our contemporary society, highlighting not only the systemic racism experienced by Black people in countries structured around whiteness, but also the injustices faced by other people of colour. One thing I have noticed ever since the Black Lives Matter Movement exploded this year, has been the use of social media to spread information, to persuade, to target, to discriminate, to campaign, to protest and to educate. I have been astounded at how much emphasis has been placed on social media platforms, and the grandness and power that it holds. Between July 2013 and May 2018, the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag was used almost 30 million times on twitter. As of 2020, it has been used 47.8 million times. On Instagram, more than 15 million #BlackoutTuesday hashtags were used. Social media right now is the most powerful tool that the world can use to disperse information, however it also holds an immense form of power over those that use it.
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Whilst I believe that social media is a great way to share, to repost, to educate and to inform, I do think that it also holds a space for targeting, discrimination and propaganda. There are two sides to this argument regarding people who take advantage of social media for ruthless purposes. The first are those who think they can hide behind their screens and tweet, share, like or comment racist, sexist, homophobic and discriminatory remarks to strangers, and feel so powerful because they remain anonymous amongst 7.8 billion people around the world. With heightened tensions of race relations, these people become more active than ever before. However, I’ve come to notice recently that the demographic of people that are using social media to advocate for equality and for the abolition of systemic racism have started to acquire a similar trend of extreme targeting and blaming and shaming on others. Social media provides a voice for many, in positive ways. However, it has also provided a platform for social media users to find ways to attack, to target, to discriminate, to incriminate and to ‘cancel’. It is saddening to see how in this society, when we are all trying to progress and move forward, and make positive change regarding all forms of human rights (in this case, racial equality), suddenly a person who was fighting so hard for inclusivity is disregarded and treated like dirt because someone somehow has found a way to interpret what that person said as racist, when clearly it wasn’t. Even if something was said that shouldn’t have been, we are all human beings who make mistakes, and despite past remarks being unacceptable, if we are able to mature and grow
